Interesting article in the guardian on the downsides of for profit private schools...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/201 ... ions-probe

PS I'd love to hear from anyone who was actually at the recent Open Day - any thoughts?

A good friend went to the Open day yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. He said there were lots of good elements to offset the fact that it's a new school and therefore somewhat of a risk, but the main thing that impressed him was that it is going to be a 'Forest School'. I hadn't heard of these but my husband had read an article raving about how good they were and I Googled it - they're based on the successful Swedish system and apparently starting to gets lots of positive attention over here. This seems to be a good summary:

"Forest schools use the woods and forests as a means to build independence and self-esteem in school-age children. Topics are cross-curriculum (broad in subject) including the natural environment, for example the role of trees in society, the complex ecosystem supported by a wilderness, and recognition of specific plants and animals. However, the personal skills are considered highly valuable, such as teamwork and problem solving. The woodland environment may be used to learn about more abstract concepts such as mathematics and communication. Personal skills such as team-building, goal setting, planning and achieving, increasing cooperation to achieve goals, as well as reviewing and recognising own achievements are developed"

Now that could be great. But on the other hand it could be hype and a good marketing ploy. Does anyone have any more knowledge about this system or any views?

Aren't Thomas' and Broomwood' both privately owned schools making profits for the families that own them? Or are they run on a not-for-profit basis?

Schools need investment to get going though don't they? Ultimately whoever invests wants to see a return on investment but if the school isn't a success then the return won't be good. At least they have a portfolio of schools so have an interest and some expertise in the sector. Many of the private schools in the area are run as businesses not charities so I personally wouldn't rule it out for that reason alone.

Just seen these details about the chairman of Wandsworth preps owner...

Marwan Naja is an entrepreneur and investor focusing on the education sector. He serves as Chairman of Bellevue Education Group which owns and operates schools in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Marwan has served on over ten boards and has held positions as Managing Director at Deutsche Bank and as Head of Private Equity at Pictet & Cie. He holds a BA from Indiana University and an MBA from The Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

So he *might* be about the money

Just re-read my post and wanted to clarify something.

I have no idea if the Wandsworth Prep school has investors but if they do that would be a red flag.

Personally I think Thomas and Broomwood are fab schools

Can I add to that, the "for profit" private schools are all about the bottom line but there are shades of grey in the private sector.

Firstly, Finton and Hornsby are charities, so they ARE all about the children's education, thats the reason they exist. Its not a coincidence that these schools have such massive waiting lists as they are the best of both worlds.

Next, there are schools such as Broomwood and Thomas' which are for-profit but are family owned. These almost have a matriarch or patriarch approach. You're left in no doubt that they're owned by someone but in these cases (I think) its families and they get a lot back from running good schools, from being the "owners" of the school.

Lastly you have private schools that are backed by investors.

A good example is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognita

these guys are a massive education firm backed by private equity

the website of Congitas prviate equity firm is here

http://www.bregalcapital.com/

Bregal exist for ONE reason only, to make money. Thats it. There is NO other reason for a private equity firm to exist. They even pride themselves on the businesses they have sold (its the exit tab) so this is a long winded way of saying its not all bad BY ANY MEANS, but some of it is very very bad.

My brother and sister in law had their daughters in an ultra snooty feeder prep for St Pauls Girls'. And the education is indeed second to none, there is no doubt my 10 year old niece is getting a phenomenal learning experience there. My younger niece had a vastly different experience, having been diagnosed with severe dyslexia. Such that they have been told they can pay for a new teacher (£28k a year on top of the fees) Or they could take her out. Now she is in a state primary and getting all the help she needs. Bottom line, she was a drain on their resourses. Which proves the point - private schools can be great but the bottom line is their own bottom line, not the children. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for private schools, but as that school showed, the kids aren't the priority. Whereas in the state sector they are. Bottom line.
So yes Wandsworth Prep will probably be fabulous, but god help you if your child is anything other than perfect.

V.useful, thanks The "anti" feelings are really worrying & the selection process is confusing to say the least.

I think Wee Ones might get preference but this wasn't stated.

We have also looked at Finton & Hornsby but the waiting lists are so long so we did end up registering for WPS (as a back up) we liked Roche & I went to Hurlingham, we're now going to look at Newton based on this & a friend who taught there.

Hi Thatsnotmymonkey! If you are looking at alternatives to Finton House I would like to recommend Newton Prep, my son is now in year 1 & has been there since nursery. I only have praise for the school, they have fantastic teachers & fabulous pastoral care. The facilities are outstanding & due to be even better from September 2012 when the current building works are finished. They have regular open days or I think you can just arrange to go along & meet the Headmaster. I could not be happier! Good luck with everything.

Is the ill-will from local residents to do with the fact that the building used to be a community library?

If that's the case and from their point of view, closing the free library that everyone could use at no cost in order to open a school they can't afford to use must be irritating in the extreme - no wonder it's provoking resentment. And I suspect the resentment is unlikely to stop any time soon.

Thanks for all your thoughts. Naively, I have never really thought about where the fees actually go to - a little new to this 'School Game'.

I went to the open day and to be honest you didn't miss anything - there was a ridiculous lack of information about the actual school, more information was given on the 2 pieces of A4 that they gave out than in the actual speeches.

I felt ( and many people I know felt too) that the speeches were very much grand-standing about how great they are but not really anything about how great the school was. They did say something along the lines that the problem with parents who want to send their children to private school is that they want to have an academically excellent school but also one that is nurturing, inclusive and supportive....and that this is a balance which is difficult to get - but that they would get it....though NO information whatsoever about how!!! Pretty ridiculous.

Also, if you are worried about finances, I did attend the locals consultation meeting and at that it was revealed (or if not, implied and not refuted) that the schools in this group are managed by an off-shore company so I suspect that not only are they very much about shareholders and profits but also sounds like they don't even pay taxes into the UK system. (Please note I'm only reporting what has been said - I haven't done any research on their finances myself).

The link with wee ones as I understand it is that the lady who runs wee ones thought the site would be great for a school so contacted the bellvue group (or whatever they are called) and suggested that they look into putting a school there.

The other consideration is that the council is currently considering developing the land behind the school (the bit that's parking and grass) to become social housing for those with learning difficulties. I would suspect that this might put off the type of parent that they are trying to attract???

The site is really small and there isn't much in the way of outside play area.

Local feeling isn't overly supportive - mainly due to concerns about parking and the school's use of the dog free area (they want to use this for sports etc) - also some concerns about noise. Locals also still feel aggrieved that the library closed down - but to be honest in my view a school is probably a better use of space than more housing development that I believe was previously planned.

The school said that pupils would come from the local area and so would walk but they weren't keen to discuss anything about putting in place selection criteria that would actually lead them to selecting local people so I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen! (lets face it, if parents are paying around £12k a year to get to school I can't see that they would appreciate being told how to get their child there!)

Surprised to hear there are interviews, I don't recall them mentioning this on the open day.

I don't know if you mean the one on Allfarthing Lane - I would be worried about my child going here because there is already very negative feeling from the community near it.
There has been graffiti sprayed onto the fences around it against SUV's etc and wealthy parents. The school is almost attached to a council estate and I imagine people living on top of it feel ill will towards what they see as a symbol of wealth.
I don't know how this will palm out when the school opens but I imagine the hostility will continue.