My child attends Michaela community school - ama

[Starship74]

Name Changed for this but very long time mumsnetter.

My child is three years into Michaela Community School. Since it’s so heavily discussed on mumsnet I thought I’d make a post.

I won’t be posting any confidential information but can answer generic questions.

My child was allocated a place through the random allocation. I chose it because of the outstanding academic results and was very impressed at how focussed the kids were on the open day.

There is limited engagement with the headmistress at weekly assemblies, the heads of year are generally in charge from what I’ve seen.

They are allowed smart phones and know the kids have them. Of course phones aren’t allowed out of bags on school premises but I think that’s common in many schools.

Whilst it is a strict school i don’t think it’s as strict as they make out in the press.

Things I like:

• they really push the kids academically which is important to me as I didn’t want my child to coast through
• my child does complain about how strict the school is but I’ve asked several times if they want to change school and the answer is always no as they know they are going to get a better outcome so my child has bought into it too

Things I don’t like:

• communication isn’t the best with parents, no parents evening where I have 1:1 with a teacher
• they have a policy of 4 kids in a group at break time which I think limits friendships, it’s hard to get to know other kids
• dont have an issue with the vegetarian nature of lunch but what they serve seems extremely unhealthy every day - mostly processed food

Feel free to ask any other questions!

Never heard of the school
so no questions from me!

Are the children happy?
Are they taught to think or just pass exams?

And do think the success is due to the proactive parents or the teaching standards?

How do they cope with your child's special needs?

I think it’s both. Generally parents don’t apply unless they’ve bought into the ethos. We certainly push our child at home to focus, deliver their best and monitor their homework quality.

My child is a critical thinker and they have debating clubs and presentation skills clubs.

they have a policy of 4 kids in a group at break time which I think limits friendships, it’s hard to get to know other kids

Can you expand. Do you mean maximum size of groups, so no roaming in large numbers? What do they explain as the reason for this?

So you never meet your child’s, say, Maths teacher one on one at a parents’ evening, to discuss progress?

I'd happily put my kids in Michaela, but then I am Asian and like high academic standards and discipline.

What extracurriculars do they have?

Why do they limit groups to 4 people at break?

Do you mean there's no meat served?.I wouldn't be happy with that

What ethnic background are you? (I hope this one's ok to ask, I'm curious about how the school is perceived in different ways)

How have they pushed your child academically?

No large groups to stop bullying

Correct - no meat served at lunchtime and no choices unless there are allergies. They all eat the same meal, sit with a teacher and debate a topic of the day

I am also Asian as are the majority of the kids

I'd be happy with veggie meals but don't understand why they serve processed food when there are so many veg options.

What extracurricular activities do they offer?

Do the teachers seem happy?

Prepare yourself, OP. You’re going to get lots of posts about how the poor Asian kids are robots who aren’t able to think for themselves and have no life or social skills. That’s how it always goes on here.

I went to a (state) school that had family style lunch, where we sat around a table of 6-8 mixed age kids and all ate the same meal, which one older child served. We were given discussion topics and we generally did actually discuss them. I always thought this was (sadly) unique to that school so it's good to hear it's happening in other places.

My question is what is the STEM like? Is there creative coding and engineering/invention work or is it quite rote?

Does your child study music, art and a dt type subject eg. Graphics, cooking.

I have head that the school doesn’t offer any arts subjects for GCSE. Are there extra curricular opportunities in these subjects?

This is great content love it

That's how the last thread went, certainly.

Do you know of any students with additional needs who attend successfully? My DC's school took on some of the strict ethos of Michaela type schools and it was a disaster for my very well-behaved and academic but autistic DD who now cannot attend at all.

One of the things I'd wish my DDs school could improve is lunch time... its just too rushed and cramped. I'm not 100% convinced on having to have just one meal, but all being able to sit down calmly sounds better.

Due to no parents evening I haven’t met the science teacher, math teacher, English etc. They have exams which I receive the results for and this is the only indication I have of my child’s performance. Material they bring home is extremely limited eg very little study material. The school say to trust them to do their job - I’d definitely like to know more about what they cover so my child can study during the half terms but I can’t access any material. But they get good results so whatever approach they take in the classroom is working.

Holiday homework is 1-2 hours per subject this half term.

Lots of young white male teachers according to my child.

Clubs include debating, presentation, choir, reading and a few more. Very limited sports due to their grounds and very little technology. We give them lots of tech access at home at we feel it’s important to learn eg Microsoft Powrpoint, Excel etc.

My child thinks there is 1 special needs child in their class that they are aware of - the percentage is definitely lower than their primary school.

Is your child studying for GCSE yet? What subjects are offered for that and how many do most students take?

Yes, and it seems even odder if the school intake is largely Asian so there’s a strong cultural background of excellent, inexpensive, nourishing vegetarian food.

They do get very good results Michaela Community School - Compare school and college performance data in England - GOV.UK