Colfes - does anyone have any experience of this school

[Scotcheggsontoast]

Specifically the Junior school, we are looking for our DC to start in reception. But interested to hear views on senior school too as the idea would be they would stay all the way through. Would really appreciate feedback from parents/anyone with experience here?

Yes my twins attended prep from age 9 ( as we were overseas before) and now senior school. It’s a brilliant school and I can’t praise it more highly. My twins have really excelled there and most importantly love it, and have fantastic friendship groups. The school is academic but not pushy as it has strong focus on nurturing and supporting students. They have tougher mind programme to build resilience and great at encouraging sport participation for a levels. They say every child will represent their school in at least one sport, be that rugby football, swimming, water polo, hockey, netball the list goes on.. my twins are different one more naturally academic and one struggles with dyslexia but both have been supported perfectly to achieve full potential. They have excelled with one achieving all grade 9s at gcse (11) and the other not far behind with a mix of mainly 8s and 9s. Being a mixed school I think it’s great that they build great relationships with boys and girls. Mine have loved the house competitions - drama, quizzes, sports, music, and the way they encourage mentoring of older students supporting younger ones. The head of sixth form is outstanding and the support they give students applying for university is second to none. I think colfes is a happy balance of being academic but not pushy. Selective but very inclusive. Not many people leave colfes as the kids are very happy. Happy to discuss offline if helps you …

My son joined Colfe's in Year 7 so I have no experience of the junior school. I would echo the sentiment of @user1475844787 in their post above - it is a nurturing environment and one that enables children to achieve their potential. My son narrowly missed out on the local 11+ exams so we were pleased that he was accepted at Colfe's and able to flourish there. Indeed he came through his GCSEs with flying colours. He is now very involved in sixth form life and is being encouraged to make the most of the opportunities available to set him up for university applications next year.

know 2 families whose kids were there. Both families happy with it for the whole time the kids were there. The school coach network extending to north side of the river was a key selling point for them. Ultimately both families moved away from London for different reasons but I only heard good things about the school from them. I had the impression the school took sports seriously and offered some sports scholarships, though that might have changed.

@user1475844787 @lattemerde @GoldenMalicious

Thanks so much all that's great to know! I liked the look of the school when we looked around, and info on website etc, but not knowing anyone who's had experience of it was making me a bit nervous. We have accepted the place to start in reception.

We also viewed a smaller prep school where the head gave us individual tour (during school time, which was helpful to see it in action), and seemed extremely nurturing.

I didn't feel like I got as good an idea of what Colfes was like when we visited as was so busy on the open morning (and was not on a school day). Plus it being a lot bigger than the prep, I just feel a bit nervous about the decision (plus choosing it over the local state school is a big financial commitment!).

But have gone with it for a reason, need to trust that, and I find your reviews very reassuring too :-)

Funnily enough I had exact same dilemmas when we joined colfes as my two were over a year behind on curriculum having been at international school till 9 years old. I was worried they’d feel pressurised and was too big a jump from small international school to big school like colfes. I nearly lost my nerve and opted for smaller local prep. But someone told me that the smaller local prep school i was considering was a 11plus machine and so much focus on prepping kids for that, past paper after past paper, all at expense of sports etc and extra curricular stuff. Also she highlighted to me how much more sports and clubs etc offered in bigger school like colfes and it makes transition to senior school so much easier. She assured me that colfes do after school math/ homework clubs etc for those needing more support but not pressurised. She was absolutely right. I was amazed how quickly my kids caught up and they loved being part of larger community. Going up to senior school for lunch sports and drama etc they were then so excited to go to senior school.
When we first joined colfes we were intially thinking if they passed the 11plus we might move them to local grammer at 11. But they both loved colfes so much and were really thriving we just couldn’t have dragged them away. They are in sixth form now and still love school.

@user1475844787
That was our thinking too! The prep would be amazing for the first few years, but then I worry the 11+ prep kick in and it all gets a bit intense/boring.

That's good it's not too pressurised. Apparently they take an 11+ to get into seniors, but most children pass it and go up?

I wonder how they manage this when the kids are selected at 3 and 4 years old? I would.have thought it would be hard to tell at that point how academic a child might be?

They do keep kids on top of things so most kids pass with no problems but if they identified that a child really wasn’t suited to an academic environment, then they would flag it way before the test time. My daughter is dyslexic was 2 years behind curriculum when we joined colfes at 9 as been abroad, so I was nervous joining but I need not have worried. She was really supported and caught up quickly, she got into senior school and has excelled getting 8s and 9s in GCSEs.

Hi there, it has been so interesting reading this thread. My son has been invited to an assessment at Colfe’s for Year 4 entry this coming September. I am thorn and don’t know whether to take him to the assessment or not as I keep hearing conflicting opinions about the way the school deals with dyslexia. My son is mildly dyslexic and although intelligent, his spelling is a weakness (but always phonetically plausible). I have heard that some parents have been asked to take their dyslexic children out of the school after Y6 because they weren’t able to offer support. My son does not currently have extra support (he is at a different private prep school at the moment), but is offered extra time for any type of assessments. I was wondering if I could email some of you separately and ask a few more questions? Many thanks.

I have had only positive experiences with colfes, they’ve supported my daughter well. She hasn’t needed extra support but they did assess her in prep school and then again in senior school, they picked up on the dyslexia and arranged for her to have extra time in exams etc. she’s always managed well in school. I think she’s really benefitted from the structured learning, smaller class sizes and very supported learning (really comprehensive subject revision packs, subject support clinics after school or in lunchtime for those needing more support and great online facilities).
I know some of her friends had more 121 support from senco teachers but she never needed it.
I would say it is an academic school so standards are high, but the school will support the kids and in my experience they really do get the best out of them. There is a big focus on mental health too, with their tougher minds programme. I think of all the academic private schools colfes is by far the most inclusive and nurturing. For context, my daughter didn’t pass the grammer 11plus but came up to colfes senior school after 2 years in prep following a stint abroad. despite my initial concerns it might be too academically challenging she absolutely excelled, and loved it and was in a peer group of similar abilities. she and most of her friends ended up with mainly 8s and 9s at gcse at colfes and with A grade Alevel predictions..
my son did pass the grammer test but has also really excelled at colfes with 11grade 9 GCSEs and all A* predictions at ALevel.
however if you had a child with more challenging dyslexia and really requiring more supported learning there are probably better places. But from what you’ve said I think he sounds similar to my daughter and she’s loved it. Feel free to email me and qs offline

@Scotcheggsontoast - we’ve to decide on our Colfe’s junior offer and would appreciate if you can provide any insights on your Colfe’s experience so far, thanks.