Hampton Court House- views please!

[KindergartenKop]

My child is looking at a variety of schools in the area including KGS and Ewell Castle. Hampton Court House is convenient for us transport wise but it doesn't seem to be included in peoples' lists along with the other schools I've mentioned. Is this because it's more/less selective? Does it aim at a different demographic? It seems a bit 'odd' but I can't put my finger on why! Does anyone have their kid's at HCH? How hard is it to get into? What is it like?

Thanks

@KindergartenKop , I also live near by and I've only ever met 1 family who had dc at Hampton Court House and they had moved to the area from abroad with several dc and had been able to find places for all of them at the school.

I think it's good that there is an alternative option in the area as so many of the other schools listed on this thread are pretty much the same.

The main facts I know are no uniform, yrs 1-4 French immersion, some of the dc live in west London and travel down the A3 to school and it's been bought by Dukes Education in past few years. Dukes also own Radnor House and have bought a site called Kneller Hall in Whitton to open as an enlarged Radnor House in the future. I wonder if the HCH prep will also feed into Radnor.
You probably know all of the above already!

PS - the head of Ewell Castle use to be the deputy head of surbiton high senior school and is highly rated.

@sunshineclouds24 you are the font of all knowledge! I didn't know that RH and HCH were owned by the same people.

What other schools are you looking at? My son is bright (exceeding in 2/3 areas on last report) but didn't pass the 10+ for either Hampton or KGS. We will have another go at the 11+ for those schools but I don't want to apply to loads of very selective schools and not to get into any of them!

Thanks, im addicted to MN!
My dc are at Hampton and Surbiton and have been for many years but I know the local schools very well.
Don't worry about the 10 plus, I have hardly ever met a dc who got a KGS 10plus place and those that do rarely go there as gaining the place means they are bright enough for Tiffin or scholarships at top schools at 11.
Hampton 10plus is a good indicator but many also don't go there in the end.
Halliford, Radnor and Claremont Fan may be better back ups than Hampton Court House (with Ewell Castle also on your list).

We're in the area and also only know one family who even looked at a secondary place at HCH, and they were doing so after not getting the state secondary place they were hoping for.

It's definitely an alternative option. My impression is that it's a very small school, which may work well for some but not for others. We didn't look at it as there wasn't enough sport for DS and we thought he could drift a bit with the student-led learning - he has daydreaming tendencies at times! Also, we couldn't find any info about extra-curricular offerings on their website, which didn't inspire confidence.

If you're looking for somewhat less selective than Hampton or KGS, have you looked at Halliford?

All apart from Halliford are on my list, thanks.

Honestly, how bright are the kids at Hampton/Surbiton? My son is at a state primary and has a tutor who reckons he's capable of passing but I think I under estimated how competitive the SW grammar/independent schools are. It's stressing me out! What you said about the 10+ is reassuring though, thanks :)

It's a very long process esp if you start at 10plus but in general everyone ends up at a school that is at the right level for their dc plus there is more movement than you would expect of dc changing schools during the first few years.

The transport links to Shepperton are incredibly awful so I think we won't look at Halliford. Thanks though.

I'm local to HCH and have also heard that it's "quirky". Check to see if Halliford have a bus service that's close by, they cover quite a large area with the school bus as do Reeds in Cobham.

Might be worth looking at Claremont Fan Court in Esher

I’ve got 3 sets of friends with kids at HCH and they are very happy there. It’s quirky but becoming increasingly popular. Recently bought by dukes education and the children at HCH now do some team Sports with the radnor kids . Very small classes - typically 1 class of 15-18 in a year but the kids play with pupils above and below them
In school so no shortage of friends. They do have to learn French (lower school has maths lessons in French) but this stops In year 6 I think. If you have a sporty child who is very team based (rugby, football etc) then perhaps not the right school for you, but quite strong on individual sports. Before they got bought by dukes they sat around 78th school in the times parent power league for exam results but dukes don’t put their schools on the list, so they have gone now. We discounted it purely on class sizes - we wanted something a bit bigger. I’m a bit confused as to whether you have a boy or a girl? Halliford is a boys only school (and only take from 11) and surbiton is girls only at 11 but there is a boys prep that finishes at 11.
Also don’t discount any school without looking at the bus links. Most schools have a decent private bus network to get children to school without public transport

Thanks. I have a boy. We are looking at Claremont too. I think I'd prefer a more traditional choice than HCH but it's quite convenient so is worth a look.

Is HCH heavily into performing arts?

Halliford definitely has a bus network. We have friends with a DS there who gets the bus every day.

www.hallifordschool.co.uk/admissions/school-transport/

I also have a son at halliford and am very impressed with it - Claremont is also worth a look. It’s definitely worth doing the 10+ for kgs. Hardly anyone gets a place but it’s good practise for then11+ and gets them used to exams and the format and pressure of interviews. Reeds, St. John’s and Epsom are also worth a look but are much more expensive . They have amazing sports facilities though. Also check out St. George’s in weybridge
HCH not particularly arty. Of the 3 I know that go there , only one is arty/musical - the other 2 are definitely not!

