Moved to London in August 2024 (from Tokyo Japan where son has spent most of his 6 years in), and now looking to move 6 year son (currently Year-2 in “top” state school in Ealing) to a private prep-school.
Considering John Lyon Prep-School in Harrow and looking for concrete inputs on the school before we take the plunge (right now committing to a school almost feels like a one way door decision).
A bit more in terms of background and what we’re looking for.
- son is boisterous, out going, BUT extremely sensitive
- comes from spending 5 years through preschool and kindergarten in Japan, where academic standards were certainly lower vs. what we see here (I would say it was a far more relaxed pace, scholastically). School he was in had 10 students per class and 2 teachers! So, has been used to an environment with a lot of individual attention
- took his time getting adjusted to the school here - mainly the pace of learning. Now has caught up and is doing really well scholastically
- loves math and science (from what little he’s been exposed to)
- cherishes his time on the sports field and in extra curricular activities such as music
While academic focus is important, a school that helps hone social skills, discipline (personal discipline) and the right behaviour is equally if not more important to us. We’re likely to shift base (countries) in another 2-3 years. So a through school or even prep for 11+ is not very important at the moment (????).
Given we’re expecting the second one, a school with bus/coach is ideal for us. John Lyon seemed to tick most boxes for us (from what little we saw and what research we did). However want to know and hear more from folks here who’ve had first hand experience.