Broomwood Hall insights please Locked

[Wfm]

I also really liked Thomas' and found the environment stimulating.

Not sure about violetmummy's reference to city bankers, sounds quite prejudiced to me.

[broodje]

This is quite tiring actually! The misinformation that is. Nobody is saying that Broomwood is for everybody (no school is!), but let's dispel any falsehoods about fees etc.

You register for free at birth on provisional list. You have an opportunity to go to a presentation evening. For free. There are open days. For free. And there is absolutely no need to call the school or go to a presentation to find our the mysterious dates for the open day (BTW, you can go to these ad nauseum every year since birth, no need to wait for the school year of entry). The dates are actually on the Internet and published in local press (as are the ones for all the other schools in the ared). Families SW, Angels&Urchins, other free magazines (property focused), etc

I personally think it's perfectly reasonable to to ask for a registration before giving an individual tour and a meeting with the headmistress. I think after you had an opportunity to go to a presentation AND an open day, you should have a pretty good idea if you want to register or not. And after you register, you can have all the attention you want at an individual tour.

As far as other "Broomwood mummies" asking about "where are you skiing this year?" - what's wrong with that? The price tag of all SW private schools is more or less similar (apart from GDST schools), so if you can pay £3.5k per term (often for more than one child), you have a certain lifestyle - you are not exactly trying to make ends meet! It's very likely that you go on holidays more than once a year, it's very likely that your house costs well above £700k (3-4+ bedroom in SW12, SW18, SW11 or parts of SW17). At least this will hold true for 70%+ of school population in ANY independent school in SW. Given that, a question about skiing is a perfectly normal conversation opener, rather than a sign of snobbery, elevated lifefstyle or whatever else you thought it to be.

Finally, interviewing parents (or rather seeing a family fits) is surely a good thing - what's the point of changing schools after a term? Different things for different people. E.g., Northcote Lodge is very sporty, they have games every afternoon - what would be the point for a non-sporty boy (or the one who may be agile, but just hates team sport) of going there?

PS No, really, the skiing comment made me laugh. FYI, you can ski very cheaply, cheaper than a weekend in British countryside.

[ready2pop]

Did you not go on an open day? I went before I put my son on the provisional list and was shown round the whole place by one of the pupils (much more usefuol insight than being given a tour by the head) before having the chance to ask the teachers, head and admission staff questions. Definitely didn't have to pay.

[jafina]

Just had to reply regarding my earlier skiing comment about BH. What made me laugh about that was the assumption that EVERYONE skis (I don't) so rather than asking "Are you going skiing this year?" it was "Where are you skiing?". Anyway, I didn't find it offensive, nor did my friend. I just found it slightly amusing.....apologies if it bothered anyone.

But I must take issue with the assumption that people who can send their children to independent schools have lots of money, many of them don't and a huge portion of their disposable income is spent on schooling. I know quite a few parents who don't holiday abroad and live in very modest houses just so they can privately educate their children.

[monaco]

@broodje thanks for the clarification on the procedure. I think this is going to be really useful for many parents looking into that school.

May I just point out that it was not misinformation from my part but my experience. I called and checked for the open days and that's what I was told. Why would i have bothered checking the free magazines for a date, I just trusted the person who answered me on the phone ! All of this just contributed to form my opinion of the school and contributed to my conclusion that it was not for us.

Glad to know that many others have been able to experience it in a better way.

Still curious about the 21:1 comment on Thomas'. !!

[Mils]

violetmummy, for someone who is against school bashing, what have you got against Thomas's and Finton House?? We are lucky in this area to have so many fantastic schools. I have friends with kids at all of the schools mentioned and not one of them has had a bad experience, all are more than happy with their choices. The rumour mill surrounding so many of the schools is rubbish, parents commenting on other schools that they have no real knowledge of. You and your husband should go with your gut, no one knows your children better than you. You will know as soon as you walk into a school whether you like it and I'm sure whatever decision you make your children will be happy. It is a hugely stressful time but it will get better! Good luck!

[juliantenniscoach]

I think if you spend X thousand pounds per annum on school fees I think you'll find asking where you ski goes with the demographic.

[Happymama]

I liked Broomwood a lot and it was actually my first choice for a while.

