St Andrew's prep Eastbourne

[josewong]

My DS will join St Andrew's Prep Eastbourne in year 7 this Sep, and is there anyone who have experience with this school? Thank you!

Hi @josewong, surely you’ve already done your research into the school before signing your DS up?
St Andrews is a fabulous prep. I know 3 of the teachers at the school. Results are great and they have wonderful resources and the school is in a lovely area of Meads.
My dd is at EBC. Will your ds move there at the end of year 8?

Reassuring to know that! Yeah, my DS plans to go to Eastbourne college at year 9. How’s EBC? It’s not mentioned in many league tables, so do pupils have good support there as well? Is the transition from St Andrew’s to EBC well supported?

EBC is fantastic. Independent schools do not have to submit data for league tables and EBC choose not to. Their results are fantastic. Pastoral care too is very good. You’ll get to view the houses and meet the hsm and then put down which ones you think your ds will fit in best. The hsm and tutors in house look after the pupils and have been brilliant especially during Covid.
The new facilities that were opened a few years back are amazing and Eastbourne is a lovely town. They have the downs and the sea right on their doorstep.
I’m sure the transition from St. A to EBC is done well, I have no experience of that as my dd came from a different prep. Is your ds name down? We registered dd 2 years in advance of entry.
Good luck for Sept. I’m sure your ds will love his time there

St Andrew’s prep has the bridging curriculum so I think ds will proceed to EBC without taking CE. We did visit EBC before and I was impressed by the good manner of pupils and new block facility there. My ds is sporty type but we hope he’ll be supported well academically.
May I ask about the teachers you know at St Andrew’s prep, do they enjoy their teaching? And how they feel about the school?

My last dc left a couple of years ago. They didn't go to EBC though. We were really pleased with the school. They were both really happy - although there is a lot of pressure to proceed to EBC.

What kind of pressure would that be for your dc to EBC? Do you mean academics, sports, peers or other aspects?

There’s an assumption that everyone will go to EBC despite claiming to be an independent prep (I think it is less independent than it used to be) That doesn’t matter if EBC is your plan though

It has been 3 weeks, and DS has settled well in the school. He's a boarder, and the pastoral support has been great. It's a bit tiring from the plentiful sport activities but he's totally enjoying it.

So pleased your ds is enjoying St.A. I think it’s great all round for the pupils to be back in school at last. My dd is loving having proper classroom interaction again with peers and her teachers.
Sorry I didn’t see your message about the teachers until now. One of the teachers at St.A I used to work alongside and the others taught my dd. All fabulous and committed to the school, their subject and the extra curricular subjects they offer too. Hope your ds continues to thrive and your move to EBC in 2 years goes smoothly.