Hi, have you thought about The Roche School? It’s a wonderful place. In fact, I went there as a child and now my daughter is there. The facilities are fantastic- a whole building just for Year 6 to help guide them into secondary school life. Excellent IT equipment and a fabulous art studio- a favourite with my daughter! A great range of school clubs too, such as astrophysics, swimming, judo, etc. They also have a Spanish stream starting from nursery, if you’d like to incorporate a bilingual learning style. I can’t fault it, but absolutely do give them a call to have a look around! Hope this helps!

Allfarthing - both our kids are thriving here. There are a lot of really engaged parents which make a huge difference to the school community. Our eldest started during Covid and the class sizes have dwindled to around 16 in years 4-6 (many left London, some went private). Year 3 down the classes are still around 30. Will be interesting to see how many leave at the end of this year (“state to 8”!) Our youngest is in year 3 and we aren’t aware of many planning to leave, people are usually quite vocal if they are going. The VAT may make a difference.
Allfarthing offers lots of extra curricular clubs and are making a huge investment in improving sports provision on top of already good academics.
You say you aren’t in the area, but I would highly recommend visiting the schools you are interested in. If you aren’t available on the specific open days they should still offer you a chance to take a look. You need to get a feel for what suits your child. Good luck!

My boy played footie with some Swaffield boys and, having chatted to the parents, it does sound like a lovely school. I've also heard some really good things about Earlsfield Primary. One school missing on your list is Ravenstone - I've had a few friends with kids there and they were raving about it. Might be worth a look?

My boy left Honeywell for senior school this year and, as an ex parent, I would say - avoid it. It has this shiny middle class PR the other poster mentions, but not much more. It's not the school it used to be so don't get fooled by its old reputation (things change and headteachers change). My boy did ok at 11+ but only because we tutored extensively. Everyone does.

Huge, huge vote for Swaffield. It's such a happy environment - we were blown away on an open day and have been really pleased with our choice. Our little girl has a lovely, diverse, happy, confident group of friends.

My husband and I are both quite academically pushy and are really impressed by how our daughter is thriving. (And she just thinks she's having fun!)

It's such a hidden gem. It doesn't get the same shiny middle class PR as some of the other schools around, but we're absolutely thrilled with it.

We are applying soon for our son to start Reception next September 2025. We don't currently live in the area, so we aren't able to make it to all the Open Days. In the past I've found personal recommendations/ knowledge shared from current or past school families greatly helpful in making a decision on schooling. Any information this group could give me on your experiences at the following schools would be so appreciated -

Allfarthing, Beatrix Potter, Belleville, Earlsfield Primary, Floreat, Honeywell, Swaffield

Thank you!