Newton Prep, Belleville (Meteor) and Heathbrook Post Reply

[rvp]

Hello,

My son has an offer at Newton Prep, Belleville (Meteor) and Heathbrook and I would love to hear of any recent feedback or experiences that you may have had with any of these schools. I appreciate that they are all very different schools and each one of them appeals to us e.g. travelling to Newton Prep is a huge advantage for us (but at the expense of independent school fees is to be determined). Any advice or tips you can share to help us decide between these three schools is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance. 

 

[Expatacular]

Have you had a chance to visit the schools? I know nothing of Heathbrook, but Belleville and NP "feel" very different; I suspect after a visit, you'd have a gut feeling about which was a better match for your child. NP is a hugely impressive school with fantastic facilities, among the best in South London. The current head is a force to be reckoned with, and the impression I got was that staff, students, and parents were all very pleased with the school. We chose a different prep school that was a better location for us and a better fit for our family, but that decision in no way reflected how much Newton Prep impressed me. If resources and facilities are important to you, and you can afford the fees, NP will be hard to beat. 

[rvp]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts @Expatacular. Yes we have visited each of the schools several times and already purchased uniforms for NP. I think we've reached a point now where people's thoughts and honest experience of the schools will help in reaching a decision hence my initial post as we need to make a call b/w Heathbrook and Belleville ASAP.
 
It's interesting that most people we speak to have never heard of Heathbrook and I wonder whether that's because it's located in Lambeth but only a 20min walk from Newton Prep. 

[JayJay]

Dear Expatacular,

Both my sons go to Newton prep and we love it. It’s a really nurturing and positive school, great teachers, amazing head, with loads of extracurricular activities. Our older son is taking advantage of the amazing music department . The parent body is very down to earth. Most parents work and there is no snootiness that comes with privately educating your children. As a result and because of the schools ethos too, the children are very down to earth, kind and well behaved and often very intelligent too. They cater for mixed ability, but bring the best out of your child and even push them if that is what you want. All private schools are 1.5 academic years ahead of the National Curriculum. The class sizes are small, 17 kids on average in a class.
So in short, we couldn’t have chosen better. But of-course this all comes at a hefty price.
Hope this helps.
Kay

[mrs_original]

If you can afford the fees (by which I mean you don't have to sacrifice anything else in your family budget) and if commute is better, than definitely go with NP. Both my husband and I loved the school vibe, were impressed by their facilities and could see during the tour that that kids were genuinely happy and enjoying their time there. We really considered send our child to NP, the only downside to us was commuting since we're very keen on moving to BTC at the time and we don't want to have a car.

[dudette]

Presumably if you’ve bought the uniform for NP you will have paid the deposit and will also probably be liable for the first term’s fees? I know compared to the cost of their entire school career it’s not that much but still a lot to lose?

[firsttimerSW11]

I am sure someone will come along to flame me for this but.. have a look at the proportion of free school meals (pupil premium) at Heathbrook (37.5%); it is a good indicator of why it doesn't feature among the folks who can afford NP fees.

[chichineni]

Have you looked at Heathbrook's results?  They are so good compared to all other community schools! (don't know about independent schools as we never even considered an independent school due to fees). Parents who have sent their children to Heathbrook are extremely proud of the school and what it offers their children. If it hadn't been for the lengthy  walking distance would have definitely sent our daughter there last year. She went to Clapham Manor finally and I am so happy with this school too - it may not have fantastic facilities but the schools ethos and priorities for the children are bright and positive with a unique pride in and celebration of its diverse pupil population which is reflected in the experiences they offer the children. I would look at what is unique about the schools you are considering- what it wants to teach your child - what its priorities are. As far as I can gather Heathbrook wants your child to love reading, love growing things and care deeply  for the environment. Its an arty school with good academic results! I have several friends with children there who are so happy with Heathbrook.

[Ramaboo]

Can't add too much useful to PP except to say that we are current NP parents and love the school (as does our child)
We did look at Heathbrook and felt it was a good option - the head was passionate and warm and his own children attend the school, which felt like a good sign. It was initially built as a high school and so is bigger than a lot of state primaries. Friends who sent children there gave very good reports too.

BUT - if you can genuinely afford NP i'd say it is still the better choice of the two as state schools can rarely compare in terms of attention. it depends on your reasons for hesitation really? Feel free to send a PM if you are after specifics.

[SW9mum]

Heathbrook mum here! My kids are going in to yr5 and 3 next year and I couldn’t be happier with it tbh; I think it’s got even better in the time they’ve been there. Lots of music, sport, incredible outdoor space, and a lovely community feel amongst the parents, which I know has led many families to transfer from other local schools. And as a previous poster says the SATS results are excellent - certainly my kids are doing really well academically, and there are always kids who go on to private at 11+ (and indeed 8+, though when we considered this I couldn’t see any need as so happy with the school).
More than happy to be DM’d for more info!

[rvp]

Thank you all. We ended up choosing Belleville (Meteor) over Heathbrook which was really difficult as we always had a good feeling from HB school each time we visited and you could see that the headteacher was genuinely passionate about his school. The fact that he has kids at the school is always a good sign and we loved the outdoor space. Though we couldn’t ignore the academic results that the Belleville school seems to consistently achieve as well as the recent outstanding Ofsted results. My only hesitation for the Belleville meteor site apart from being further away is that unfortunately we haven’t met other parents as we received an offer late. We know a lot of families already at NP including a few kids from my sons nursery who are going to start reception with him albeit different classes. Deep down I do believe he will thrive at NP as he is an inquisitive child but it doesn’t appear that siblings automatically have a place at the school (we have a 2 year old son) and is the money worth it given you have to sort out your own wrap around care and when we’re undecided on whether we will stay in the U.K. (and have been for years!)?