Hornsby or Eaton House Girls Post Reply

[ClaphamNewMum]

We need to decide whether to pay the Hornsby deposit this week and would really appreciate feedback on Eaton House Girls and Hornsby please. We have two girls and like both schools. We would intrinsically prefer a mixed school but the journey to Eaton House would be an easy stroll vs likely driving to Hornsby and hence our dilemma. We are looking for a friendly school, with excellent academics and lots of sport and music. Our eldest seems bright and confident (it's too early to tell with the youngest yet!).
We see excellent reviews about Hornsby but there is very little information about Eaton House Girls and any comments about either school would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks

[Bunnypigeon1]

Our eldest daughter is at Eaton House and our middle daughter will be starting there next year. So far we are happy with the school, the girls are happy and the academics are good. It does seem to be the 'pushiest' school around from an academic perspective but we are ok with that. There is lots of sports and music, drama, ballet, one or two outings each term, etc. We also looked at Hornsby and liked both schools although they are very different. Hornsby seems a bit more relaxed and easy going, whilst Eaton does seem a bit more traditional and old school. Give me a shout if you want more info on Eaton house, happy to chat through.

[Franklens]

Our daughter is in form 1 at Eaton House and absolutely loves it, has done from the minute she started. We too had to decide between EH and HH and decided on EH for the ease of school run and the fact that we then wouldn't need a nanny/au pair who would have to drive which was a big factor for us. I now love the school run walk/cycle across the common and to be honest it would be a real pain to have to get in car each morning. Saying that I had reservations about single sex element which is why I preferred Hornsby initially. With regards to academics I think they both did very well this year and got their pupils into all the top schools so not much difference between the two. With regards to sport I love how much sport the EH girls do. They do ballet, swimming and sport twice a week and have fun competitive events (swimming gala and cross country runs) from kindergarten which I feel is important. We are really happy with our decision and more importantly our daughter is thriving, happy and runs into school most mornings which is ultimately the most important thing. I know plenty of people who rave about HH so I think you're very lucky to have two such lovely schools to decide between. Good luck!

[Space12]

Hornsby House. A fantastic school with some amazing teachers.
My son had a amazing journey at the school.

[Vhopeful]

Our girls are at EH and love it, very happy with the school on all fronts. I would say the daily commute is a big deal and I would definitely be swayed in terms of which school is most convenient as both have excellent results and are great schools.

[ClaphamNewMum]

Thanks for the replies. They're really helpful so please do keep them coming. It's good to hear there's a lot of sport at Eaton House as we were worried how good that would be given how small the school is. Is it a sociable school?

Bunnypigeon1, I've emailed you as I'd love to have a chat please.

[hellokittyerw]

They are both good schools, so you are very lucky

We looked at both for our son recently (didn't get a place at HH and we didn't chose EH either), I would choose HH because:
1) it's coed. You know your daughter best and you will have a better feel if that's important for her or her sister
For us, this was the major reason why we didn't chose EH.
2) HH is more diverse. Again, you will know best how important this is for you.
3) At EH, there is some sort of assessment at 7/8 in order to go into the upper school (that's for the boys school, not sure if for girls too). Which means that if your child is bottom of the class (unlikely, I agree) you will need to find another school at that age.

Sounds like you have to decide between a school that you possibly like more vs a school that's closer, so more convenient. I'd say lots of people in nappy valley have a very similar decision to make (and some chose convenience while others choose the school they like best). You'll have a gut feel of what's right for you, and that's probably the right decision.

Best of luck!

[Bunnypigeon1]

Whilst i like both schools, I have to disagree that HH is more diverse. One of the things we most liked about EH is that it's relatively international and diverse- especially compared to other schools in the area. I am foreign and my husband is indian so we wanted a school that wasn't purely white English. HH did seem to be very much that demographic but EH seemed more varied. In my daughter's class now there are girls from the US, South Africa, the Middle East, Russia, Colombia, etc. It was one of its biggest selling points!

[treep]

The boys assessment into the prep was scrapped a while ago and I am pretty sure it never happened in the girls school.
Eaton House is incredibly diverse - we are a mixed race family as are several in our class there is a huge and interesting mix of nationalities.

[ClaphamNewMum]

That's great to know about the diversity, thanks.
We get the impression that HH is a very 'local' school. Is EH the same? We're thinking it would be good to live near the school not just for the commute but also for play dates/birthday parties/parents drinks etc.

[treep]

The majority of people live locally to Eaton House and walk . There are a few people spread out and some get the school bus from north of the river, but generally yes a local school.

[Angus]

The 8+ exam for entry into the prep from the pre-prep at Eaton House was scrapped but entry is still subject to assessment internally and a very small number of boys might be told to look elsewhere. The prep is very pacy!

The girls' school is entirely non-selective at Reception but subject to assessment if seeking to enter in a different form.

[treep]

This has changed they now say all boys will get into the prep unless there are serious issues .

[Angus]

Ah - not quite what the head of the prep says!

[Abbmun]

We had the same dilemma. One aspect not yet mentioned is that HH is a charity. EH was acquired by a private equity firm last summer. i don't know what this difference transpires to on a daily basis albeit HH are very vocal that all profits are reinvested in staff, and the teacher to pupil ratio is far superior as a result.