Honeywell School or local private prep? Post Reply

[Bubs]

Agree with the above. But just to add - Broomwood Hall (Girls) and Northcote Lodge (Boys) have an entry point at Year 4, age 8. This is where we moved our daughter, from Honeywell. The lower schools are mixed and then it goes to single sex at different sites/schools from Yr 4.

[Mumbly]

I think Iots of interesting points have been made and what a lucky choice it is to make beteeen a great state school and a private one.
My only thought would be to think about making that choice from reception rather than moving your daughter at year 3. Please think about the impact this had not only on the kids you leave behind in that state school(it’s very disruptive to the class to have lots of children leaving - fair enough if you’re moving out of area but if you know you’re going to change from day one that is different) but also on the family who are missing out on a much needed place at reception stage. Not everyone is lucky enough to have the choice.

I know this drives our (state) headmaster crazy!
Good luck with making the decision - whichever you choose it is only a school at the end of the day!

[Mumbly]

Just to add. It drives our headmaster mad because for every child who leaves he loses funding. It’s not always easy to fill places at that stage. The state system is already under funded and under strain - just something to consider.

[Janet14]

It does make me laugh when I hear these comments about the 'royal schools' as having children at one and certainly not being people with holiday houses this is not our experience at all!! I would be wary of listening too much to generalisations of the parents. I suspect their are 'horrible' parents at all schools and to think that all parents are the same at a school is ridiculous. Our experience of the parents that have been in our classes is that they are remarkably down to earth and at no point have we been felt at all judged by the fact that we can't afford as much as other families might. In fact most of the families we know there have two working parents (ie they can not survive on one income alone).
That being said it is a huge financial commitment and I would agree with this part and if we did it all again and had decided on state school (which we do often wonder about) I think we would have stuck with the school we had started at - ie either done state the whole way through or private the whole way through. Going private was something we decided on the moment our children were born so we were saving and preparing for it from the start but it is still a huge financial commitment and the 5% increase every year is a killer!
However, I hear from friends who have children at good state schools that their children are doing just as well and you do sometimes wonder if it's worth the cost but then actually it is ironically the parents at our current school that have made it worthwhile in that we've made some great friends who are in no way 'ghastly' or 'seriously horrible', just hard-working people who are wanting the best for their children (even if the best is not necessarily what they think!)
I would just think about the financial commitment and if you can afford it go for it but if you do end up going to the state school I'm sure your child will have a great education too as we're lucky to have some fantastic state schools in this area and if you're in the catchment area that's amazing.
The only thing I would say that you do get at private is all the extra curricular opportunities but these come at a huge cost too (£35 for a half hour music lesson!) and as someone else said you can get these opportunities locally anyway at a much smaller cost.
The only other comment I hear is that it is hard to move from private to state once you've started...oh and apparently the robots are going to take all the jobs soon anyway so is it worth spending the money
Good luck!

[supergirl]

As a PP all I would say is do the sums. What you end up paying at a private school are never the fees advertised it is always at least 10% more per child: fees, uniforms, school trips and extra curricular activities to name but a few.

Also if you have more than one kid will you be able to afford 2? Will you send them to differente schools 1 in state and 1 in private?
It doesnt matter what you choose to do but you mus answer those questions.

Good luck.

[Monion]

I’ve done both with different children - private all the way through and Honeywell then private. The child who went to private prep wishes he’d gone to Honeywell.
This is my experience but I do have some inside knowledge too.
As others have said, what they actually learn is more or less the same. What Honeywell gives is a wonderful all-round development of your child, resulting in children who are (mostly) happy, sociable, resilient and supportive of each other (rather than the competitiveness my first child encountered at his prep). They also seem to be generally less anxious than those from the preps and mix with a wider section of society which they appreciate once they get older and go out into the real world.
The atmosphere at Honeywell is vibrant and happy and both Heads are extremely dedicated and involved.
Schools such as Alleyn’s like Honeywell children and they do very well there. They enjoy learning and have a positive attitude towards school along with a creative outlook. Honeywell has a great track record for getting pupils into the private secondaries if that’s what you want, but also send a lot to Graveney etc.
There’s also the advantage of giving you more time to see what sort of school would suit your child. Once in a private prep they are on course to be pushed through the 11+ exams whether or not they really have the ability to cope academically. I’ve known many who couldn’t keep up and it is very damaging to them.
Once they get to secondary schools Honeywell children more than hold their own academically and fend to get involved in loads of extra-curriculum activities.
If I had to sum it up I’d say Honeywell children develop great character which stands them in good stead to fly once they get to secondary.

