St Mary Magdalene Academy, Islington

[galst]

My daughter is in Year 5 and after a detailed look at the state secondary schools in Islington, I am starting to panic. Can anyone comment on St Mary Magdalene Academy? I appreciate that it has only recently started accepting secondary school students so there is not much of a track record to look at but would appreciate anyone's impressions.

Marking spot...as it may be my grandsons choice in the next couple of years. It is the one on Liverpool Rd?

That's the one - Liverpool Road Islington London N7 8PG.

will be interested to see what people think

I can recommend SMMA. I have been involved with the Academy since it opened and was a governor of the primary school of the same name which was formerly on the site. You are asking about secondary education - so let me focus on that for you. This year will be the first year for gcse results - but the results for the first set of sixth from exams last year were impressive and certainly above national average. Sixth from students study the International Baccalaureate - which reflects the international specialism of the school. In years 7 and 8 they offer a homebase approach. This means that students have a main classroom and key teacher for humanity subjects. Specialist teachers and labs are used for maths, science, pe, music etc. The homebase approach eases the transition from primary to secondary and enables the key teacher to get to know students well and to assess their core skills. The focus in years 7 and 8 is on equipping the students with the communications and numeracy skills they need for later exam success. The curriculum offered is an academic one -there are no btech or GCSE equivalents and all students have to take a language - again reflecting the global citizenship and humanities specialism. There is a new admission criteria for year 7 entry in 2013 - the governors are offering 18 places to students scoring highest in a language aptitude test. This will offer students outside the tight catchment area an opportunity to attend SMMA and again reflects the specialism. New for September 2012 18 Governors' language places are available for immediate Year 9 entry. The website gives more details on admission and gives a flavour of what the Academy is like. www.smmacademy.org Open evenings are held in september/october.