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Original poster

Is Highbury Fields school really "outstanding" and if so why is it not more popular?

31 replies

Leopardpj · 07/11/2023 17:59

Just that really. Highbury Fields School for girls is local to us and the Ofsted report is glowing but despite living in the area a long time, I've never personally known of anyone who has sent their DD there, which seems odd. I've heard it's strict, and there are a lot of grumbling google reviews from pupils about OTT discipline and poor food... not sure how seriously to take these!

Would love to hear some real experiences, as on paper it looks like a good option for our DD. Are the girls happy? Teachers caring? What's behaviour like? Are the facilities cramped as some say? What are the creative departments like?

Our other local option is Stokey (SNS) - again, I hear mixed reports....

OP posts:
Original poster
Leopardpj · 08/11/2023 10:08

Also interested @Squiblet what you made of schools like Haggerston, mossbourne, Clapton girls (if you considered them) and whether you considered Highbury Fields Girls at all

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Original poster
Leopardpj · 08/11/2023 10:07

Argh I’m so sorry @Squiblet - I seem to come up as a different username depending on if I’m using tablet or phone! Thanks so much for your experience. It sounds like we’re in a very similar position. How frustrating to have come so very close to Mary Mags if that’s the school you wanted. Thanks too for your insight into stokie school, I’ve heard this a lot from other parents - great facilities, good to be on the doorstep, some great teachers - but reports of behaviour problems do seem fairly consistent. It’s so hard to judge as a primary parent whether this is just the reality of most local/ state secondary schools or whether it’s a particular problem at SNS. I do also think it’s easy to think the grass is greener with a different school in another borough you know less about, rather than the school in your doorstep where you do tend to hear about all the things that go wrong/ see the unruly kids at the chip shop every day etc!! I’d really love to hear more about your experiences and those of other stokie friends- did most of them go to SNS or was there a mix? Where people went to other places do you know broadly why / how it’s turning out for them? Thanks again so much for the input

OP posts:
Squiblet · 08/11/2023 09:54

@Leopardpj you seen to have two different usernames?

My DD took the governors test for Mary Mags and got on the waiting list. She started out at 90-something and rose to 23 over the summer, but no higher. (We are also in Stokey but further from Islington than you by the sounds of it.)

She is now at SNS and seems to be doing all right - mixed reports. Early days yet so I can't judge with authority, but it seems to be a place with great staff and facilities yet chaos is never far from the surface. The other day there was an ambulance in the forecourt, rumours of a stabbing. Some pupil behaviour she describes is awful, although most is ok. The "no phones on school premises" policy is a good thing.

Foxesandsquirrels · 08/11/2023 09:06

It was super popular when I was in school (finished my A Levels 2013) but Mary Mag came and people flocked there. I went to LaSwap for sixth form briefly and tons for Highbury Fields girls were there donned with Burberry scarves and expensive bags. I remember thinking they're loaded. It was very popular with the middle class parents then, esp as a backup for those who didn't get into St Marylebone/ Camden.

LeopardPJS · 08/11/2023 07:46

Thank you so much for the reply, which I really appreciate! I think you must be spot on that it’s not a Mumsnet sort of school as there seems to be almost nothing written here about it! And yes particularly intriguing as you say given the school has kept its outstanding ofsted when so many others have not. What I can’t work out is whether that means that despite the Ofsted report, there are genuine persistent concerns about it which put parents off (even if they don’t bother ofsted) - in which case I’d love to know what they are! Or whether - as I’m optimistically hoping is the case! - it’s actually become a really great local school that’s flown under the radar for middle class parents for whatever reason. I will obviously look around myself but it would just be fascinating to hear from parents (if any actually exist on mumsnet!) glad you got your first choice for your DD - I wonder if it was Mary Mags? I hear wonderful things everywhere about that place and it would be my top choice for sure (especially as we have a mix of genders to think about) but think we’d be reliant on this very competitive and unpredictable-sounding governors exam as we are technically just out of Islington borough on the stokey side, and DD doesn’t go to a church school (although we do go to church). Thanks again for your helpful reply!

CamandIs · 07/11/2023 22:24

I don't think Highbury Fields is your typical Mumsnet type school. A lot of the families who live on the doorstep send their kids to private schools. It's a fairly typical inner London secondary school, smaller than some.
My DD attended for a short time until a place came up at her first choice school. There was nothing wrong with the school and on paper the results are the same as where she is now. I liked the school and would have been happy for her to stay there. DD prefers where she is now and she says HFS is stricter. It's certainly less strict than some other schools.
It is a cramped site but then so is Camden School for Girls and people like there.
Interesting it kept it's outstanding rating after several schools popular with the middle classes were downgraded to good.