Looking for schools around Richmond/Kew for my son will be in year 1 this september

[Ellie29t]

Hi mums! 👋
We’re currently looking at schools around Richmond/Kew for my DS (he’s in Reception age), and I’d love your thoughts or experiences if you’ve got any!
He’s a lovely, bright boy but does struggle a bit with behaviour — things like not always listening to instructions, sometimes playing too roughly, pushing when excited, etc. So I’m really hoping to find a school that’s nurturing, not harsh, and understands kids who need a bit of extra support emotionally and socially.
Ideally we’re looking for a private/prep school nearby (not too far from Kew/Richmond) that:

• Supports children as individuals
• Doesn’t use harsh discipline
• Still has a bit of academic structure (not super soft)
• Has a good science programme, languages, drama/music, and outdoor/garden learning

So far we’re considering:

• Radnor House Prep
• Unicorn School
• Ibstock Place
• The Mall School

If anyone has any personal experience with these schools — especially how they handle behaviour, emotional support, and how your child has settled — I’d love to hear it! 🙏 Thanks so much! 💛

Newland house?

Visit them all and it will help you. There are on different sized sites, for example The Mall has a swimming pool and a theatre. Radnor House prep is currently in a temporary site until it moves in 2027 to the site in Twickenham where the senior school currently is. Ibstock has beautiful grounds next to Richmond park. Overall there are loads of preps and pre preps and many great primary state schools.
You could add Kings House, Tower House, Kew Green, Broomfield House to your list. You will see that they all feed into the same secondary schools.

We visited Kew Green, Unicorn, The Mall, and Ibstock Place, and are now deciding between Kew Green and Unicorn. Both schools made a strong impression, feels like a particularly good fit for our son, as he’s still developing his ability to follow instructions and tends to play quite energetically with friends. We’re looking for an environment that gives him the time and support to grow in these areas, and they both nurturing approach really stood out to us. Anyone here has kids go to these 2 school I would love to hear more.

Dd was a unicorn a long time ago - it is a lovely school - I’d say probably with a less international cohort than Kew green (depending what you’re looking for). I’d probably think of unicorn as more musical/arty too (still has a slightly hippie vibe from when it was founded). Academically I doubt if there’s much between them these days! Uniform at unicorn is more relaxed too!

Either would be a brilliant choice…tbh I’d look at which is going to be easier for drop off or pickup!