The four best independent prep schools in Balham and Streatham are;
- Finton House School in Balham,
- Eveline Day School in Balham,
- Hornsby House School in Balham,
- The White House Preparatory School in Balham, and
- Streatham and Clapham Prep School in Streatham.
They are all day schools and are within four miles of each other, around the top of Tooting Bec Common, from Tooting to Balham to Streatham High Road. Why choose these? Because these Balham and Streatham prep schools rank in the top 4% of schools in the country, as determined by the Schoolsmith Score.
If you’re putting together a shortlist of schools, this brief note might help you, because it actually compares the schools, just like you do. And there are links throughout to explainer articles (they open new tabs). There is also a partner review for state primaries in the same area; Tooting, Balham, and Streatham. And that can be found here.
The schools offer some degree of choice, which I’ll expand on below. But, to cut to the chase, they have similar scores. The highest scoring Balham and Streatham prep is Hornsby House. The lowest fees are at Eveline Day School and Streatham and Clapham Prep. And Streatham and Clapham Prep also offers the best value for money. Do you get what you pay for? It depends on what you want, and what’s important to you. I’ve got some quizzes to help you with that. Otherwise, dear reader, read on.
Age range, gender mix, and faith
Many parents don’t get beyond the obvious differences between schools. These are the structural differences such as age range, gender, faith, all-through or not. You may have a preference one way or another, but these aren’t indicators of a better education.
First of all, there’s gender mix. Balham and Streatham have one single-sex prep school; the all-girl Streatham and Clapham Prep. The other four are all mixed schools with, on average, a 50%/50% boy to girl ratio. The White House Prep is closer to 55% boys.
As for age range;
- Finton House School; 4 to 11,
- Eveline Day School; 3 to 11,
- Hornsby House School; 4 to 11,
- The White House Preparatory School; 6 months to 11,
- Streatham and Clapham Prep; 3 to 11.
Which means that three of the schools have a nursery or pre-school class. One observation of this area is the seeming abundance of nurseries, pre-schools and day nurseries. Eveline Day School owns seven of them. The White House owns two.
In addition, each of the schools offer wraparound childcare from 7.30/8.00am to 5.15/6.30pm.
As for faith, all five prep schools welcome pupils of all faiths and none. Religion has a comparatively low profile in these schools, compared to some other areas.
Standalone preps and all-through schools
Eveline Day School, Finton House, Hornsby House, and The White House Prep are standalone prep schools. They exist to prepare pupils for entry into a range of schools at the end of Year 6. The benefit being that choice of destination is more informed in later prep years than in Nursery or Reception.
Streatham and Clapham Prep, on the other hand, is a junior department of an all-through school to age 18. Here, the curriculum is geared towards preparing the pupil for moving up into the senior school, rather than transferring to another school. And pupils are expected to make that transition. Which brings a benefit of a stress-free Year 6 for pupils, and parents. The school might also argue that teaching time can be diverted to activities more beneficial than exam preparation.
Academic selection and inspections
Streatham and Clapham Prep is academically selective, with age-appropriate assessments as part of the admissions process. The other four schools are not academically selective. They operate a waiting-list admissions procedure. However, they all operate some form of selective assessment for entry to older year groups.
The degree of academic selectivity can dictate the pace of lessons. It can also be a prime determinant of academic outcomes; smarter pupils get better results. But not always. Demographics and, dare I mention, teaching, influence academic outcomes too.
ISI, the independent schools’ inspector, observes that pupils’ ability profiles at all these Balham and Streatham prep schools are ‘above average’. Selective entry or not. For four of the schools this is based on submissions to nationally standardised tests. For The White House Prep, this observation is based on the school’s own assessment.
The most recent ISI inspections for Streatham and Clapham High (whole school), Finton House, Hornsby House, and The Whitehouse Prep were ‘Excellent’ across all areas. Ofsted inspectors considered Eveline Day School to be a ‘Good’ school.
Buildings and grounds
As is typical in South West London, most of the Balham and Streatham prep schools are based in converted period houses. Either Edwardian or Victorian, in a residential street, with recent extensions and additions, but with restricted grounds. For good measure, The White House Prep is a Grade II listed Cubitt designed Victorian villa. Streatham and Clapham Prep occupies a late Victorian school building, rather than a residential building. It is situated one mile away from its senior school.
Class sizes and classes per year
The size of a school can influence the ‘feel’ of a school, as well as the extensiveness and variety of facilities;
- 1 class per year; Eveline Day School and The White House Preparatory School,
- 1 class per year rising to 2; Streatham and Clapham Prep,
- 2 but usually 3 classes per year; Finton House School,
- 3 classes per year; Hornsby House School.
Average class sizes at Balham and Streatham prep schools range from 11 to 21 pupils. Classes at Eveline Day School are the smallest, averaging 11 pupils per class. The Whitehouse Prep has average class sizes of 15 pupils, and at Finton House they are closer to 18. Streatham and Clapham Prep and Hornsby House have the largest classes, at around 20 to 21 pupils per class.
