Benedict House Preparatory School
Catchment Area, Reviews and Key Information

My child was at this school for a few years. The school used to have some good teachers, but a lot of them left. In my experience, teaching is poor; 11+ results are poor. There is really not much difference compared to a state school for one of the recent years. I regret having sent my child to the school. A few parents who sent their elder child to the school chose to send their younger child to a different private school.

Very happy with the school. My daughter has come on leaps and bounds since joining after attending another local prep. Some of the teachers in particular are exceptionally good. Warm family environment.

This is a lovely school which is small enough to give every child personal attention to help them to develop to the best of their ability. The year sizes are limited to 20 children so everyone in the school knows each other - leading to a family atmosphere where no-one gets overlooked. The small class sizes and very good adult to child ratio means that the rate and range of learning is impressive. There is plenty of sport and other physical exercise available (including weekly swimming lessons & matches against other schools) but because of the year sizes it can be difficult to be very competitive against other schools. We haven't found that a major issue as both of our children have followed their main sporting interests outside school as well. The range of afterschool clubs is good and there is morning and afterschool care if needed. Our eldest child finished at the school in July 2016 having enjoyed their time very much and moving on to a Grammar School. The 11-plus results are extremely good - preparation is thorough and effective without the children being put under unnecessary stress. Even more importantly, the education is fully rounded and not all about academic cramming. Children are expected to have good manners and respect for adults and their peers. Discipline and pastoral care are good and the school is genuine about working with parents to get the best for the children. The more the parents are prepared to get involved with the school and support the teaching staff, the more the children benefit. Our second child is still at the school and enjoying it very much despite having completely different interests to the older one. A testament to the variety and individual focus of the education. The fees are extremely reasonable and much lower than most prep schools, plus there is not endless pressure to pay for extras. We can recommend this lovely little school.

This school has been great from our experience. Our daughter attended the pre-school full-time and the teachers were brilliant especially her main teacher Mrs Sheldon. As our daughter was able to read prior to going into the year, we were hoping she'd grow and develop socially, confidence and learning wise. Come July time she was much more confident, her reading and learning were supported and grew in leaps and bounds and she was very happy there with her friends and teachers. The children all play together regardless of age or years, and subsequently tend to all know each other. Our daughter would be greeted and hugged by a lot of the children from those in her class all through the years to year 6. It was lovely to see the interaction and comradery. Unfortunately we moved away after that year for business reasons, but have now returned. The school was wonderful and has accepted our daughter's application to return to the school to go into year 1, and also for our son to now join pre school this September 2016. I agree, the communication seems to have waned and slipped but hopefully they'll listen to the parents and come up with a solution to improve these grey areas. We're looking forward to our children resuming / starting there this September and see how our children progress in these coming years.

I do not recommend this school. My daughter attended Benedict House for two terms and she was very unhappy. She received appalling pastoral care and academically did not flourish. In my experience, teacher and parent relationship/communication was very poor and complaints brushed aside. There are however some lovely and hardworking teachers and staff. Also the majority of parents I came into contact with were welcoming and friendly.