Belleville or local private prep Post Reply

[ClaphamNewMum]

I've read the recent threat comparing Honeywell with local private schools and would be very interested in people's views on Belleville please. I realise some of the comments about Honeywell will apply to Belleville too but I would love to hear from Belleville parents please. We will definitely want to go private for secondary at least, and it seems that fewer children do that from Belleville than from Honeywell although I'm not sure why. I am also keen to find out if bright children are stretched at Belleville, how much tutoring happens there and whether children move to private schools before 11? Many thanks

[ClaphamNewMum]

I'd love to hear people's views about Belleville compared to local preps please.

[samsam]

As an ex Thomas's parent, I would have definitely chosen Belleville if I had it to do over. Thomas's provides minimal assistance for the 11+ as they want children to remain until 13+. Consequently, every child is being tutored and the parents work harder than the school. I would have preferred to have saved the money and simply organised the tutoring. The sports and drama offering is actually a poisoned chalice, better to stick with stagecoach, Broomwood FC, ironsides etc. While some nice people send their kids to Thomas's, on the whole the parents and, therefore, community are insufferable.

[Del]

I had 2 kids at Belleville school (over 10 years all in all ) and the experience was great.
Great sense of community, my daughter was helped and my son stretched in the higher tier group.
I had them tutored for 11 + as many kids who want to go to private secondary school and I do not regret at all. Belleville is a really good school.

[Claphamconery]

We have friends at Belleville and they are all delighted with the school. The 11+ results are excellent especially at the smaller Meteor sight. Dd is only in Reception ( at thomas’s) by I would say Belleville are much more academic at this stage. Reading and writing seem to be a huge focus and they do push the more able children.
In some ways we are paying to have a slightly less academic start o early years ( more sport, drama, woodland adventure) as that’s what we believe in ( we are European).

We have had a great start at Thomas’s, dd is thriving there and the teachers totally understood her mix of outward confidence and sensitivity very early on and have really helped her with that. The parents are all quite nice and not remotely cliquey ( we did not go to a feeder nursery?

11+ is a bit too early for us but the results that just went round look good, plenty of dulwich schools, some scholarships.

Hornsby house does very well at 11+ too. Broomwood I know less about and Eaton house is also very academic but single sex so is that a factor for you?

Don’t think you can go wrong and if you are in catchment for Belleville you are lucky!!

[ClaphamNewMum]

Thanks very much for the info. It's very useful to hear both sides.
Can I ask how you know the Meteor site results are so strong?

[Mumbly]

Hi I do totally understand why you’re asking this question
And honestly from what I know of all these schools your child will be fine and happy and stretched wherever they go
But reading all these threads about schools is depressing reading in some ways as so much emphasis seems to be placed by parents in this area on schools.
And I can say this as someone who has gone through primary and in the midst of secondary so I’ve seen it at first hand. And it’s not pretty.
Looking back I wish I’d remembered what friends said to me that what going on at home is the most important thing.
Yes children spend a large portion of their life at school and it’s important they are happy but I struggle to see why there is such an obsession with it all to be honest.
Maybe I’m missing something? But I know that my parents generation didn’t sweat it so much!
Sorry I know the original poster was just asking perfectly understandable questions but I do think that this generation of parents could do with taking a step back and remembering what is really important....just my thoughts....

[Nims]

If you are within catchment, then Belleville all the way.
Delighted with the school and the progress that my little one has made there.
Lots of children from Belleville do tend to go on to private secondary and just as many go on to state secondary such as Bolingbroke - we are lucky to have excellent choices in this area.
Private is also great - smaller classes (max 20) and they have more emphasis on sports, I believe, than state, but there are so many clubs round here that your child could be enrolled into to make up for it (eg. Ironsides, Spencer to name a few...).
Just go with what you feel is best for your child.