[oab]

We are very happy Honeywell parents (only in reception though, so not as knowledgeable as the others).
We like Honeywell for all the reasons already mentioned (happy children, great diversity, walking distance, and so on).
However, if you think of it as a pre-prep but for free, I think you will be dissapointed... it's an excellent state school, but bear in mind that the majority of children will go to Bolingbroke not Alleyns.
You should find the Honeywell leavers destinations, i remember looking at these a year or 2 ago... broadly speaking I think about 20% end up at the good private secondaries. (Don't quote me on the exact number, it's just to give you an order of magnitude). Which is great for a state primary!!! But it doesn't mean it gets you into Alleyns. As a parent you will probably need to do quite a lot pushing on your side. The prepreps are obviously more pushy because they live or die by their results, so they aim to get every child into a good school for their stats (if you look at Hornsby house for example, which also finished at 11, the great majority of kids go on to the dulwich schools).
So yes, Honeywell is much more relaxed than the pre preps, but that's because a lot of their kids will go on to state secondaries (and some will not even be in the top sets at the state secondaries ) ... it's a broad church in terms of academic ability (but this contributes to its diversity).

[Bubs]

Honeywell to Independent Secondary is more like 40%, to be accurate - and has been 40 to 50% for some time. Much of that is choice, since many are (rightly so) very happy with Bolingbroke as a State secondary option.

http://fluencycontent2-schoolwebsite.ne ... n-2017.pdf

[Vhopeful]

I would go with your gut assuming the financial side of things isn’t an issue - which school did you prefer the feel off. We opted to go private over Honeywell as I preferred the small classes and felt it would suit our child better. Also felt if they did struggle with anything that the small numbers would definitely help.
On the subjects of parents it’s fair to say it’s basically the same parents in the private schools as in Belleville/Honeywell... having kids in a private school locally I would say that 90% of the parents I’ve met in that school are normal down to earth non-holiday Home owning!

[BFW]

All my children are now in secondary school and if I could do it all over again I would chose Honeywell all the way (having spent a small fortune sending 3 at a local private private school!!). I know that most of the kids in my childrens classes that sat London day schools were also tutored. It really is a bit of a crazy system!

[ExceptionalAcademics]

Many parents would choose Honeywell and find tutors to help with preparing their children for the 11+ exams for various independent secondary schools. This would be less of a financial strain for the first 6 years whilst she is in primary education. In fact, we have helped numerous Honeywell students for the past 4 years and have achieved great results in ganging admissions to many top academic schools or schools of their first two choices. Of course, we will be able to advise you on school choices closer to the time of the 11+ as not all children will thrive in a top academic school.

We also have families who have their children in an independent prep school. Not many prepare them sufficiently for the increasingly more difficult (and ever changing) 11+ exams. From our collective experience of over 20 years as Heads of Departments in various independent prep and secondary, we only know a few prep schools in west and south-west London who truly are on the ball with 11+ preparation. However, getting into these prep schools require preparation.

I would opt for the Honeywell route. Although quite relaxed academically, all the Honeywell students we taught have all enjoyed their time there. However, you must ensure either you help her with her 11+ prep or find someone an experienced 11+ tutor to do so. I hope this helps!

Best wishes from the Exceptional Academics team!

E: info@exceptionalacademics.com
T: 0203 002 3770
W: http://www.exceptionalacademics.com

[Flowermummy]

ExceptionalAcademics
- would you mind sharing the name of the schools you think are "on the ball with 11+", in SW London?
I'm curious to know the opinion of tutors, as you have more detailed info (PM if you don't want to share here?)

to the OP -
I totally agree with ExceptionalAcademics and previous posters - if you take Honeywell and want private secondary, you as the parents will need to guide /push/tutor your daughter for 11+ prep and extra-curriculars (we are in this boat)

[actuallyadad]

In the words of Jessie J "it's all about the money money money!"

Look whatever people like to think, private schools are just better.

But if you can't afford it, you can't afford it.

If you can then I don't know why you wouldn't.

[cantcomplain]

'Look whatever people like to think, private schools are just better. '

That's quite an assertion, actuallyadad. I'd like to know more about your analysis. If by 'better' you mean that private schools get more impressive public exam results, well, yes, fair enough. But these schools are usually academically selective so that's to be expected.

Would you mind explaining what you mean?

[Vhopeful]

I don’t know what actuallyadad meant by that comment but surely it must be of benefit to a teacher to only have 16-20 kids to teach as opposed to 30. Friends have said that if your child is bottom or top of a state school they will get extra attention but sometimes kids in the middle are left to their own devices. Whereas in private schools (can only attest to ours) all the children get the same attention and I feel the teacher knows each ones strengths and weaknesses and sets them work based on this.
Saying all that I do think school choice is a personal decision and each to their own.