Holland Park School

We considered HPS for secondary but decided against it. We have friends who send their kids there, and who has SEN and he has really grown with their support. Ironically their rules and clear expectations make him feel a lot more comfortable.

We went to the open day and it was a flat no from us. It wasn’t the environment we wanted for our kids. It would have been too much of a jump regulation wise. Also, as kids who were in private I really didn’t like the overtones of trying to get us to move across.

Anyway I don’t know any parent looking at moving their child and all seem happy. They certainly have a wonderful extra curricular program.

@heidiwine If you are actually interested in knowing what I think, (which I believe is just code for - here I am trying to look like I’m in the right, but anyway...) I’ll tell you.

No teacher goes to work hoping to spend their day shouting, or get pushed to the limit as the teacher in the recording you have attached seems to have been.

I think it is irresponsible to put a recording online without any context, and without knowing the circumstances, it is a very one sided judgment you are expecting/hoping people to make. The teacher can be heard saying, “stop laughing; stop answering back.” He’s clearly not shouting without provocation.

As to how I would feel about my children being exposed to or on the receiving end of this - they have never been shouted at in this way. I will say it again, because you seem keen to ignore me: they love school. They are doing well, their teachers are wonderful.

@Drminime and @Whyisitallsostressful
I am interested to know what you think of your children being exposed to (or on the receiving end) of this:
twitter.com/formerhps/status/1444665900255305734?s=21
Or this:
twitter.com/formerhps/status/1444665900255305734?s=21

Delightful as it is that you find me “fascinating”, it’s interesting that rather than accept my experience of the school is positive, you would rather try to imply that I’m... what?! I’m not entirely sure what the inference of your post is?

Not that I should need to explain myself, but the reason you won’t see any of my previous threads is because mumsnet archive older chats... You obviously have a bit of time on your hands, so feel free to try and find me in conversations relating to 11+, secondary school applications and puppy training from 2019.

Why does that fascinate you @heidiwine? Your close observation on one person and singling her out in this thread actually fascinates me even more! I respect everyone who posted earlier and appreciate the openess and sharing of personal experience, including @Taxwolf whose daughter had bad experience with HPS. This is an open and friendly forum, where people share their views and experience for greater good and it is surely good to have a balanced view as there are 2 sides of the same coin. Let's not turn this thread into some kind of trolling and witch-hunting and please could we stay civilised. Your sarcasm is well noted and not helpful.

I find it fascinating that @Whyisitallsostressfulhas only ever posted on one thread… this one.
Interesting.

It wasn’t intended to be insulting - The high expectations do create an certain type of environment that might not suit all children though: a lot of homework, regular testing and an encouragement to attend interventions if children aren’t meeting their potential.

In the 6-7 years since your daughter left, it would stand to reason that there have been changes in the school. My children have experienced hearing staff shout, but have not been shouted at themselves. As with all these threads, I think it is important that more than one type of experience is shared, otherwise it becomes a very skewed picture.

You mentioned that you daughter found the teachers at her 6th form “supportive, friendly and caring.” This has been the experience for my children at Holland Park. Their teachers are wonderful.

@Drminime

Thank you! She has recently graduated and has a job in her chosen field.

I hope the recent publicity and Hall’s imminent retirement has caused a sea change in the way that students are treated and that your daughter continues to have a good experience.

@Taxwolf

I hope so too. I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I think each and every one of our children go through a different experience and it is very personal. It is hard not to judge and generalise as we are all human. From what we are seeing, none of the teachers is what you have described who shouts at children for no reason or takes the pleasure out of it. It is quite the opposite. Again, this is our personal experience. I hope your daughter rises above all and spreads her wings and not let her past hinder her abilities. Wishing you and your family all the best.

The shouting is not made up it happened every day. I witnessed it myself. When my DD joined the school in year 7 they were lined up in the playground and it were treated and screamed at like army recruits in olden days.

It is possible to have strict discipline without screaming at and humiliating pupils.

