Hallfield School

Our daughter started in nursery at Hallfield and we stayed four years — long enough to see how things really work.

From the outside, it looks great: new façades, 11+ ambition, polite smiles. But dig deeper and you realise it runs on image-management more than genuine development. Some staff are wonderful, but too many toe a line that keeps parents chasing the dream rather than seeing where their child really stands.

Progress reports feel massaged to create just enough doubt that you’ll pay for extra sessions, “booster” lessons, or stay longer hoping for improvement. Meanwhile, children from the right families seem to glide ahead — special mentions, top groups, scholarship nods — while others are quietly kept in the “almost there” bracket.

It’s a strange culture: constant pressure wrapped in politeness. If you question it, you’re told you’re imagining things, or that it’s “just how the system works.” The good teachers who value honesty often don’t stay long.

Leaving was tough because our child loved their friends, but it was the right call. The school invests more in appearances than in fairness, and once you see it, you can’t unsee it.