Eaton house girls school Post Reply

[Vhopeful]

Hi,

As it's soon time for us to pay the deposit for our daughter who is due to start in Sept I was hoping to get some feedback from existing parents in the girls school.
How do current parents feel about the school, I'm always hearing Thomas' parents ranting/raving about how great it is there but not heard much about Eaton..... Does this reflect the school or the parents, I'm not entirely sure.

Any feedback appreciated.

[Bunnypigeon1]

I'm very much in the same boat - especially as we are still deciding between eaton house and Thomas'. It would be great to hear from existing parents at eaton house.
It would also perhaps be nice, in due course, to arrange an informal meet up for the girls who are due to start in sept next year?

[firsttimerSW11]

The wonderful headmistress is going over to the boys school which is a real shame.

[carolinehanson2000]

I have had 3 children at Thomas;s and a fourth joining next September. It is a great school with awesome facilities and a proactive and innovative head. However, it is fast paced and academic and won't suit all kids. My eldest would have been better suited elsewhere. Eaton is a marvellous school by all accounts - I haven't been for a long time but the only thing that put me off was that it wasn't co ed. If Eaton feels good for your child; go for it.

[Vhopeful]

Firstimersw11 do you know who is replacing her? We were indeed taken by her when we met her and to hear she won't be there is a surprise....

[Mellomumma]

My eldest daughter has just started at Eaton House Girls, she loves it and we are very happy. We had the option of Thomas' and decided on EH with one of the factors contributing to our decision being that it is single sexed and how they shape their learning around this. Happy for you to ping me to discuss this further if you like but I would also suggest that if you haven't been offered an appointment already that you make an appointment to meet Mrs Seagrave as she met with us in this very same situation and it was extremely helpful. Mrs Seagrave is moving over to the Boys school in September 2016 because the current headmaster is retiring. She was originally from the Boys school so she has many years behind her at EH. I dare say I am not surprised given the opportunity that she has been given (which is not just as the boy’s headmistress). I also have full expectation that whoever her replacement will be will no doubt being equally as good. There are rumours that it will be internal with the person in mind already a senior member of the Eaton House Team but we won’t know for a while yet as Mrs Segrave is still very much in seat and this is very obvious to us new parents seeing her every morning/afternoon. So far my daughter’s teachers have been fantastic and she has also been challenged from the outset. They transition the children into school and assess their abilities quickly and her progression I have already seen is very noticeable and we are only 4 weeks in. They also pair them up with a Big Sister from Form 5 or 6 (The girls school is new so the older classes only have 1 class whereas the younger classes have 2) who look out for them and help them settle into school life. Eaton House is a smaller school than Thomas’ and to be honest we knew a lot about Thomas’ before we knew about Eaton House but we are very comfortable with our decision and think it is the right one for us.
Hope this helps and best of luck.

[PinkLemonade]

Apologies if this looks like its my first post ... I seem to have lost my log in details and have had to re-register! I am normally more of a reader than a poster...

I have a daughter who has been at Eaton House girls school since KG and we have always been very happy with the school. As it’s a small school it has a cosy feel to it and all the girls seem to know each other and all the teachers really well. There is a “big sister” system to help the KGs settle in.

It is an academic school and the senior school is pretty fast paced, especially Year 5 and the first term of Year 6, but I see lots of happy, polite and relaxed girls around the school. My daughter loves going to school and has made some fantastic friends.

I think there are always pros and cons with every school. The pros for us are the size of the school, the fantastic staff, the proximity to the Common which is used a lot, great after school clubs, and also the fact that they don’t feel the need to stream. The girls might work in different paced groups within the class but this is a flexible system and you will never hear a parent (or a girl!) discuss what “set” their child is in. I understand that the streaming is fairly stringent at Thomas’ from an early age and I know this would not have worked for my children (very much a personal think but I would my child labelled that early on in their school career!) . Another plus is that as it is a smaller school, most of the girls get to be in a team and get a chance to play matches against other schools. This does not tend to happen in the bigger schools.

The cons for us existing Eaton House parents is that at the moment the school is a building site! But if your daughter is due to start next September she will get the benefits of a new dining / science block without the pain of the very dull building works.

I have been very impressed with the help we have received choosing a secondary schools. The headmistress is amazing and knows all the girls really well and we have had had very individual and great advice.

As mentioned by a previous poster, the headmistress is moving to be the head of Eaton House Prep School. We have been told that a new Head will be announced after half term – my own take on this is that as the future Head of the Prep school (and as a mum in the Girls school) she will be heavily involved in the appointing of the new Head. The Deputy head has been at the school since the beginning and is also very very good and personally I would be very happy if she stepped up to become Head.

I hope this helps - as i said I don't normally post but wanted to give you my take on things.

[Hummi]

My oldest daughter started at Eaton House a few weeks ago and so far she is happy so I am happy
The teachers are making such an effort to tailor learning to the child.

Yes, I can also already see an improvement.

When I first looked at Thomas's I really liked it but the more schools I looked at the less I liked it. It felt so competitive and they are only 4 years old. (I must admit here I am not British so not used to children starting school so early)

We weren also taken by the headmistress so a little bit disappointed but with the reputation the school has I am sure the new headmistress will be very good too.

Whatever you decide your child will receive a good education as both schools are good schools.