My daughter was referred to CAHMS for panic attacks. My GP told me she had referred a number of children who cited similar difficulties and blamed the school.

My daughter told us that there was a naughty boy who bullied and pushed through the queue in the dining hall this week but Mr Hall was quick to act and put him in his place (back of the queue) firmly (not shouting as some have depicted in the media), to the relief of many children. It is reassuring to have a disciplinarian around to set boundaries for behaviour. Although HPS is set in the serene and affluent environment of Holland Park, we were never under the illusion that it would be the same environment inside the school. It is a highly stressful environment for the teachers as not only do they have to produce successful outcomes in all students, including the less academically inclined, they need to handle challenging kids with behaviour issues whilst being critiqued and under intense scrutiny. We all know what we signed up for when we joined the school as it is stated very clearly in the school regulations documents (that parents and student had to sign). I just think that if strict discipline is not palatable to the parents, then it would better to seek education elsewhere.
It might be worth mentioning that the school offers vocational and BTech qualifications for those find mainstream GCSE and A levels challenging. This would never happen in schools who only care about league tables. I applaud the school for being inclusive and cater to all abilities.

I think what really annoyed me was that the Borough owned the land on which the school was built and half of which was sold off for £££ and i thought it should have gone to support education in RBKC. Also that Hall etc were basically begging RBKC parents to send our kids there.

Once the new school was built it seemed they just wanted the posh (largely white) middle classes and everyone else in the poor areas could just fuck off.

Schools publish changes to their admissions criteria on their website.

It used to be that they prioritised kids who went to a primary school in RBKC. Then they decided to drop that and go on proximity only.

I could see immediately it was to exclude everyone in North Ken. I objected but they did it anyway. They used the excuse that Aldridge had opened then, but there are still not enough places in the local area.

My daughter told me that all the kids in the year were lined up according to exam results. The ones with lower marks were told they were destined to be road sweepers, toilet cleaners etc. Insulting to kids whose parents worked in those jobs apart from anything else.

I heard that at meetings the staff are lined up according to salary.

Yes, they deliberately changed the admissions process to exclude areas like North Kensington. Despite the fact that Hall previously begged us to take the chance and and send our kids there when it was a failing school.

I was one of the few that objected at the time.

It is a very mixed school aswell.

@Drminime

I hope you continue to feel so positive. The bullying and shouting was directed at all pupils. My DD was in the top band/set throughout.

I also find your comment as follows rather insulting.

There is a expectation of high performance and high behaviour, so perhaps it’s not for everyone.

Do you really think that my quiet well behaved daughter somehow deserved the screaming and shouting that all the children were subjected to?

Do you think the SLT were right to cover up exploitative teacher:pupil sexual relationships?

Do you think telling mentally ill children to leave the school was acceptable.

When my daughter left the school to attend Sixth at another local school, she was surprised the teachers didn’t shout and were supportive, friendly and caring.

It has taken her to the age of 22 having graduated and now working in the arts field to get anything like a semblance of confidence back. I agree with past pupils that there needs to be an inquiry into the way that students were/are treated at the school.

My daughter just started at Holland Park School and is very happy with the school, as her teachers are kind but strict when it comes to dealing with naughty and disruptive kids. We are glad that there is discipline in place to protect those who want to focus on their study or who are subject to bullying or are vulnerable, and that bad behaviour is rectifed immediately. Teaching is very intense and good, both parents and children are kept up to date with homework and teachers' guidelines through an app. Plenty of clubs, as @Whyisitallsostressful has mentioned, and my daughter attends almost everyday. So far, we did not regret choosing HPS over CLSG, LU and leaving the private school system.

When did the after school clubs start. There were none in my DCs day.

What is your opinion of Mr Hall? Do the SLT still shout a lot? Do they still put kids pictures up on the plasma screens if they fail an exam? Are kids with mental health issues still told to go elsewhere? Are your kids recognised in ‘perfect tense’?