Aldenham prep vs State local

[Silvercat35]

Hi everyone,

My daughter has been offered a Reception place at Aldenham, and I’m torn. We live in Stanmore, so there aren’t any outstanding state options nearby.

I’ve read that Aldenham isn’t particularly strongly geared towards academics— which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as I do want a well-rounded school — but I’d still like somewhere that’s solid academically too. I’ve also heard it’s quite boys-dominated and that the senior school isn’t amazing, so I’m wondering if it’s worth the fees.

Does anyone know if Aldenham prepares children for 11+ exams (for places like Habs or local grammars), or is it more geared towards keeping them in the system?

We can afford it, but it would make a big difference if we invested that money elsewhere — perhaps in tutoring and future prep, especially with a one-year-old son to consider too.
Also if any state schools you’d highly recommend in the area.
Would really appreciate any honest experiences or advice!

Hi I don’t know much about Aldenham prep but if you still wanted to go for private option have you considered radlett prep?

@Jamie3 hi,
thanks for your response. No we didn’t register there, do you have experience with them? If so can you elaborate please?

I don’t know anything about Aldenham but radlett prep is within the area and one of the more ‘cheaper’ private schools but has outstanding results at 11 plus. The school itself is not modern and facilities aren’t great but if academic is your priority could be good option.

assessments have already taken place but I’ve been told they have t filled up their spaces so worth contacting them

This is from a VERY long time ago, but I grew up in Stanmore. Brother and I went to Aylward primary school and we had tutoring for the year before the 11plus exams. I ended up going to Habs but got offers from 4 other top schools, my brother got a place at QE boys which at the time was even more sought after than Habs.

I am aware that 11 plus is much more competitive than it was so tutoring needs to start sooner (though I wonder if VAT will change things), and our experience of Aylward was about 30 years ago. But it is definitely doable if your kids are bright.

But if you don’t want to risk it, why not just do the 4 plus entrance? We did that for our DD and applied only for through schools so there is no 11plus pressure now. I love that we never have to put her (and us!) through that worry and instead of tutoring, her life outside of school is just fun extra curriculars. I completely appreciate that we are lucky to be able to afford this though.

We have accepted RP but it’s still a back up for us, we have 1 more school to sit so hoping that will be a positive outcome for us

As a former Aldenham Prep parent I’m a huge fan. No, it’s not the most academic but it’s very good. It’s the happiest school and builds a super rounded child. They challenge the most able and nurture those who aren’t. At 11+ the kids you expected to get into the likes of Habs did, the ones who didn’t, were never going to. Having kept in touch with the parents the children are now at uni and are exactly where you’d expect them to be if you’d have asked when they were 10. I should point out that everyone of them is at a good uni regardless of whether they went right the way through the school or not. It’s not about the marathon of hot housing at 5, it’s about getting them through school happy and unstressed with good mental health and they all end up where they’re meant to be. Not a radlett prep fan myself for all the reasons about the school outlined above

Thank you!
yes noticed we’ve missed the assessments, will reach out. I counter find their last years leavers stats, do you have them by any chance? Il ask them anyway also.

@Hatscarfgloves Thank you for your insight.
aylward is very close for us and even stanburn which I’ve heard is very strong also would be a contender catchment wise. We are going to see it next week in fact.
This is the dilemma we have: state and tutoring vs private for the environment.
regarding a through school do they not push for them to stay there/by not really helping prepare them for 11+ assessments?

i fully appreciate there is no right or wrong answer but all these insights are super useful.

Oh this is great to hear!
did you find that ahead of 11+ they prepared them without bias? As in do they really help them the same way a prep school would?
I ask because their last three years stats indicate 15/23 stay.
having said that for sure having that extra pressure lifted feels amazing.
one other question for you as your are a former parent, did you get a discount for siblings?

No sibling discount unfortunately. 15/23 is a good number staying. Look they want the kids to go into the senior school so they do 11+ prep but it’s not in their interests to do too much. People get tutors to support it but trust me, they do that in all the private schools too. Don’t be fooled if anyone says they don’t, it’s not true

If you want your child in a more academic senior school I would do state and tutoring for sure. Aldenham is great but they won’t prep the kids for 11 plus. In fact they may even ‘dumb then down’ as they don’t want to lose them.

I appreciate it’s a tough choice, and as I say, my experience of state primary and private secondary in Stanmore is from decades ago. And actually I hated Habs!

For our DD, we chose a through school that we would be happy with our child staying in until 18. They do not prep the children for 11plus. At the moment, we remain happy with her staying at the school we chose as the senior school is excellent. In fact, we chose it even though we liked a different private through school for primary more than this one, specifically because senior school is more important than primary.

If we change our minds that it’s the right senior school for her when she is 9, we’ll tutor. But we’ll always have the back up of knowing she has a good school to continue in until 18 if she doesn’t pass, which will massively relieve the pressure of the 11plus exams if we choose to do them.

Hi
jumping on this post as I have one child in year 6 at radlett prep and 2 girls at aldenham prep. Very different schools and both have pros and cons. Agree with what above have said if you have a child capable of habs, nlcs etc at 11 they will be just as likely to get in whether from aldenham or RP. RP has good stats but in reality all the kids are heavily tutored as they would be at aldenham if not staying on. Aldenham is the most gorgeous school and offers a really all round primary education. Every class in the prep is 50/50 girl boy ratio. Any questions pls feel free to ask.