Eveline Day School - anyone had experience/have any views? Post Reply

[Ballymanu]

Hi
Does anyone have any experience of or views on Eveline Day School in Balham? There's not much info online (though lots of good reviews of the nursery) and the Ofsted report is 6 years old. We're considering it but would welcome any views from parents who considered it...thanks.

[OksanaB]

Hi - my 18 month old son goes to the Eveline Day nursery on Trinity Crescent and we really love it! The staff are very friendly and attentive and have been very accommodating to us since we joined in September this year. I cannot recommend them highly enough!

[Medway]

It's an amazing place- as the classes are so small your child gets individual attention. It is also highly academic - kids get places at all the best privates around - including Kings, Jags, Wimbledon High etc - in Year 6.

[Ballymanu]

Medway

Thanks very much for posting. I did worry that the classes were a little too small and the transition to secondary school might be tricky but it helps to know other children have gone on to good secondary schools.

Are there adequate sports and music facilities do you think? The building does seem a little small but am guessing they have access to other facilities?

Thanks
B.

[viva]

Hi there...we are registered at Eveline Day School for reception September 17. I liked the small class sizes and the nurturing atmosphere so would love to hear what anyone with children actually attending think. Thank you!

[Mum2Monkey]

My neighbour's children go / went there. From what I understand - it is very musical and generally "arty" but less sporty.

As the years go up, the ratio of girls to boys increases and the class sizes get very small.

Her kids love it.

Most kids do the wrap around hours and so are from 2 parent working households.

Her eldest got offers from Jags, Alleyns, Emmanuel and all with scholarships. Her best friend got similar offers. I know at least one boy in the same year went to Kings. This surprised me as didn't seem academic when I looked around but given that year only had about 12 kids (I think), then the offers for the 3 I know about seem impressive.

All secondhand info....

[Lilybetta1]

One of ours went there but we felt it wasn't a great match and moved. It was really strong on arts, music, drama and things like that but not so much on sport and some of the other extra curricular stuff that, for us, was just as important but not valued as highly (and, oddly I thought at the time, the state schools catered better for). We also felt that the classes got that bit too small. I remember a lot of kids left as the classes went up. However, as with all schools its very much a personal fit and different kids love different things. I would say that the wrap around care was great though and a massive selling point.

[Sahconey]

I recently moved my son there into year 2 from a local state school. The classes are small, but I see that as a positive. He is bright and is given the attention at this school whereas in the 30+ state school his attention span seemed not so great!!! They have been extremely welcoming, he's settled really well. They don't have massive grounds but they do do lots of sports - possibly the only difference to some other schools is that because of the smaller classes they are less likely to have a team which can play in the local school leagues - but my son has already been playing football and volleyball. Swimming lessons are much better too.Because thy are smaller they seem to be able to take trips up to Wandsworth Common and stuff a lot more regularly than he ever did at the old school - not such a faff taking 8 kids out as it is 30 so I think that is a great benefit. And the wrap around care is amazing too.
And from parents I know in the upper years and from the school it is absolutely true that they have great links with all the good private and grammar schools in the area and are really able to help get your child into the right setting.
I love the school - best decision we made!

[2SW17boys]

Hi - I have two at EDS. It is a lovely small, nurturing school which punches above its weight for secondary destinations and the year-round childcare for working families is amazing. It is changing rapidly - it moved premises a few years ago to the bigger current site on the high road so is bulging at the bottom end of the school and is upping its offering in terms of clubs etc. There are smaller numbers as you go up the school partly due to the fact that it used to be on a much smaller site- also due to people moving out of town and parents putting kids into feeder primaries for the popular secondaries. Some extra children do come in further up the school but classes are small. Strengths are the multi-cultural nature of the school, small class sizes, interaction between years, drama, music and childcare. Weaknesses can be old-fashioned communication and the fact that the class sizes can get a bit small which does have an impact on sports teams. That said the sports provision is also improving and we simply do extra sport outside school. It is not as flash as some other local schools but it works very well for our family and raises kind, confident children who have no issues settling into larger secondaries.

[Medway]

The Parsley Song - if you don't want to take my word for it, I would contact the SCHOOL not the nursery for their Leavers Destination Lists. For what it's worth my own son is starting at Alleyns in Sept, he also got a Scholarship to Dulwich College.

My advice going forward would to be to not take first impressions of a nursery and make wild (and in this case) inaccurate assumptions about the school. In case you were wondering I am quite riled by the accusation by you that I have not been truthful in my post, but I guess the judgement is yours.

[Sacha123]

I have a child at EDS and they are very happy and progressing well. The school is very caring and friendly.

The wraparound childcare is excellent and very flexible. It's great not to have to worry about making arrangements for after school and holiday care.

Currently there are 22 children in Upper Reception so it's expanding. There are lots of initiatives to develop the school further e.g more clubs, online maths and reading programmes, new menus are recent ones.