Latymer Prep School A GSG School

Other features

All-through school (for example 3-18 years). - An all-through school covers junior and senior education. It may start at 3 or 4, or later, and continue through to 16 or 18. Some all-through schools set exams at 11 or 13 that pupils must pass to move on.

What The Good Schools Guide says

Head

Since September 2017, Andrea Rutterford. Born in the north-east of England and educated at a local comp, she read education at Brunel and earned a specialist diploma in specific learning difficulties from the Hornsby International Dyslexia Centre. Arrived at Latymer with a bulging CV of prep school experience. She began her teaching career at Hornsby House, before spending 13 years at Highgate Junior School and then becoming deputy head at Devonshire House Prep in Hampstead. A petite, warm and effective head, with a tiny touch of Miss Honey from Matilda, she is a keen squash player and enjoys theatre and travel.

Entrance

Highly selective. An eye-watering 300 applicants from 90 different schools compete for 44 places at 7+ (two classes of 22) split more or less equally between boys and girls. They sit maths, reading and composition assessments (no reasoning) and then a third are invited back for interview, science-related activities, team-building exercises and observation, to make sure they can work together, share and listen. Biggest feeder is Chiswick and Bedford Park; also Falcon, Wetherby, Belmont Primary and Fox Primary.

Winning a place here really is akin to finding the golden ticket, as admission to the Upper follows automatically (no 11+). Parents tell us candidly they ‘tutored like mad’ to win a place. ‘It’s gruelling getting in at that age, but we wanted to rip the bandaid off early and have it done with,' explained the parent of a child who had joined in year 3 and was now in the Upper. ‘It avoids a lot of angst and potential grief down the road.’ As always with 7+ assessment, the process may favour girls (whose concentration spans often mature earlier). ‘We had to get our son to quite a high standard to get in,’ commented a mum wryly. ‘Then, of course they redo everything in year 3.’ No preference for siblings.

Exit

Latymer Prep children now continue directly into the Upper School – no need to sit the 11+. It’s a bold statement about the school’s commitment to the children it takes in and its confidence in the quality of the education it provides. NB Does not prepare children for other senior schools.

Our view

Hard to believe you are entering the Latymer site when you step through the tranquil riverside entrance to this charming old-world premises. Based in an attractive 1805 villa overlooking the Thames, this gentle start to big school could not feel more different from the edgy urban powerhouse that lurks behind. Full of light, with an elegant staircase and plenty of original features and creaky floorboards, it has the feel of a well-to-do, kindly great-aunt’s home. Upstairs there’s a million-pound Thames view from the school’s assembly room.

The curriculum has similar threads to the Upper, with a modern, future-oriented focus. There’s a trained mindfulness teacher, and much work centres on mental health and wellbeing. We admired artwork displayed on the walls about climate change. All children learn Mandarin and Spanish. No fear of technology - Chromebooks for all straight off the bat in year 3 (they will need these in the senior school).

Space at a bit of a premium. There’s a compact but efficient science lab. Ditto the IT room where children sit in slots literally shoulder to shoulder. An inviting, overpacked library is stuffed to gills with enticing, colourful children’s books. The librarian was running an after-school book club when we visited. Large, fantastically well-equipped art room at the top of the school. The food technology curriculum culminates with a Masterchef competition where children design and make a savoury dish based on the skills they have learned. Outside is a shady garden area for play. A large, impressive room used for drama and music is reached via an outside spiral staircase (once upon a time it was the private squash court of the fashionable family who lived here).

Latymer’s glorious sports centre is only steps away, providing a six-lane swimming pool, a state-of-the-art sports hall, fitness suites and climbing wall. Pupils also regularly parade down the underpass under the A4 to Latymer Upper to make use of its superb facilities for music, drama and more. The head speaks of ‘life through the underpass’, bringing to mind Alice and Wonderland through the looking glass, or perhaps down the rabbit hole. It is this doorstep access to the superb facilities of the senior school that really propels this modest and somewhat cramped prep school into the realms of something quite spectacular.

Drama and music opportunities aplenty – all children have an opportunity to perform. Virtually every child plays a musical instrument (one-to-one tuition is timetabled into the curriculum and teachers are shared with the Upper) and half of them play two. There are two choirs - the top choir sings with the Nordorf Robbins Music Charity at St Luke’s at Christmas; the enthusiasts’ choir sings… with much gusto.

Five timetabled sports lessons per week - one each for PE and swimming (the outstanding strength of the school), and three for games which are played at the University of Westminster Grounds in Chiswick. As in the Upper, there is an increasing emphasis on coeducation in sport: swimming, PE, cricket, athletics and hockey are currently co-ed, and this list is likely to grow. In the summer term, the school competes with mixed gender teams in cricket and athletics at all ages.

Unlike in the Upper, there is a house system, all named after river birds. ‘It gives a sense of healthy competition and gets them out of their year groups,’ said one parent. Over 20 school clubs, including film studies, The Latymerian (school magazine), chess, bridge, drama, coding, Dungeons and Dragons, gymnastics, fencing and karate. Most are free, although a few bought-in ones, such as karate, do charge. Plenty of day trips to places including V&A and Kensington Gardens. Year 5 takes a three-night geography and science trip to Norfolk; year 6 spends a week in Europe. No after-school care, but the prep room remains open until 4.30pm.

Clever children with SEN are well accommodated. Anyone with any kind of learning challenge is encouraged to make full use of the Upper’s academic mentoring department, which is run by three specialists. ‘They offer unbelievable support,’ said one parent. Reflecting the cosmopolitan intake, there are currently 27 pupils with EAL, none of whose English is below a functional level of competence. ‘Huge diversity’ among the children and families, say parents. ‘Not too entitled.’ ‘Love that it’s co-ed.’ School reports and other feedback can be woollier than some ambitious Latymer Prep parents would like - ‘Latymer wants to get away from positioning the kids when they’re all top kids. But a bit more guidance would be great.’

Money matters

Two means-tested bursaries cover up to 100 per cent of fees ‘so that two children who would otherwise not be able to accept the offer of a place at the Prep may do so’.

The last word

These lucky children are nestled in this elegant Thames-side school for four short years. More traditional and formal than the Upper school, and a lovely, gentle start to life at Latymer – before the deluge. A magic bullet to avoiding the hellish pressure of 11+ entry to London’s top independent schools.

Special Education Needs

The Junior School of Latymer Upper School, Latymer Prep shares its SEN provision with the senior school. A range of SEN needs are catered for, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome. We also have experience of dealing with children with significant hearing loss and limb amputation. We have a learning support unit, as well as a school counsellor who deals with learning needs plus broader social, emotional and familial issues. Children are monitored throughout their time at the School. If we become concerned about a child's progress an initial assessment is conducted by the Learning Support Unit. The School can arrange for more detailed assessments if some difficulty is indicated, though parents are expected to pay for these more-detailed assessments. Advice is provided to teachers on how to support those with SEN, based upon the Support Unit's own evaluation as well as any additional information and analysis provided by parents and psychologists. Children with ADHD or Asperger's are provided with in-class support, but we are unable to provide full, long-term in-class support. It is worth mentioning, perhaps, that whatever a child's SEN, he or she must be of sufficient academic ability to be able to meet the demands of our curriculum. Those with SEN who would benefit from additional time in our Entrance Assessment are allowed an additional 25% extra time providing this request is supported by a psychologist's report.

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