Advice please on Independet Schools in Chelmsford

[nini]

We are thinking of moving to Chelmford area and we are trying to find a primary school for my DD. She is very academic so we are aiming for a school which would challenge her and where she will be happy. Can anyone advise me on independent school in the Chelmsford area, please? Please pm me if you feel more comfortable like that. Many thanks.

[akha]

Widford Lodge Prep and St Anne's Prep are supposed to be good. But I don't have first hand experience. We were just like you exploring the possibility of moving to Chelmsford and those two cropped up the most frequently when talking to people. Hope that helps.

[pip22]

My ds went to widford lodge - excellent school good mix of academics and sport. Sport is very important!! St Cedds has a reputation as being more academically focussed and musical. Widford is usually oversubscribed but places come up occasionally. Good luck!

[ZuleikaD]

I have 2 kids at St Anne's - they love it. If you want a small school with high academic standards and emphasis on personal responsibility, politeness and treating others with respect then I would recommend this one.

If you're looking for a school with fantastic sports facilities then I would say that St Anne's is probably not for you. That said, most kids, including mine, seem to do loads of sporty stuff outside school anyway so I'm not unduly bothered!

[HPDad]

You've got a choice of:

New Hall
St Anne's
St Cedd's
Widford Lodge

A little further afield and you've got:

Elm Green, Danbury
Heathcote, Danbury
Maldon Court
Felsted

Mine are at St Cedds and we are very happy with the school. It's quite academic and usually gets around 50% of the year through the 11+. Music is very strong throughout the school as is sport.

[Clarabelle]

There is also:
St John's school, Billericay (short drive from Chelmsford)
Woodlands school Gt Warley, Brentwood
Brentwood school Prep
Hutton Manor, Brentwood
Herington House school, Brentwood
Gosfield school, Gosfield Nr Halstead
St Margaret's Prep, Halstead
St Mary's school, Colchester

Brentwood (incl Shenfield & Hutton) has some very lovely area's with property prices to match. Appx 30mins from C/ford. If you are thinking about grammar school then all areas with the exception of Colchester and poss Halstead are within the proposed 12.5 mile area with contract coach services to Southend & Chelmsford schools.

[obmum]

Our two went to Widford Lodge. A happy house full of very happy people. This is a school which will bring out the best in them without trying to cram them or push them too hard academically. They really do seem to get the balance just right.

Courtesy and politeness, and a good ethos are as important as sporting and academic excellence. They get about 50% into grammars and the rest into local indies, most with some kind of award.

Sport is very important.

We fell in love with it when we first went to visit all the schools in Chelmsford because it had: space (much smaller class sizes than most) but only because they want small classes as classrooms could easily accommodate more, lovely grounds, swimming pool, rugby fields etc, and because the head was out having a run around with some boys when we arrived and called them all "Fred". They clearly loved him.

It is also worth noting that if a DC is good enough for grammar or independent and has an upset in common entrance or 11 plus he will move mountains to sort something out for them. A DC in our son's year (a few years ago) was left without an indie place and he managed to pull something out of the hat for her and last year he supported a couple of appeals and won one to KEGS.

Go Widford!

[nini]

Thank you everyone for your replies. They have been most helpful!