Honeywell or Belleville 2025 Post Reply

[TurnerPrize]

We are choosing between Honeywell and Belleville for reception 2025. We are mostly settled on Honeywell due to the larger playground spaces (lovely dedicated infant playground where the children play outside 3 to 4 times a day); the village feel of the school (the intake is much smaller than Belleville which in 2025 is having a "bulge year" with a 5 form intake - you also have direct email communication with the teachers and headteachers at Honeywell (you don't get this at Belleville)); and the academic results for both Honeywell infants and juniors are far better than for Belleville (with more children at Honeywell reaching "at greater depth" every year). 

Honeywell was recently downgraded from Outstanding to Good, but the report doesn't really seem to reflect any major issues with the school and doesn't factor in the excellent academic results and village like qualities of the school. The Ofsted ratings don't seem to be that helpful for parents - at least they weren't for us. 

Parents seem to be drawn to Belleville for the smart uniform and the structure (desirable qualities), but overall the measurable results are less good. Belleville also doesn't seem as child focused as Honeywell (Honeywell seem to emphasise independent thinking much more than Belleville).   

Is anyone making the same decision and are we missing anything? They are both really wonderful schools so spoilt for choice. We are keen to hear the thought processes of others if anyone is able to share their thinking. Thank you in advance! 

[Love Christmas]

I'm sorry but it feels very much like your come here to promote Honeywell and it's not a genuine post. You don't sound like a prospective parent at all

[Belleville parent]

We are a Belleville happy and extremely happy with the school. Maybe chat to other Honeywell parents so they can confirm all of your observations?

FWIW Belleville is indeed academic and uniform is practical. It's a bigger school than Honeywell which is quite possibly why % wise the academic results are a bit less impressive as you have a much higher base of kids. It's also more diverse for that reason, which to us is very important.

It has a lovely community and both kids and parent are very proud of the results of the school. Classes stay the same through Year 5 which in turn gives families the opportunity to develop real friendship bonds. Many classes do annual camping trips together, joint birthday parties, rotas to take kids to extra-curriculars.

The Ofsted rating reflects all of those things. It may or may not be a useful datapoint for you but a school achieving consistent results for a very significant cohort of kids of all backgrounds deserves to be recognised.

Good luck with your choice, both are great options

[School]

You mention
"academic results for both Honeywell infants and juniors are far better than for Belleville (with more children at Honeywell reaching "at greater depth" every year). "

Your matter of degree "far better" is quite incorrect (which too makes me curious about the authenticity of your post)

The headline KS2 attainment numbers are:
Pupils meeting expected standard in reading, writing and maths 84% Honeywell, 80% Belleville
Pupils achieving at a higher standard in reading, writing and maths 32% Honeywell Vs 23% Belleville
Average score in reading 111 both school
Average score in maths 111 for Honeywell and 109 for Belleville

I would advise you to look again at
1)Progress measures for the 2022 to 2023 academic year where Belleville numbers are in fact "far better" at 2.5,3.2 and 2.6 versus 1.9, 1.6 and 1 for Honeywell
2) the breakdown by pupil characteristic
For this cohort Honeywell has approx 13% of pupils (8/63) from a disadvantaged background, of which NONE (0%) achieve the higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Belleville has 21% disadvantaged background of whom 23% go on to achieve that higher standard.

On these two measures alone it is starkly clear which is the more diverse school, that is also having the biggest positive impact academically on ALL their pupils.

Ex Belleville parent just for disclosure.

[TurnerPrize]

I'm sorry but it feels very much like your come here to promote Honeywell and it's not a genuine post. You don't sound like a prospective parent at all

I'm most definitely a prospective parent and this is my honest conclusion on the two schools after reviewing information available to me. If you don't have anything to add to the conversation, no need to reply. 

[TurnerPrize]

We are a Belleville happy and extremely happy with the school. Maybe chat to other Honeywell parents so they can confirm all of your observations?

FWIW Belleville is indeed academic and uniform is practical. It's a bigger school than Honeywell which is quite possibly why % wise the academic results are a bit less impressive as you have a much higher base of kids. It's also more diverse for that reason, which to us is very important.

It has a lovely community and both kids and parent are very proud of the results of the school. Classes stay the same through Year 5 which in turn gives families the opportunity to develop real friendship bonds. Many classes do annual camping trips together, joint birthday parties, rotas to take kids to extra-curriculars.

The Ofsted rating reflects all of those things. It may or may not be a useful datapoint for you but a school achieving consistent results for a very significant cohort of kids of all backgrounds deserves to be recognised.

