Farrington school chistlehurst

[Positivitywins]

Hi! First post! Just looking for any info on form entry for Farrington, is it just one class? Just wondering how much of a chance we have for y7 start.. exam and interview depending.. Kindof have heart set as think Bromley high maybe too academic.. other school I like is a babington but only one form entry and I’m told roughly 45% come up from junior school so chances are slim..

Happy to read a few positive things on here considering we have already accepted and paid deposits for this years intake, this has made me lose sleep if I’m honest!

Sorry you are feeling so worried reading the negative reviews Positivitywins. I have a very different view and think it’s a great school so do feel free to pm me if you would like to

Same here. I know so many happy parents and staff. More so now since some have moved on. One of the negative reviews comes from a parent whose child was only at the school for a year and who slated the school before Farringtons too.

I know so many parents who were unhappy. For many of them it has been so traumatic all they want to forget about it all. We should have left after the first year there too, we were unfortunate, we were thinking that we might possibly make it work. Thinking that there were just few unfortunate incidents.
I believe that everyone here either parents or teacher has shared their personal experiences and there is more then one negative review as you can see and most of us had their children there longer then one year.

Stop picking on parents for their negative reviews on Farringtons school.

It seems like you are trying to find a reason to blame them for their unhappiness with the school.
This is exactly the attitude that we received from this school that they are never to blame but instead there is either something wrong with what we have done or some other reason why our child is unhappy. But obviously they will never accept the school is to blame, no matter how many specialists will have to back us up. You sound just like the school secretary!

I can’t imagine a parent will pay fees, buy a new uniform to send their child to Farringtons with the intention of having them there for a year and then write a negative review here.
Are you suggesting that the unhappiness of the child or the negative experience expressed by this particular parent doesn’t matter because they have only been there for a year.

You said you are happy with the school several times. We all get that! But please do not start attacking other parents for their views on this school.

I personally doubt that you are a parent as no one has ever suggested on this forum that they had the child there for a year and slated the previous school. I take this is confidential information from the child’s file that you are sharing on an open forum. I am not surprised at all as we had pictures of the children posted on WhatsApp without consent and many other safeguarding and health and safety concerns with Farringtons.

Get your house in order, learn from mistakes, visit other private school and see you can bring back to Farringtons to improve the school because is far from having the feel of a real private school.

Has a chat with someone this week and the confirmation that staff are miserable there. How awful! People don’t deserve to be treated this way.

As I’ve posted on the other thread about Farringtons and in reply to comments you’ve made there, I’ll restate the obvious: It’s absolutely fine for other parents to come on this thread and say their experiences are good - that’s called balance and I support that.

What’s not okay is making comments that blatantly deride those of us who’ve have bad experiences. Would be interested to learn how you’re so confident in your statement that one of negative reviews comes from a parent ‘whose child was only at the school a year and who slated the school before Farringtons too.’

As I’ve said before, be kind - you can promote the school in a positive way - you don’t have to go on the attack.

Sad to hear the negative comments about Farringtons. We chose the school for our very academic child who is thriving. She is getting a balanced curriculum and is doing well. When school management changes there are always people who don't like it.

@Positivitywins Happy for you to DM me we are one year into seniors and have had nothing but positivity all round . I did reply to your original post but can’t find my old log in . It seems most of the negatives are around the prep school which I have no experience of so not to belittle anyone’s experience but the children my DS is with that came up from the prep all seem very happy . Only 1 child has left in year 7 that I am aware of and 3 have joined and we are honestly thrilled with our choice

Thank you I will do. I work in education locally and actually do personally know one of the secondary school teachers . I think some
have different opinions but I fully accept your comments . All I can say from a personal perspective is that my child is so happy at school and I suppose at the end of that day that is what I focus on.

I am highly disappointed with our experience with Farringtons. Despite applying three times, our child was refused admission without even the courtesy of a meeting or the opportunity to sit the entrance test. They claim to have available spaces but still wouldn't consider our child, which seems both unfair and unprofessional.

Moreover, they contacted our child’s current school without our permission. The staff we interacted with were dismissive and rude, which was very discouraging.
Farrington's claims to be an unselective school, but it’s clear that they do not accommodate children with dyslexia, contradicting their inclusivity claims.

Additionally, their academic performance lags compared to other independent schools in the area, making their selective stance even more baffling.

Overall, our experience with Farrington's was unsatisfactory. I would advise other parents to consider other schools that genuinely prioritise both inclusivity and academic excellence. After reading this thread it seems like their are a lot unhappy parents here.

We've just registered our child for Reception next year after visiting at the recent Open Day. The school came across quite well and of course the negative reviews on here are disconcerting. Are there any parents of the younger years here who wouldn't mind messaging with me in regards to any questions please? Thank you xx

It's been just over a year since I withdrew my child from that school, and I'm more than happy to answer any questions you have. My advice—without wanting to alarm you—would be to get your child on the waiting list for nearby prep schools. While there may not be available spots for Reception next year, openings could occur, and you might get fortunate. Consider this: what if your child ends up unhappy, and you can't find another school due to limited availability? We took that risk, and when we needed to leave, we struggled to find places—even in state schools. We ended up staying another year before we could move. Are you ready to take that chance? I just wish someone had given me a heads-up! Also, think about why staff at Farringdon choose to send their own children to Melton Court Prep, even with staff remission fees. Feel free to message me if you'd like to chat; I have insights on other private schools in the area and can share some helpful tips.

Doesn’t look great now, look at the comments on this teachers strike post

https://gbma.org.uk/

I can’t access the website…in summary what do the comments say?