Experiences of Jack and Jill, Newland House or Twickenham Prep

[ToaskaQ]

Hello! I’m currently looking at Jack & Jill, Newland House and Twickenham Prep for my DC who will start reception in September 2027. If anyone has experience of any of these schools, I would really love to hear about it.
I am looking for a school that will notice a thoughtful, initially cautious child and deliberately build their confidence; one that really works to ensure that ‘no child is left behind’. TIA

Newland House now has an assured scheme
to Hampton boys.

Yes, I know. Unfortunately that wouldn't be a benefit as we have a DD 😅

I should say, without having looked at any of the schools (we're booked in to see each one soon), I like the look of J&J. But I've read on old threads that it is a bit of a hot house. I hope that's not true as that is not what I'm looking for in a school.

The first thing to remember is that ALL the prep schools in the Twickenham area are seeking “bums on seats” so they will all want your dad to attend. This will feed through to the secondary schools due to the drop in the birth rate and the extortionate increase in school fees 7 years from 2027 - it will be eye watering and discount most dc from attending. This means you can search for a school that suits your dd and your family life, do you live in Teddington or Hampton? If you choose J&J or NH your dd will be on a path to LEH although Twickenham Prep has the links too. Don’t worry about previous hothouse comments because the market has completely changed in the last couple of years. VAT on fees has been devastating for the preps in the area because Richmond state schools are so good and private isnt really worth the money. But saying all of this, J&J is a unique and wonderful school and your dd will have a great education.

I looked at J&J and Newland house 7 years ago and absolutely loved J&J. It’s a very special school that can’t be measured by its facilities or compared to other schools. They really focus on knowledge and teach the girls how to think and how to learn.
Sadly we moved away from the area and couldn’t send our DD there. We used another indie in SW London which was great but as expected very competitive and not like J&J.

@448teatime J&J is a unique and wonderful school and your dd will have a great education.

Wonderful! Can you say why you feel JJ is unique and wonderful?
We did in fact visit one of the state schools in the area earlier this week. For various reasons we did not like it. Seeing 30 children in a classroom made us realise that our DD would struggle in the setting.She attends a preschool at a different independent so she is used to a much smaller class.

@AdidasBadidas Thank you. That's good to hear. How would you compare JJ to the other schools you visited? What made it so special to you?

We're attracted to the small class sizes and the diversity of the pupils. However, I do worry that the school may be too small and limit our DD's friendship pool. That's a real worry because our DD is a cautious child and takes time to build relationships. I'd love to find her an environment in which she is comfortable. If she's comfortable and happy then she will thrive.

J&J is far too small. There’s not enough girls in a class. Most of them leave at 7+ to LEH. 2 close friends kept their girls in J&J till year 6 and were disappointed with the facilities and the small number of children. I’ve also heard two year groups are combined into one

My opinion comes from when we sat through a maths lesson at J&J. Please remember that this was back in 2017 so could be very different to now. It was a word problem being solved by girls in year 1 or 2. This in itself is quite advanced. I really liked the way the teacher took the whole lesson to do a single problem - allowing each child to break down the problem and do each part on their own / explain to the group what they thought. There was no rush or pressure or race, just learning to do difficult things - at its best. At the time there were around 15 girls in a class - not sure of numbers now.
Another time when I visited the girls were being taught 3D shapes. Instead of just showing them the shapes - they were paired up and given small sticks & playdough to create specific shapes on their own. Again no emphasis on speed - just on turning shapes around on their head until they got it right and then created it.

I don’t know if other schools use these methods - possibly they do, but 10 years ago I found it innovative.

But since we did not use the school, I don’t have direct experience of the prep years when girls start moving to LEH. So perhaps it’s worth investigating that more as some folks have advised here.

@ToaskaQ, I’m a parent in the area but not J&J and my dc are much older now but I work locally in the schools. Due to the drop in numbers applying to LEH Juniors they now offer pretty much all the J&J year 2 dd a place at the junior school which starts in year 3. And it looks like LEH seniors will now offer all the NH dd a place too for year 7. You need to check you like LEH juniors / seniors before committing to J&J but that’s pretty hard when your dd is still at pre school. As well as your dd changing as she gets older, the private schools are all going to change too in the next decade. Maybe go with the easier commute or keep your dd where she is at pre school until year 3.

Sorry to add, obviously the year 2 J&J dd have to apply to LEH juniors to be offered a place whilst NH has an easier pathway at age 11. J&J has its own prep school.

I don't yet know if I want DD to move to LEH. My main motivation is to find a good school where she is comfortable, happy and one in which she can build her confidence. I'm trying not to think further than that at the moment.

I know that J&J is small. I won't know whether it's too small until I visit. But on paper it seems to have other advantages that the other schools in the area do not have, which could make its size a worthy compromise. But again, there is so much unknown because their website is not comprehensive.

There is little information about the subjects taught from reception, the extra-curricular subjects, clubs, sports, the facilities, parents' participation etc. If anyone can provide further information/thoughts on any of these that would be great.

Newland House also has an assured places route for girls to LEH Senior School now :) Or there's LEH Junior School from Year 3, with a guaranteed senior school place.

I have a girl at Newland, also looked at the other 2. Newland was the outright winner by far for my child and we’ve been really happy. It’s a lovely environment, with great options academically and a lot of extra curricular activities. We wanted a nurturing environment rather than a hothouse. That said with the pathways opened up through the Hampton Schools Trust, there is some academic pressure.

The families are lovely too, we’ve made great friends. The community atmosphere there is very high, it that’s important to you. They’re actually having a family fun morning on Saturday for prospective family’s to pop in and see the school.