Facilities at Balham and Streatham prep schools
Balham and Streatham prep schools aren’t great for specialist facilities. They all have some, but with space at a premium, expect your child to be bussed to community facilities for sport.
Who has the best facilities? It’s a low bar, but probably Streatham and Clapham Prep, closely followed by Finton House and Hornsby House.
Starting with sports facilities. They all have school halls or a room for indoor sport/PE and playgrounds for outdoor games and fresh air. Streatham and Clapham Prep has a full-size sports hall and an all-weather pitch. It has its own, but it also has access to sporting facilities at the senior school. Finton House also has a gymnasium. Otherwise, the schools rent access to grass and Astroturf pitches off-site to fulfill their sports programmes.
As for arts facilities, think multi-purpose room/hall, an art room and a music room(s). Eveline Day School only has the latter. Pupils at The White House Prep and Streatham and Clapham Prep also have a drama room.
Academic learning facilities are better overall with each prep having an outdoor learning space, a computer suite, a library, and laptops/tablets in the classroom. Hornsby House also has a science lab. And there are DT and science labs at Finton House and Streatham and Clapham Prep.
Computing and remote learning
As well as computer suites for teaching computing skills, or classroom/library devices for research and project work, there are also dedicated devices.
During the pandemic, remote teaching, assisted by technology, became a necessity. Blended learning (face to face and online) is now a reality. Perhaps not for the youngest pupils, but certainly for those in Year 3 upwards. As such, schools are starting to issue dedicated devices to their pupils. Not so, or not yet, in Balham and Streatham prep schools. But they all furnish pupils with pooled iPads, Chromebooks, and laptops, on an as-needed basis.
Academic curricula
All five of the Balham and Streatham independent prep schools offer curricula based on, and augmenting, the National Curriculum. They offer traditional curricula, by and large, with subjects usually taught separately.
However, the schools all acknowledge the importance of skills development, as well as fact acquisition. And this manifests in theme days and weeks. And in a cross-curricular topic approach for teaching humanities subjects, and sometimes science, up to Year 2. Streatham and Clapham Prep maintains this thematic humanities approach throughout the school.
There are other ways to develop higher order thinking skills. Eveline Day School pupils, for example, take part in Votes for Schools, a current affairs/big issues and debating course. At Finton House, pupils take lessons in critical thinking from Year 4. Streatham and Clapham Prep pupils have Philosophy for Children lessons throughout the school.
Given their pupils take 11+ or equivalent exams Balham and Streatham prep schools teach verbal and non-verbal reasoning. They used to be taught from Year 5, but these days the schools start from Year 3 or 4.
Outdoor learning and trips
All five preps offer plenty of educational trips to support and stimulate their curricula. But this is a particularly good area for prep school residential trips. They start in Year 2 at Eveline Day School, and in Year 3 at Hornsby House and Finton House. Otherwise, it’s Year 4 at The White House and Year 5 at Streatham and Clapham Prep.
Outdoor learning, other than adventure residentials, however, isn’t as prominent in Balham and Streatham prep schools, as it is in some other areas. It doesn’t really extend beyond Early Years.
To a greater or lesser degree, pupils at each of these prep schools enter national academic competitions. Usually, it’s part of a ‘gifted and talented’ programme.
Foreign language teaching
All five Balham and Streatham prep schools teach French from Nursery or Reception. And each school offers a second or third language at some point.
The White House Prep offers Spanish alongside French, and Latin from Year 5. Streatham and Clapham Prep offers Mandarin alongside French to Year 2, and then Latin from Year 5.
Eveline Day School introduces Spanish as a second language from Year 3. Hornsby House replaces French with Spanish from Year 4. And Finton House sticks to French, with a Spanish and Latin taster after exams in Year 6.
Subject specialist teaching
Primary school teachers can, and often do, teach a wide range of subjects to their pupils. Their expertise is in teaching this age group. Prep schools make the case that subject specialists may be better for some subjects. Also, the progression from one to several teachers prepares pupils for teaching in senior schools. How much subject specialist teaching each school offers, and when they offer it, varies.
The five Balham and Streatham prep schools offer a similar menu of class-based teaching to Year 3, but with subject specialist teaching in sport, music, languages, and sometimes art, DT, drama and computing.
Hornsby House introduces specialist science teaching from Year 3. But it is Streatham and Clapham Prep which offers the most specialist teaching, perhaps a benefit of being part of an all-through school. From Year 3 its pupils also learn maths, English and science from subject specialists.
Sport at Balham and Streatham prep schools
It is in the provision of sports and the arts that private schools excel. In particular, time spent on sport, and lessons dedicated to music, art, drama and sometimes dance set them apart from state schools.
