| Topic: | Re:Falcons Pre-Prep or Orchard House for boys | |
| Posted by: | Anita Blake | |
| Date/Time: | 21/04/15 09:40:00 |
| With the caveat that I have no direct experience of either school, I would plump for Falcons. There is some concern amongst parents at Orchard House due to the departure of Sally Hobbs who many felt was the glue that held the place together. Generally people who I know who have sent their children to both schools seem to be reasonably content. Bear in mind that they are both run as businesses and will always put the needs of the school ahead of your child. If your child or you present any difficult challenges to them the schools will have a tendency to walk away rather than deal with them - they are too focused on the overall result to devote a disproportionate amount of time to an individual. If you son is reasonably bright and low-maintenance for the teachers he will do well at both schools. The facilities at local state schools tend to be better and the teachers are generally more experienced. Although both private schools employ teachers with teaching qualifications they tend to be quite young according to my friends. The difference in cohorts between the local state schools and private schools isn't hugely different as the former are packed with kids with parents who have the means to go private but are confident enough in the quality of the local primary and will intensively use tutors to meet any perceived deficiencies. Whether or not sending your son to a private prep school will increase his chances of getting into a local secondary school with highly competitive entry requirements is difficult to predict with any certainty. Having gone the state route ourselves my observation is that it probably does raise the chance of a child of moderate intelligence but a bright child will get into any local school their parents chose no matter which system of primary education they used. |