Postby maria_ben » Thu Feb 16, 2023 8:31 pm
We are looking to decide on private primary schools soon for entry in 2024. We live in Earlsfiled and we have Roche, Hornsby House and Finton on our list. I do think that all are great schools.. when looking at academics, leavers destinations, range of extra curricular lessons, sports/music/arts/drama, pastoral care.
We have been on the open days and the feeling you get is different as each school chooses to present themselves in their own way (which is understood). For example, Roche made me feel very at ease and that it is a down to earth school without missing ambition. It felt homey and genuine in the relationships they form with the kids which I really liked. I was not impressed with the premises overall.
At Hornsby's open day, I was impressed with the facilities, the dedicated rooms for drama/arts/music/DT/computing, the broad range of specialist lessons/teachers. We did get to see these classes in action which inevitably makes a strong selling point. The kids seemed happy and calm, the teachers seemed to know the kids well. However, the classes were bigger with ~21 kids (though they do have bigger rooms to accommodate that which is great). During this tour, I did not get that cosy and nurturing feeling that Roche gave me and which I'd love to see in a school.
For Finton, we are due to see it soon but when i first saw it sometime ago, it felt a nice place to be, impressive music and DT rooms, but the main house felt a bit crammed.
I would love to hear parents experiences on these schools and to chat if possible.
Thanks in advance.