Ibstock Place SW London

[Brenda5]

Please, any recent views from current parents about Ibstock Place in SW London? We have friends with kids there who are happy with the school but I'd like more views/opininion.
How has the school changed in recent years under the new headmaster? Thank you

I know two different families with kids there that are happy. But, I have read complaints about the schools from different posters on here over the years. The posts get deleted though shortly after by mumsnet.

Thank you SamPoodle123. I know, as you said, they are old posts. We are looking for entry in year 7 in 2026.
Are the old posts/complaints still relevant?

I went through the previous Ibstock threads and I can see that you Slippersandrum removed your son or daughter from Ibstock in past years.
I am trying to understand if the problems are still there. Any actual parents at Ibstock can post their views, please?

Current parent here. DD and DS y8 and y9 at Ibstock.
I'm sorry Slippersandrim for your bad experience at Ibstock. We are having a different experience. Finding the school extremely supportive both academically and pastorally. My kids are different but both thrive now and are happy. Especially I find the teachers have always been supportive. May I ask you how long ago your kids were at Ibstock? Hope they are happy now.

Our experience at Ibstock has been great. I understand that, in the past under the old headship there was some unhappiness, but nowadays Ibstock comes across as a very supporting and well run school.

Same- girl in year 10 and nothing but praise for the school- with two other girls having been through other schools, one of which was LEH, our experience of Ibstock is actually that it is the best of the bunch- we think it is top notch really. Feel free to PM me.

Please can I ask a quick question about Ibstock — do your children usually come home around 4pm with homework that parents are expected to help oversee?

Which year are you referring to? My boy is in year 7 and arrives home around 5 pm with homework but I believe the idea is that they should manage it independently at some point, probably not straight away.

Thank you for your reply!

If our son went he’d start in year 7 in 2026.

Anyone know when ibstock email parents of offers?

Ours just came through - so you should have one shortly!

Hello there.. prospective Y7 2026 parent here… could any of the current parents help answer a few questions about the school please…

• What is the approx cost of lunches as I understand they are not included in fees?
• Are there any clubs that are paid or all those shown in their list (other than music lessons) included in fee ? Same for trips
• How much do they push the non sporty kids into sports ? I’d like mine to be gently encouraged definitely
• Does everyone need to do two languages ? We don’t have a second language so wonder if it would be hard for DS to get proficient in a new language for GCSEs
• i read somewhere that they encourage kids to finish a lot of the homework at school itself .. how does this work exactly .. do they work in breaks or there is time set aside ?
• Do they divide kids in class sets per academic ability

sorry about the long list … just trying to imagine life at secondary 😊 thank you so much !

@Petiteplum
school lunches are approximately £550 per term . they can do homework after school in the library I don’t think there is time to do it in the middle of the school day. There are a lot of opportunities for sports clubs during lunch or after school, not sure if they encourage those that are not keen though. They split them into sets for Maths after the first term. They take 4 languages in total in year 7, 2 for the first half and 2 for the second half to be able to explore all. And then they need to choose 2 out of the 4 languages to continue with in year 8.

Thank you BouliDK for your responses .. definitely very helpful!
Can I please also check if there are any other costs we should budget for outside of fees, lunch, bus and music lessons? Thank you.

@Petiteplum Uniforms as well. They provide the books and notebooks, you just need stationary and the backpack etc. I think that’s it.

Thankyou.. that’s good to know. I saw on their website they have trips to Japan etc.. assuming those are not every year and they would be additional / optional.

@Petiteplum I’m not familiar with school trips yet actually we haven’t had any yet. He’s in Year 7.

My child is at Ibstock and is very happy there, doing well academically and has made some lovely friends.

Trips are additional cost - depends on location/duration of the trip and they tend to put it on the termly invoice after the deposit is paid. For example, this year the Y9 languages trips (choice of France, Spain or Germany but have to be studying the language to go) are around £1300 (excluding spending money!).

Transport to/from school by private coach is additional cost. Can’t speak to the cost as we don’t use it. The school minibus from Barnes station to school is no longer free. You can pay for the term (£120) or adhoc is £2 per journey.

School uniform - blazer, tie and sports kit needs to come from their vendor. Trousers/skirts, shirts, jumper, coat and backpack can be bought from other stores (M&S etc) as they are not with logo. The school parent group runs second hand uniform sales each term.

School provides all books. You just supply the pencil case/pens. School provides them with a Surface device. There is a charge for this which includes insurance. Can’t remember how much this is.

Clubs - most are free but there are some run by outside providers that are an extra fee. My child doesn’t do any clubs that cost additional fees. They have found plenty to do without extra cost.

Food - is around £550 per term for lunches. Breakfast and snacks are additional charge. The students have a card that you load for payments. My child doesn’t buy additional food but does have the card just in case.