There is only one thing that I didn't like. It was the interview for the parents .... I know that a post above says that this is done to make sure that the "family fits" but to me if felt like the interview was all about my husband and I and not about our child. And I find it strange that no other schools in the area feel the need to interview the parents to make sure they fit in their schools. After all I am sure that we are all capable of researching a school and making sure it is right for our kids without being told by the school whether we are right for them ????!

I really wish I gave Broomwood this feedback when we didn't take our place up as I think it is a shame that some parents are put off by this when it is such a lovely school.

Broomwood mothers please do not take this as a criticism as I think its a great school and I have lots of friends with very happy kids there ! Just a totally personal experience / view.

As for the £100 for the tour - I agree. We were not asked for a deposit to put our child's name on the list and therefore I did not thing this was a totally unreasonable request. I think most of the schools in the area ask for a deposit just to put the name on the waiting list.

[MGMidget]

There seems to be a lot of disagreement over whether you can get a tour before you pay £100. Yes, there are open days, but the only open days I have been invited to or seen publicised on their website (and believe me I've checked quite often) are for Garrads Road. That's in Streatham I believe, and any parents between the commons or around Nightingale Lane get assigned to a different school site as I understand it - not the Garrad's Road site. There doesn't seem to be a way of getting an open day tour of the sites for the pre-prep school in Ramden Road and Nightingale Lane and they seem to operate quite separately from Garrad's Road. So which mums got a tour on an open day of the Ramsden Road site or Nightingale Lane Pre-preps then? I had the same experience as Monaco on this. Personally I don't see the point of doing a tour of Garrad's Road which seems to have better facilities than the other Broomwood Hall pre-prep sites if my son has been assigned on the provisional list to a different site! I would be only too delighted to have an open day tour of the site my son would attend, given to me by one of the pupils - as someone else pointed out this is much more informative than a tour from the head and I agree!

I'm finding this debate quite enlightening though. Very interested to hear about the other schools too. Keep going!!! Certainly I hadn't made my mind up about Broomwood which is why I posted the question in the first place.

[malc_colq]

Hello, everyone. I’m one of the two principals of Broomwood Hall & have been reading the various posts both nice (thank you) and less nice (well, you can’t please everybody) with interest. As Oscar Wilde observed, the only thing worse than being talked about is . . . (well, you know what it is), so I guess I should be pleased. Rumours and myths abound about all schools – you can choose to believe them or not, that’s your choice - but I thought maybe you’d like to hear it from the bouche du cheval, so to speak.

Here goes. Putting your child’s name on our lists is absolutely free. When your child is 2, you’re invited to attend an information morning which consists of a half-hour presentation followed by coffee and the chance to ask all your beady questions. Then, and only then, we ask you to decide on the basis of what you have heard whether you think Broomwood is the kind of school you are looking for. If it is, we invite you to place your child on the registered list – fee £100 – which guarantees you a place. If it isn’t, fine, we’d rather you found out now than later. Unsure? That’s fine too – come back to us later and there’s every chance we may be able to help you (no guarantees of course).

Those on the registered list are then invited back for a one-on-one visit, lasting about an hour, that involves being shown around the school, followed by a half hour chat over a cup of coffee with the headmistress. This is not an interview (remember – you’re on the registered list, so you’ve got a place).

Well it sounds reasonable enough to me. But the point about paying a registration fee before having a tour of the school is well made – maybe we’ll take a look at that one again.

We’re a business, not a charity (in fact, of the private schools mentioned in the various posts – ourselves, Thomas’s, Eaton House, Hornsby House, Finton House – only the last two are). The question that should be asked – and maybe it perplexes you in the same way that it does me – is why the fees of those schools are not a lot lower than ours in view of the tax breaks they receive. But that’s something you need to ask them I guess. Here’re some facts though: to educate a child from Reception through to the end of year 3 costs £44,730 at Finton House, £45,330 at Hornsby House, £44,807 at Broomwood. Puzzled? I am.

Here’s the thing. Over the last 25 years, I think we’ve pretty much figured out what our customers want, and that’s exactly what we set out to give them. We do what we do, and we do it very well. If it’s what you’re looking for, then you won’t do any better. If it isn’t, we’re lucky to have plenty of other very good schools in our area that may suit you better. Fair enough?

