callacc

We chose Rosemead because we met some extremely polite children who went there. What Rosemead does is works with the strengths of your children and not against them. They are extremely good at helping you make the right choices for your children both at prep and beyond. I have both a girl and a boy at the school who are both extremely active and love Rosemead, and participate in a number of before and after school activities arranged at school to let off steam. Rosemead has a strong emphasis on providing dance (ballet, modern, dance and drama) as well as the more traditional sports of football, netball and swimming. Small class rooms have the advantage that there are less distractions to the task in hand, alot of children feel more secure in a smaller environment.

Both my children have been at Rosemead since nursery and both are very, very happy. (We did not look anywhere else as had been charmed by some pupils we had met outside school.) Rosemead seeks to find what the children are good at, and use this to develop their confidence and abilities. In the last 2 or 3 years lots of children join Rosemead in year 3 as there are simply not enough places at JAGS and Alleyns for those who apply! All the parents I have spoken to who made this choice seem happy with Rosemead, interestingly enough when a JAGS place came up last year, it was Sydenham parents that applied and not the children who were happily settled at Rosemead.

As a Rosemead parent, you will get to meet all the other parents at a get together meeting this term, they also sent us a list of all the other parents in our school year before the end of term. (Requires everyone to sign something that allows them to share details. Its a data protection thing.) Each year at Rosemead is different but I would say on average 50% of the mothers at Rosemead are parents who combine work with school, so you certainly won't be alone in your dilemma. Many parents club together and have flexible share arrangements / aupairs etc. Having been through this, expecting a child in reception to do before and after school club every day at which ever school you choose will be very tough on the child. They typically are so knackered from the whole learning experience! You also need to work out how you are going to cover child sickness at either school.