And these five schools are no exception, despite their lack of onsite sports facilities. At least two PE/games sessions per week and 10% of curriculum time is dedicated to sport. They each offer between 10 and 18 different sports through the curriculum and the extra-curriculum. Finton House School offers the widest variety of sports.
Facilities, pupil numbers and specialist teaching are the key ingredients for sporting achievement at independent prep schools. These five all turn out representative teams across, at least, the major sports. Teams from Finton House and Hornsby House tend to be more competitive.
Senior teams from three of the schools have appeared in national finals, indicating a particular strength in that sport. Teams from both Hornsby House and Streatham and Clapham Prep have reached national finals for gymnastics. And teams from Finton House have reached national finals for swimming.
The arts at Balham and Streatham prep schools
Balham and Streatham prep schools also engage in the arts. For a start, they all have curricular art lessons and extra-curricular art activities.
Even the smaller schools have at least a choir and an instrument ensemble or two. Of course, the larger schools have more ensembles; Finton House as six choirs, one for each year group. Many pupils learn an instrument outside curricular music and take graded exams. At Streatham and Clapham Prep and Hornsby House, it’s half of pupils in Year 3 and above.
Four schools offer drama as a discrete curricular subject; Finton House, Hornsby House, Streatham and Clapham Prep, and The White House Prep. And they all stage musical and dramatic performances and have extra-curricular English Speaking Board and/or LAMDA speech and drama exams.
Dance features on the Hornsby House curriculum to Year 4. At the other four prep schools there is dance to Year 2, and only then as part of the PE curriculum, and the extra-curriculum. For its application to a rounded arts provision Hornsby House School has Artsmark Gold accreditation.
There is also a wide range of extra-curricular clubs at all five prep schools. There’s sport, of course. But in addition, Finton House, Hornsby House, and Streatham and Clapham Prep all offer upwards of 15 academic, arts, and hobby clubs per year group, per term.
Exam results and destination schools
It’s hard to compare these five Balham and Streatham prep schools on exam results since they don’t all enter the same comparable national exams.
Destination schools are similar, with one exception.
Pupils at Streatham and Clapham Prep have the narrowest exit path; nearly all move up to the senior school. Streatham and Clapham High School is usually in the top 15%-20% of independent schools by A Level results.
Pupils from the other four schools move to a similar mix of mainly local, South London, independent schools. The choice of school is fragmented. Indeed, there are almost as many different destinations as there are Year 6 pupils. Perennial favourites include Alleyn’s, Dulwich College, Sydenham High, Streatham and Clapham High, James Allen’s Girls’ School, Whitgift School, Emanuel, and Woldingham. And pupils at each one of the four preps win a good number of awards and scholarships too.
Fees and value for money
For the 2022/23 academic year, Year 6 tuition fees at these prep schools range from £5,100 to £6,000 per term. Fees at Hornsby House School are at the top end of the range. Fees at Eveline Day School and Streatham and Clapham Prep are the lowest. Almost halfway between, at around £5,600 per term, is Finton House, with fees at The White House slightly higher at £5,800 per term. and Seaton House Prep charges around £3,600 per term in Year 6. These fees exclude extras such as lunch and residential trips.
| Schoolsmith Score | Tuition Fees v National Average (Years 1-6) | Value for money (rank) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eveline Day School | 75 | +35% | 3 |
| Finton House School | 81 | +47% | 2 |
| Hornsby House School | 82 | +52% | 4 |
| Streatham and Clapham Prep | 80 | +34% | 1 |
| The White House Preparatory School | 78 | +48% | 5 |
To put these fees into perspective, total tuition fees from Year 1 through to Year 6 are 34% to 52% higher in Balham and Streatham than the national prep school average.
Finton House and Hornsby House are the highest scoring Balham and Streatham prep schools. And there is some correlation between fees and Schoolsmith Score. Streatham and Clapham Prep offers the best value for money as measured by £/Schoolsmith Score.
What accounts for this difference in fees? In general, it’s location, grounds, facilities, class sizes, staffing, and local demographics. Some of which applies here. Of course, the adage of ‘getting what you pay for’ can also be true, which I hope this note has highlighted. These are all good prep schools, providing a worthy educational experience. But when it comes down to it, what are you prepared to pay for?
See also the best independent prep schools in Battersea and Clapham, Putney and Wandsworth, Croydon and Wimbledon
Why are these the best independent prep schools in Balham and Streatham?
Schools that feature in these notes are those with the highest Schoolsmith Scores, not just in Balham and Streatham, but nationwide. This is an objective score that accounts for 50 different aspects of schooling, grouped into 5 broad categories. You can read more about them from the links below, and the Schoolsmith Score here.
- their achievements; academic, sporting and artistic,
- the breadth of the education they offer,
- the quality of teaching,
- their facilities,
- their look and feel.
A quick pause for breath
By now you might be wondering what you should be thinking about when choosing a school? It happens to everyone. Why not try my 7 one minute quizzes for those starting their school search? Wood, trees, and all that…