AIBU to feel angrey after Holland Park School open morning?

I know a few people who grew up in Notting Hill and went to this school. They said the catchment area had shrunk and the pupil cohort is now very posh, as a result the school has lost a lot of its diversity, creativity and energy. Don’t know if it’s true or not but that’s a local view for you.

I always say to people, if you want to judge a school, ask to see the student support/SEN area and the detention/isolation room. Which one is bigger and better equipped will tell you where the school's priority is support or punishment.

Sadly a lot of time in academies is just managing behaviours. Nothing you have described is out of ordinary for our local schools. Unless you are paying for private school I think a nurturing creative environment Is very hard to find. Increasing Class sizes, mixed abilities and decreasing sen budgets combined by teachers leaving the profession in their droves added with schools ability to employ unqualified teachers, pressures on teachers to deliver grades with all the focus on English and maths has sucked the creative parts of curriculum out of the timetable. Common sense may say isolation or detention for minor infringements is extreme but in reality this is what is happening in schools now, whether it’s uniform, equipment or lateness. Secondary school now is so far from my experience in the 90s.

I completely understand why you're angry and upset - you thought you'd be sending your DD to school but it seems very strict and not child centred. I'd be very upset too.

Those saying just go to a different school seem to think there's huge choice, and that everyone gets their first choice.

I used to be a teacher, I know how important discipline is for all kids to learn, but kids shouldn't be taken out of class to a detention room for minor infractions, that doesn't promote learning at all.

I would write a letter to the head & governors to inform them of the reason why you have decided against their school. Sometimes SLT are blinkered & they don't always step back to see the wider impact of their decisions.

Maybe it is not a bad thing to highlight the impact of their decision to introduce a stazi era detention room. You could also mention that the punishment at your old soviet era school wasn't as harsh as theirs. It might give them something to think about or they might bin your letter but at least they would have read it.

I’ve had some experience of children from that school. Badly behaved and arrogant. No idea why it has a good reputation.

I would also try to do a tour when the school is open there than an open morning. They were probably primed how to act and you maybe haven’t seen the school in its real light. If you think that’s it’s real light fun for the hills.

It doesn't mean all schools are like this. My son goes to an Academy and it's brilliant, he loves it. He's engaged in his lessons, loves trying the different after school clubs, the head teacher has worked there all his career and is often seen walking around chatting to the students.

"Thank you. We need more people with common sense, and I promise that if my DD ends up at that school, I will absolutely bring down those black curtains and fight to make her experience as good as I possibly can."

Oh for heavens sake, don't send her there, I have just looked up the School and it gets good results. The school will listen to your concerns but will not change it because of you. If your kid gets detention, support the school and tell your kid to behave. She is one of many pupils. The schools have to keep discipline and make it a quiet, peaceful for all to learn.

That sounds grim, OP, and I really like the sound of those Soviet school punishments. At our local school, the children throw all their rubbish all over the school grounds, and local people are asked to volunteer to clean it up. Absolute madness.

Trust your gut instincts on this one. There's been Ofsted reports about the school and read the articles on the BBC and guardian. Whilst things may have changed, if this is what your gut is telling you then trust it

I thought it was awful when I went to see it 15 years ago!

DD2 went there. That was in Mr Hall’s day. She went to another local school after GCSEs. Not the greatest academically but the teachers cared about the kids.

DD2 did make some lovely friends there but that was the only bonus. It’s frustrating but try and make the best of it.

I heard this about Holland Park when I stared teaching 20 years ago. And since then I think more And more schools have gone this way.

YANBU - education is SO SO far from what it should be right now. It’s wildly authoritarian and then they wonder why kids don’t respect their oppressors? Change must come soon.

It's important that constantly disruptive pupils aren't impacting others, but being punished for forgetting your planner or doodling is completely ridiculous. Crazy that there's no middle ground. DS's academy had a place for kids that had been sent out to go but it had a friendly name and lots of pastoral care and support. It was a huge school but behaviour was generally well managed without being like a military camp and removing all creativity. Sounds like a very depressing place.

My DDs school has a detention/time out room. She's never been in it but the kids who constantly disrupt lessons, who throw things at teachers and flip tables get sent there. And because they get sent out my DD is on track to do well in her GCSEs

I went in Soviet school

So maybe the Baltic states or Central Asia but pretty close to the Russian system if Soviet at the time.

As other posters have said, perhaps you should attend an open evening at a variety of schools before slagging this one off so publically, based on one brief visit.

ETA by secondary school, many pupils are not "little humans" but hulking great teenagers who are taller than their teachers.

There is a real issue with disruption caused by poor behaviour so on the one hand I can see why schools feel they need to crack down on behaviour. But… some schools really do feel like military training camps with excessively anal rules. I do worry about how many of these kids will then adapt to the workplace. I have moved a child from state to private primary and one of the things that’s notable is she’s just more relaxed and the atmosphere is chilled out and friendly because the teachers aren’t shouting at the kids all day. I went for one state school visit and the kids were keen to show me the mental health room and explained loads of their friends needed it for anxiety. They weren’t allowed a long lunch break for discipline reasons and toilets were locked. It put me right off.

I thought Holland Park School was a comprehensive school, not an academy.

The Kensington Academy is in Notting Hill.

The West London state ones that are proud of their academics are so bloody strict. Twyford, West London Free- they're all bobbins. Holland Park is competing with the privates really. Go a bit further out, depending on where you live?

HP is still a well respected school and has good facilities. To be honest if they have tightened up the discipline that’s probably a good thing.

I think maybe you’re hearing detention room and thinking something far more severe than it is. Are you sure the darkened room wasn’t somewhere for disregulated pupils to go and sit rather than a punishment room? Sounds more likely

Good for you! I am also on a mission for more of a nurturing and fun environment at secondary schools, from personally having the worst time ever at secondary school and now being a teacher at secondary schools i see how the experience crucially maps out the wellbeing for the rest of our lives 😍

It’s changed a lot since 1999 then, when I did my teaching practice there. I have a photo of me delivering a rather good RE lesson on Shabbat ( artefacts galore). The kids loved it.

Behaviour can be tough to manage. Sanctions need to be in place.

Devastated and angry seems a little OTT. Hopefully you have a back up school?

Is it possible they've been ordered to keep quiet ?

I would love that School for my Grandchildren. I would teach mine that school is for learning and would be pleased they are strict .