Ibstock Place School

If you want your child educated well without the pressure-cooker feel, Ibstock Place is the kind of school worth knowing about. The Good Schools Guide calls it something of a hidden gem and describes well-turned-out, well-adjusted pupils who are the product of a steady, unbroken education in a lovely setting rather than a stressful one. It's a co-educational independent day school for ages 3 to 18, set in green surroundings in Roehampton on the edge of Richmond Park. It opened in 1894 on the ideas of Friedrich Froebel, who placed weight on the experience of young children and on free thinking, and those principles still shape the place, with boys and girls taught together in roughly equal numbers throughout.

Co-education here is central rather than an afterthought, so the curriculum, pastoral care and daily life are all built around mixed groups. The school's values, kind, curious and courageous, are meant to be lived rather than displayed, and you see them in how it handles setbacks and brings up its children. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm, and strong pastoral care runs across every age group.

The atmosphere is calm and purposeful, and the leafy site gives the school an unhurried feel that many families value. The head, Christopher Wolsey, took up the role in 2021. Ibstock Place suits a curious, sociable child who'll enjoy a broad education and a friendly, mixed community, and who is happiest somewhere thoughtful and settled rather than highly strung.