Eaton House Belgravia + Battersea/Clapham prep schools Post Reply

[SouthChelseaBun]

Does anyone have any recent experience with Eaton House Belgravia? Our son has a guaranteed reception place there for September 2019 but I can't find much information about it, and I want to make sure we're making the right choice.

We live by Battersea Park/Chelsea Bridge so were also considering Newton Prep, Thomas's Battersea (although I think we may have missed the registration deadline - since it was selective I didn't realise you still had to register children as soon as possible after birth), and possibly some of the other Clapham and Battersea schools.

Our son is pretty laid-back and I'm worried he is the sort of child who might be "lost" in a noisy, busy school - good-tempered, calm, curious, sociable, but not very assertive, and a little quiet and reserved in new situations. Our other priorities are: good academics (but not to the exclusion of all else, particularly since I've no idea how academic he will turn out to be - he seems to be doing well developmentally but not sure how much of an indicator that is at this point), excellent pastoral care, and a relatively down-to-earth and diverse parent body.

[Happymama]

Hi there,

If you live near Battersea Park I would personally go for Eaton House the Manor in Clapham. They have so much more space than Belgravia and the common opposite which the boys and girls use a lot for matches, practice, running and for break time. They are just finishing a huge building project (which has been a bit boring for us existing parents!) but after Christmas the school should hopefully look amazing with new dining facilities, a new theatre, new science rooms etc. I have kids in the Pre-Prep, Prep and Girls school and have been happy with the school - as I said above the building works have been a tad annoying but its almost over now ! Because the school is non-selective, I personally found that the it suited lots of different characters and I think it would suit your son. A special mention for me is for the sports master in the Pre-Prep who is fantastic and manages to get all boys involved including the non sporty ones ! I have also always found the parents to be down to earth and there are quite a few International families which I really like.

I don't have any personal experience with Belgravia apart from the fact that my boys have played matches against them so I can't give you any first had advice on that I am afraid. But the lack of outside space for me personally would have been a bit of an issue.

Good luck with your choice !

[Happymama]

Hi there,

If you live near Battersea Park I would personally go for Eaton House the Manor in Clapham. They have so much more space than Belgravia and the common opposite which the boys and girls use a lot for matches, practice, running and for break time. They are just finishing a huge building project (which has been a bit boring for us existing parents!) but after Christmas the school should hopefully look amazing with new dining facilities, a new theatre, new science rooms etc. I have kids in the Pre-Prep, Prep and Girls school and have been happy with the school - as I said above the building works have been a tad annoying but its almost over now ! Because the school is non-selective, I personally found that the it suited lots of different characters and I think it would suit your son. A special mention for me is for the sports master in the Pre-Prep who is fantastic and manages to get all boys involved including the non sporty ones ! I have also always found the parents to be down to earth and there are quite a few International families which I really like.

I don't have any personal experience with Belgravia apart from the fact that my boys have played matches against them so I can't give you any first had advice on that I am afraid. But the lack of outside space for me personally would have been a bit of an issue.

Good luck with your choice !

[SouthChelseaBun]

Thanks so much Happymama. They sound fantastic - I think the reason we initially didn't look at schools closer to Clapham Common was purely based on our commute. I am wondering if it is too late to register now, but will certainly give them a call.

[Happymama]

I think if you tell them that you already had a place at Belgravia you should hopefully be ok ?

Good luck !

[pie81]

If you're looking at reception in Sep 2019 then your son must still be under 2 years old?

If that's the case then I would really suggest you register for all the schools near you - except for any you absolutely don't like, and any where the registrar tells you you're definitely too late for a place (I doubt you are definitely too late for Thomas's Battersea - ask the school and they will tell you).

It is very hard to decide at 18-20 months what kind of a school will suit him at 4, and of course with selective schools there are no guarantees anyway, so best to keep your options as open as possible at this stage. It's annoying to have to pay multiple registration fees but for the sake of a few extra £50s it's really worth it to have the choices when he is older.

[walesdavies]

Hi,
just to say that we didn't put ours down (b/g twins) until around 2 years old (due to it taking that long to come out of the twin (hell) fog!) Despite this last minute panic, they both got a place at Eaton House CC (even though we were on the waiting list initially) & Thomas's Clapham and we were on the waiting list for the waiting list there! Although we didn't get an actual place at EH until the October before they were due to start & we found it in the July that we'd made it to 'assessment' in the November before they were due to start. Everyone puts their chn down in as many places to start and then things change: people move out, people accept state places so even if you think you've got no chance at this early point things can change.
I'd do your research on which schools you really like (no point waisting money if you wouldn't want them to go there or the commute is too far for you) & apply regardless of what you are told. 'Better late then never!'
There are a number of open days coming up so that might be a good place to start. Good luck with your journey & try not to panic!

[NinaB]

Newton Prep in Battersea Park Road and is close to you. It has amazing facilities and academically good, great teachers, epecially art.

I have one child there and one has left at 11+