Tatler UK - 10.2019

83

LONDON

PREP

tatler.com Tatler School Guide 2019

PHOTOGRAPHS: THEODORE WOOD

DULWICH PREP

LONDON 

42 Alleyn Park, SE21 7AA

Website dulwichpreplondon.org

Head Louise Davidson Pupils 840

day boys (12 girls in nursery)

Faith C of E Ages 3–13

Term fees £6,696

Louise Davidson has just taken up

the headship at DPL (there’s no

connection to Dulwich College,

though boys often go on to there)

and, by all accounts, she’s already a

hit with both pupils and parents.

The school prides itself on being

able to nurture any type of boy,

and parents are keen to dispel the

notion that it produces alpha

males. On the contrary, one parent

particularly likes how the school

recognises that ‘being a lovely

pupil with a good moral compass

matters most of all’. Happy, polite

leavers move on to the likes of

Alleyn’s and Whitgift (there were

67 scholarships last year). The

facilities are superb too – the re-

build of the lower school was

completed in July – and extracur-

ricular activities such as ultimate

frisbee and cooking are always

enthusiastically attended.

EATON HOUSE THE

MANOR SCHOOLS 

58 Clapham Common North

Side, SW4 9RU

Website eatonhouseschools.com

Head Sarah Segrave (boys), Oliver

Snowball (girls) Pupils 770 day: 510

boys, 260 girls Ages 8–13 (boys),

4–11 (girls) Term fees £6,838

(boys), £6,650 (girls)

Eaton House The Manor Schools

know how to pack a punch with

excellent academic results; in 2018

a pupil from the boys’ school won

the much-coveted John Colet

Scholarship to St Paul’s and the

girls are equally ambitious, going

on to schools such as Benenden

and JAGS. But it’s not all work at

EHTM; girls enjoy ‘Break the

Rules’ day in the summer term and

cricket is very popular, while the

boys whip up culinary delights in

the Eaton-it Cookery Club and

made it through to the finals of the

IAPS football competition last

200 pupils. Impressively, last year’s

leavers won 21 scholarships, leav-

ing for schools including Alleyn’s

and Dulwich College in London,

Millfield and Wycombe Abbey

further afield. Sport is big here: the

swimming team is unbeaten and

gold medals have been won by tal-

ented skiers. Drama is popular

too, with pupils regularly being

awarded distinctions in the highly

regarded LAMDA examinations.

As well as their academic, acting

and sporting achievements, the

students eagerly anticipate trips to

Pompeii, Geneva and Scotland.

The school does not tolerate ‘con-

fidence slipping into arrogance’

and instead strives for its pupils to

be ‘inquisitive, industrious, good-

natured and polite’.

EATON HOUSE

THE MANOR

SCHOOLS

year. Although they are taught in

separate buildings, pupils benefit

from co-educational experiences

in the form of clubs and residential

trips. Sarah Segrave, Head of the

boys’ school, confidently (and

reassuringly) asserts that ‘no pupil

will ever pass through unnoticed

or unchampioned on our watch’.

EATON SQUARE

SCHOOL 

55–57 Eccleston Square,

SW1V 1PH

Website eatonsquareschool.com

Head Trish Watt Pupils 420 day:

218 boys, 202 girls Ages 2–11

Term fees £7,555

It’s all change at the Eaton Square

Schools: three new buildings on

Eccleston Square have recently

been acquired; Eaton Square

Kensington has merged with the

Belgravia School and moved to the

new premises; they’ve just unveiled

a new nursery; and the Upper

School in Mayfair now has over

L’ÉCOLE DE

BATTERSEA 

Trott Street, SW11 3DS

Website lecoledespetits.co.uk

Head Laurent Balerdi Principal

Frédérique Brisset Pupils 266 day:

133 boys, 133 girls Ages 3–11

Term fees £4,445

Bilingualism is a ‘gift for life’,

according to principal Frédérique

Brisset. At L’École de Battersea, the

best of French and British educa-

tion is woven together et voilà, by

the age of six, children are bilin-

gual in spoken language – and in

written language by the time

they’re 11. Fencing is huge (the

elite squad trains in Antibes) and

relaxation techniques keep pupils

calm and present. One source was

so impressed by the food that she

declared she would happily pay for

it in a restaurant. Three quarters of

leavers go on to French schools,

such as Lycée Français Charles De

Gaulle, while others gain places at

Whitgift and Queen’s Gate. It’s so

popular that there are calls from

parents to open a senior school. ]

One parent particularly likes how‘being a

lovely pupil with a good moral compass

matters most of all’ at Dulwich Prep

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