White House Prep Post Reply

[TyningTiger]

Hello,

We're considering this school for our daughter, amongst a couple of others. I just wanted to hear current parents views. I can't really find anything bad about the school online, which is very reassuring. That said, the destination schools at 11+ aren't quite as impressive as other schools in the area. 

I noticed they have a new headmaster coming in soon, which will be the third in a few years. Do you think that's anything to worry about?

Thanks so much in advance.

[Parent100]

The school is run by a family and this is translated into the feeling at the school. Incredibly caring and each child is celebrated for their talents - academic, social, sporting, musical, artistic - and supported extremely well. I am amazed at how the confidence of my children has grown.

A high proportion of the children receive scholarships and I know a lot of guidance is given about destination schools.

The pace of learning is fast but the children are happy.

We looked at a number of schools and felt this school produced well rounded, confident, happy children.
The families want to support their children and there are a lot of social activities - both arranged by the school and also informally amongst parents.

There are a number of clubs after school to 4:30 including sports, gardening, gymnastics, puzzles, art, reading and also an after school club until 6 which we find extremely helpful.

[Receptionmum24]

My son started at White House in September last year and I have to say I completely adore the school. We have met the new headmaster and he seems great - he will also be a parent as his child is joining pre reception so I think will be incredibly invested in the school and not likely to go anywhere anytime soon! Generally the risk of the new headmaster is quite low as the school is family owned and the mother and daughters who run it have a very clear and specific vision of how the school should run and the vine they want to create and manage that very closely.

It really feels like a local village school with a lovely community, but in the middle of london. I couldnt find any other schools with the same vibe nearby. The classes are small (our reception classes are particularly small this hear 11 in each, usually 15-18) but as there are two classes per year you get the best of both worlds - tiny class sizes for learning but the two classes do most other things together so it doesnt get cliquey.

Im surprised by the fact of the destination schools as from what i can tell the school works closely with every child to get them wherever they want to go. The thing that i really like is that they seem to have a lot of fun all the time and it does not feel like a hothouse but already they are ahead of many of my friends children in other local private schools particularly on reading and maths. Every child reads one on one with a teacher every single day.

Loads of clubs - gardening club is one of the most popular! Wraparound is easy and accessible and there are clubs covering almost every week of all the holidays. Even in reception they do 3-4 school trips a term, sport every day and gymnastics, ballet and swimming.

Most importantly for us the school is far more diverse (students and teachers) than every other private school we looked at and the parents are very down to earth - there’s no designer outfits at the school gates 🤣

The school has just had a new building but as they are still small there has been no issue with numbers (and theres a new housing development about to open in clapham park so i cant imagine numbers will be a challenge). As a family business they also have some control over mitigating any impact of the VAT rise.

Happy to answer any other questions but we are really delighted!

[Receptionmum24]

My son started at White House in September last year and I have to say I completely adore the school. We have met the new headmaster and he seems great - he will also be a parent as his child is joining pre reception so I think will be incredibly invested in the school and not likely to go anywhere anytime soon! Generally the risk of the new headmaster is quite low as the school is family owned and the mother and daughters who run it have a very clear and specific vision of how the school should run and the vine they want to create and manage that very closely.

It really feels like a local village school with a lovely community, but in the middle of london. I couldnt find any other schools with the same vibe nearby. The classes are small (our reception classes are particularly small this hear 11 in each, usually 15-18) but as there are two classes per year you get the best of both worlds - tiny class sizes for learning but the two classes do most other things together so it doesnt get cliquey.

Im surprised by the fact of the destination schools as from what i can tell the school works closely with every child to get them wherever they want to go. The thing that i really like is that they seem to have a lot of fun all the time and it does not feel like a hothouse but already they are ahead of many of my friends children in other local private schools particularly on reading and maths. Every child reads one on one with a teacher every single day.

Loads of clubs - gardening club is one of the most popular! Wraparound is easy and accessible and there are clubs covering almost every week of all the holidays. Even in reception they do 3-4 school trips a term, sport every day and gymnastics, ballet and swimming.

Most importantly for us the school is far more diverse (students and teachers) than every other private school we looked at and the parents are very down to earth - there’s no designer outfits at the school gates 🤣

The school has just had a new building but as they are still small there has been no issue with numbers (and theres a new housing development about to open in clapham park so i cant imagine numbers will be a challenge). As a family business they also have some control over mitigating any impact of the VAT rise.

Happy to answer any other questions but we are really delighted!

[Receptionmum24]

Apologies for the double post - NV was glitching.

Just to add a couple of things
- the previous headmaster has been here 7 years and is retiring (and is clearly sad about it!) so definitely nothing to worry about on that front.
- the daughters who own it also have all their children at the school and work at the school so are very hands on and invested in making everything as good as it can be.