The car is an Aston Martin by the way (dark green, very pretty), a birthday present to myself when I turned 60 couple of years ago – delayed midlife crisis maybe? The numberplate – A1 LUS – I inherited from my father when he died in ’08. It lives mostly up in Scotland where my family home is, and I take it for an occasional walk when the sun is shining (which is not that often hereabouts I can tell you!). It’s purchase, I’m happy to tell you, didn’t cost the Broomwood parents a bean.

Well there you are. I don’t know if that clears up anything for anyone. Hope so!

[lornaphelan]

And Oscar Wilde also wrote...................................

"A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal"

[MGMidget]

Malc-colq thank you so much for taking the time to contribute to the forum and clear a few things up and thank you for considering the point about the need to register before a tour at some sites. I just had one query on the points you made. You mentioned that the chat with the head is just that, a chat, as those on the registered list already have a place. However, I heard from staff at the event (and indeed school correspondence says the same) that you bring children in for a 'readiness' assessment shortly after their third birthday. I was told that all children are assessed at the same age, shortly after the third birthday, in order to make it fair to everyone and offers are not sent out until June when most children have been assessed. So this gives the impression that not everyone has a place - or have I misunderstood? Whilst it is no doubt well-intentioned, the combination of a chat with the head over coffee and a selective 'readiness' assessment of the child might make parents wonder if they were being assessed too as some parents on this forum seem to have thought.

[malc_colq]

Dear MGMidget: you’re making me tiptoe across a minefield here! Oh well, in for a penny. . . Yes, of course we assess the children at the age of 3 – you’d scarcely expect otherwise. But this is, as you correctly suggest, a ‘readiness’ assessment, designed only to ensure that, from a developmental perspective, a child is actually going to be ready to come to school at age 4. It is not in any sense an academic assessment since, whatever you may hear to the contrary, it is impossible to make any meaningful assessment of the academic capabilities of a 3-year old, which is why we don’t attempt it.

Yes, sometimes the assessment reveals that a child simply isn’t ready for school. When that happens – and it’s rare – we will usually suggest that you bring her or him (statistically, it’s more likely to be a him) back a year later when things most likely will have changed.

We’re often asked, “what type of child will thrive at Broomwood Hall”? Interesting question. The answer is, absolutely any type of child. With parents though, it’s a different matter. From reading the various posts, it’s quite obvious that parents have differing – and often strongly held – views about what they are looking for, and that is as it should be. From our point of view, we are looking for parents who share our aims and aspirations, and who believe not just in what we are doing but in how we go about it. There is nothing – nothing! – worse than an unhappy parent, and if it’s clear when you have your chat with the head that we’re unlikely to be able to meet your requirements, then it’s probably best if we acknowledge that and go our separate ways. You can call that an assessment if you like; to me, it’s just common sense.

All schools have to manage their lists, and have different ways of going so. But what we’ve always said is this: anybody who wants a place at Broomwood – I mean really, truly wants one – will get one. That’s the aim, and that’s the way we’d like it to continue.

OK. Did I make it to the other side? You tell me. Thankfully, I’m through the whole business of choosing schools for my children (and yes, I did have to go through it), but I do remember what a horrible and stressful experience it can be. But please believe me, we haven’t the slightest interest in making it any worse than it need be.

[MGMidget]

Malc-colq, thank you yes, I think you've given a very good and honest response. I've certainly found this thread very informative as so many people have taken the time to give their views so thank you all!

[Annabel (admin)]

Thank you to everyone who has taken part in this paticular topic.

I'm now locking this thread so that it will be closed to any further comments.

This is not because we've been asked to lock it, we haven't, but I feel that its run its course. The danger with long running threads is that they lose their initial purpose and those who have already contributed feel they have to keep commenting or they'll appear rude or dis-interested.

This is not to stop anyone restarting a similar conversation elsewhere, and I hope some of you will, it simply means that potential contributors can choose whether or not to join in afresh.

Thank you to everyone who took part, this type of discussion, about a local school, with input from parents, prospective parents, ex-parents and managers are the very reason for launching NappyValleyNet in the first instance.

Thank you all!

Annabel