He has done the 10+s and they were definitely good practice, especially for a state school kid who hasn't done any similar tests at school.

Only problem with Halliford is it’s such a short day 🤪🤪🤪🤪 finishing before / around 4. So I’m not in love with it prefer a later finish!

@sunshineclouds24

Thanks, im addicted to MN! My dc are at Hampton and Surbiton and have been for many years but I know the local schools very well. Don't worry about the 10 plus, I have hardly ever met a dc who got a KGS 10plus place and those that do rarely go there as gaining the place means they are bright enough for Tiffin or scholarships at top schools at 11. Hampton 10plus is a good indicator but many also don't go there in the end. Halliford, Radnor and Claremont Fan may be better back ups than Hampton Court House (with Ewell Castle also on your list).

I would just say that there are very few places at 10+ so don't worry about that. Lots of children get put forward for 5 or more schools and it all shakes down in the end when the wait lists move. I would say 3 is plenty if you have a banker, a stretch and then the one you like and think they will be happy at and is at the right level for them. So for eg my dd thrives on being at the top or near top of the pile, so if we had sent her to SPGS for eg she would likely not have been. Horses for courses!

(In fact my dd got in on the 10+ to KGS and we didn't find any school we liked as much so that was that! There were several in her year who did the same )

Hi
We have just pulled our child out of HCH. A couple of other children have left too and a mass exodus of teachers.
The new head is smiley and friendly but seems to be lacking experience running a school and doesn’t seem to have much respect from his teaching staff.
Our experience was a lot of bullying in year 3 and nothing was done about it, teachers hired for their academic achievements (which is great) but not much in the way of teaching skills, lack of control of kids in the classroom, children wandering around, being disruptive and teachers not doing anything about it
The junior school is all about learning french so about 75% of kids are international, then it seems they move to a different school for secondary so you get a change in classes.
The classes are super small so they can’t play sports games like football etc as so few kids in a year group.
Shame, as it sounds like with the previous head it was a lovely warm welcoming school with a real family feel.

We were leaving too (school felt unstable since the new Head joined last year) but we met the new Principal last week. Hugely impressive, highly experienced, and really gets HCH, such a relief!!!! Have withdrawn notice and cannot wait for HCH to become the very special place again that our children love and that we chose for them to grow up in.

They’ve parachuted a principal in over the top of the headmaster in a part time role and he hasn’t even acknowledged her existence on any Comms - the new principal was a side note at the very end of the weekly newsletter - he’s now just a poster boy for a school that he’s managed to ruin in a year.

The teaching has really fallen apart this year - - in most subjects there hasn’t been homework all term. Little or no communication from teachers and no mention of what to revise for end of year assessments.

Teaching hours are being reduced next year and lunchtimes increased to 1 hour and 20 minutes. Where no doubt this extended lunch time will increase the opportunity for bad behaviour. The school has a huge percentage of kids needing SEN provision and this causes chaos at times - there has been an accept all policy which isn’t working.

Head is introducing a new qualification for Y7 onwards - which is student led research - this is all well and good but with no research facilities or library or a chrome book working option it’s a badly thought out plan.

Latin and mandarin being dropped so it’s place as a school for languages is lost. French immersion works well for the lower years but joiners after Y5 get totally lost in the French immersion and it just doesn’t work.

There are very few clubs, no drama, no school productions and no after school care provision or homework club. Not enough science and too much French.

The school has lots it’s USP, it’s soul and it’s reason to be - it’s now a nice building run by a nice but useless chap.

The school we toured around a few years ago isn’t the school we got this year. It’s a mess

Thanks for this. My son and husband looked around but felt there was a much greater emphasis on the chef who once had a Michelin star than the A*s we want for our son 😁

We have a daughter in HCH. Under the old Head it was an amazing place. Two acting heads on, and a year under Mr Rainbow and the place has spiralled into chaos. Poor teaching, bad exam results, bullying, no discipline in class, poor communication with issues not addressed, very fast staff and pupil turnover etc. And now Mr Rainbow has announced his resignation. Honestly couldn’t recommend the place now, sadly.

HCH got the best exam results ever this year & is now in top 50 of independent schools in the UK. My DD & DS just started in y10 & y3 and are sooooo happy. The new principal is incredible.

@FatMax whivh exam results have been bad? The last 3 years puts HCH in top schools in the country? I know change is unsettling but I’ve just never come across such a happy, respectful school- KV the principal must have sorted it since your experience?

This was the last set of parents from the old school before it was owned by new owners… it’s like the Wild West there now….