Herne Hill School - can anyone share their opinion?

[Sanne Panne]

We've been offered a place in kindergarten. Is it still the lovely school people tell me it used to be or are the rumours true and has it changed - and in either case, what's it like? I'm not interested in percentages of pupils getting into other private schools at all (not planning on going down the private school path long term and we may move out of the area within a year or two), really only interested in whether it's a nice place to go to school when you're only 3 years old :)

All opinions welcome either here or via pm. Thanks!

[enjoy]

Hi,

this is hard to say.

It is true it has changed a lot over the last years.

My daughter was there from nursery until year two, it was the perfect school for her.

She likes to have well behaved kids, rules, table work, a structured day.

But I would never send my son there. He would never ever have Golden Time, would not like the loss of freedom.

In my opinion they do far too much work in Kindergarten (letter formation and so) there is not enough running around, the staff is still lovely, but in overall the emphasis is to much on performance. I couldn't hear it any longer "Our children worked so hard". It sounds wrong in itself.

Hope this helps.

enjoy

[taper]

It's an excellent school. The kindergarten is very strong and the children seem to love it. Not sure it's a weakness to teach letter formation at this age! They're ready for it.

[candj]

Hi

Our two girls go to Herne hill. One started in reception and is in year 1 the other started part time in nursery and is now in kindergarden. They both love it. Up to reception it's very play based then in year one the work load turns up a few notches(weekly spelling exams, new books to read at home every day and cursive handwriting from the getgo) to get them ready for assessments the following year. The kindergarden class my youngest daughter is in is lovely and they do a lot of stories, dressing up, messy play, outdoor play so on and so forth and the teachers and aids are all lovely and nurturing. Yes they do letter formation by tracing letters with crayons and learning to write their names and they begin the the phonic sounds but I dont think that's a bad thing.

Im not sure if you have a boy or girl but Our girls do love it and the school has a nice atmosphere. I'm not worried about assessments as we are moving abroad this summer but they do get really good results.

Feel free to pm me if you have any questions. Sorry I could write loads more but it's difficult on an iPhone with a new-born!

[bawdy-nan]

isn't it essentially a way of training children to perform well in entrance exams?

[Pam50]

It might be a way of 'training' children for entrance, but it is also just plain common sense! I have taught children in the early years since 1970, mostly in schools where parents would not have heard of entrance exams. My children were always taught how to form letters correctly right from the start in lots of structured, but playful ways. They learnt the other foundation skills of letter names and sounds in ways that they loved. As a result, they started school with foundation skills that sustained them throughout their educational lives. They liked it, so did their parents and so did subsequent teachers. I breaks my heart to see children who have been left to 'discover' these skills and the ways it affects their reading and writing.

[Sanne Panne]

Thanks so much for the feedback so far. Yup it's a girl (not the quiet/girly type but she's not a total wild tomboy either) and she's probably going to be ok with letters etc as she has an interest in that anyway - I just don't want all the efforts to be focused on developing those skills because if she has them they will emerge anyway unless she ends up in an extremely unstimulating environment. What I find important at this age is that she gets lots of time to play and run around as well. She's only friggin' 2.5 years old now and I have nothing against her learning to write her name but I probably don't want her to spend two of her three daily hours there trying to hold a pen while she could also learn about the moon and sheep shearing and cow milking (which I do with her at home and when out&about but which I hope a school does too).

[candj]

I should add that they put on plays (my 3 year old had one of the leads in the christmas production) and do a Christmas service, harvest festival, Easter service which is all so lovely and they have singing with a fabulous music teacher. I'm sure there are other HH parents out there who could comment as well ;). definitely go with your instinct and visit other nurseries to make sure your child will be happy. Best of luck.