Good luck with your choice, both are great options

Thank you Belleville Parent - there is no doubt that it is a lovely and diverse school and it's great to hear that you've had such a great experience there. I'm not sure if Honeywell keep the classes the same until year 6 - something to look into and not something I hadn't considered.  Do you find the communication with the teachers good? At Honeywell you can email teachers and headteachers directly which is appealing if there are any major concerns. There are so many things to consider on balance which is why it's not a straightforward decision. Thanks for taking the time to respond. 
 

[TurnerPrize]

Hi @School - thanks for your reply. I have seen a broader set of data than what you have outlined and the results are better overall for Honeywell, give or take. There will be exceptions within both data sets. Both are excellent schools - it's just about choosing the right one for each child and parents are looking for different things. I am a genuine parent and don't want to miss anything in my research. I am still considering both schools and looking for views and feedback if anyone can offer anything further. Thanks

[SW11er]

I think you will be happier with Honeywell.

[BTCBetty]

I have two children at Honeywell, one right at the beginning of the school and one much further up in the junior school. Your reflections of Honeywell are accurate- it is a school with a wonderful sense of community that achieves excellent results while also maintaining an approach to learning that is creative and child-focused. My children love going to school and have been fortunate to have enthusiastic teachers who want to get the best out of their class. Anecdotally, we have seen several children join Honeywell from Belleville but are not aware of any going in the opposite direction.

[NVHusband]

You can fall into the trap of analysis paralysis. Seen it many times and overengineer it. We went down this road and also hedged ourselves with private school options. In hindsight it was a lot of stress and wasted energy.

The data is obvious. Both are good schools.
Feedback from parents is the same; you are spoilt for choice and both are good schools.

Generally, people look for validation of their own choice (confirmation bias). So be careful of going down this rabbit hole.

The only difference between the schools is you. Only you know what is best for your child. No amount of data or parent feedback will give you the answer. Go with your gut feel.

[PlentyOfChoice]

NVHusband wrote:
> You can fall into the trap of analysis paralysis. Seen it many times and
> overengineer it. We went down this road and also hedged ourselves with
> private school options. In hindsight it was a lot of stress and wasted
> energy.
>
> The data is obvious. Both are good schools.
> Feedback from parents is the same; you are spoilt for choice and both are
> good schools.
>
> Generally, people look for validation of their own choice (confirmation
> bias). So be careful of going down this rabbit hole.
>
> The only difference between the schools is you. Only you know what is best
> for your child. No amount of data or parent feedback will give you the
> answer. Go with your gut feel.

You couldn't have said it better.

OP, looks like you have already made your choice, but both are excellent schools anyway. Re mixing classes, Honeywell does it in Year 3 and again in Year 5 if I'm not mistaken.

[OMR]

I was in a similar position last year with Honeywell and another school.
We ended up choosing the other school from recommendations and I regret it because my gut feeling was Honeywell.

Something I didn’t know at that time was about the school newsletters.
I recommend you to have a look at them ( you can find them in the school’s website) it’s an easy way to see the feel and tone of the school.

[Dad_of_twins]

A word of caution about overinterpreting school data: these are relatively small numbers and it is easy to jump to conclusions that might not be a good description of the school and certainly would not hold over time. For example, 23% of disadvantaged children at Honeywell corresponds to 1.8 pupils. This means that it takes only 1-2 pupils to do well in order to switch from non-diverse unsupportive school, to an example of not leaving any pupils behind.

I personally think that we are extremely lucky to have access to these amazing state schools. They do a great job and both are feeders of an equally fantastic secondary in the area. This is one of the cases in which you can't go wrong regardless of your decision.

I am a parent at Honeywell and couldn't be happier. My children started in reception and we were in the same situation by the time of applying. We chose Honeywell first because we thought it would be easier for our children to adapt to a slightly less structured environment. We have lots of friends at Belleville and they are equally happy. I think you will have to trust your instincts here.

Honeywell mixes classes after years 2 and 4. My impression is that both children and parents are absolutely fine with this (at least we are). Children get to know every other kid in their year and this promotes more open group dynamics. One of my children was struggling with friendships in one class and the changes have been clearly beneficial for self-confidence. We also get to know all families, which is great and we continue to be friends even if the children don't go to the same class anymore. We have social events, go camping, etc. as a whole year group.

Good luck with the decision, I'm sure it will be fine and nothing is permanent anyway. You could always change if things are not what you expected!

[runningmummy]

Honeywell is the most amazing school. I’ve have had my 4 children go through it. My older ones who have now left look back on their years there with such fondness. Most of the teachers are phenomenal and delight to communicate with. I could have chosen either school and closely monitored the stats and Honeywell always came out slighter higher. I chose Honeywell because I liked the ethos and atmosphere and I wasn’t wrong. Very lucky to have the head teachers in both the junior and infant. The nursery is significantly better than any of the private nurseries my children attended in the area….and I went to many. In my experience, Honeywell has the magic touch for keeping children happy and educated.