Appalling independent school

[Maggiegreen1979]

My child has left Broadhurst school and we were extremely disappointed with the provision. The resources in the classrooms are outdated and broken, they don’t have qualified teachers and the curriculum is outdated as they don’t have any curriculum leaders and no teachers who are qualified to plan effectively. My child only passed assessment because I got a tutor and worked with him after school.

My child always complains how much ‘table time’ they have and when I asked the teacher she said that they only get 20 minutes outdoors the rest is sat at a table.

In the winter my child was always sick because the classroom was always cold and they only have one caretaker to clean an entire school.

The classrooms are so small and there is 12 kids in a class, mixed ages which I felt wasn’t appropriate in terms of teaching according to their developmental stage. Often they were under staffed, one member of staff taking care of all the children in the class.

I wouldn’t recommend anybody to send their child to this school.

Hi there Headteacher of Broadhurst 👋 😂

Also sniggering at “with great dexterity” not sure what’s wrong with using that phasing but something definitely is!

TheaBrandt It's the context that's wrong. It sounds like they are using phrases they have learnt to write a persuasive text for KS2 Sats, rather than posting informally on the Internet.

OP, did you not visit the school first? Read up on the qualifications of the teachers? Check the facilities? Take your child for taster days? As is normal to do when choosing an educational setting for your child...state or independent.....

I don't know the school but the ISI report for 2022 lists it as excellent.

Maybe you had different expectations.

I don’t think they offer taster session. We are starting in Sept this year and have not been offered one.

Lol! So obvious made up accounts by the school!

If anything it's drawn attention to how bad this school is 😂

Those posts read like they were written by the AI chat things 😂

We visited this school when looking at nurseries for DS. We thought it felt very stark and depressing. Young children in bleak classrooms with little colour sitting at desks. Lots of stairs too. Nursery is supposed to be a fun and happy place. Although they said they got lots of children into the competitive north London schools we couldn’t see our DS enjoying himself there so chose somewhere else.

This sounds bleak. 🙁

We have been hearing many negative things about this place and have decided to cancel our location for Sept-23. The school told us that there are limited spaces; it is almost like estate agents are trying to scare us that the property will be off-market if we don't make the decision now 😂 It's a shame that a nursery with such a good heritage is going downhill.

My experience at BH:

• on application, we were told - sorry no vacancy, we are fully booked, but we can add you to the waitlist for £150.
• A week after paying £150, they magically have an afternoon slot. The offer is open for a week only.
• I stupidly paid the £1500 deposit (and they didn’t allow us to visit the school first). We asked for a morning spot for 3 months and we’re told repeatedly that it’s not available.
• we then visited the school 3 months later, hated it and decided to withdraw (1 years and 7 months before my son was supposed to start).
• Magically we were offered a morning spot!!
• We still didn’t want to proceed and we were told the entire amount of deposit is not refundable. Even though they filled our spot. Appalling behaviour and emails from their admissions person and bursar!

The strategy of this school is to accept as many deposits as they can and make money from deposits. I know many parents who have withdrawn their kids from this school after 6-12 months. The management is terrible and is making a fool of separate parents. Avoid this place!!!

Hi

we have had the opposite as an experience, my daughter has spent 2 years in a very nurturing environment with lovely teachers …
I was apprehending because I heard the reputation of them being very pushy but sincerely she was so happy to be at school … the teacher were not pushy at all , and she learnt so much during these two years …
the equipment, infrastructure were very good, small classes sizes as well (7 the first year then 10/11 the following one) , I don’t understand with the mixed ages statement (there were the same age as far as we know) with a real garden with a lovely playground

the only down size is with the top management communication about fees etc. It could be perceived as pushy, clumsy … and this is something/ an opinion

that was shared between the parent’s community… but we all saw our kids evolving in a safe, sane and nurturing environment… even during the Covid years that they had to live …

without any regrets and hesitation I would recommend the school… and when a parent is unsatisfied, the examples need to be provided clearly for all parents to know and clearly consider their decision.

lunch time : no meals provided and no solution to warm them,
hours are not very flexible compared to some others in the neighborhood so less convenient if both parents are working…
many holidays too … same as the previous statement to consider for working parents an additional cost for a nanny.

but all in all very satisfied with this school…
all the kids got accepted to very prestigious schools and seemed to be the happiest kids ever !