COLPAI PR vs Reality

[Wasntmeanttobethishard]

DH and I are considering Colpai (City of London Primary Academy Islington) for our DC next year. Whilst the COLPAI PR is absolutely brilliant, we are struggling with PR vs word on the street. On our recent tour staff didn’t seem engaged with reception children and coats/ bags were really messy. There also wasn’t a strong community feel there. The building itself is nice and new and the pupils seem super well behaved. But…

• More Able children aren’t provided for beyond the ‘one size fits all’ curriculum. Power Maths (a Singapore style maths mastery programme) and their own English curriculum with a heavy reliance on RWI synthetic phonics in reception and KS1 to the point of holding some gifted kids back. The school doesn’t recognise HLP children or link with any outside agencies to support gifted kids.
• The school day is long and play times seem shorter than any other school in the area. Plus there’s little playground space to speak of and no equipment for kids to climb, hang, swing etc. No end date for housing construction next door which is affecting playground provision.
• sports don’t seem to measure up to other schools. Nothing before KS2 so far as we can see. No plans for sports outside school hours due to no space. Can’t see any involvement in Islington or city galas/ competitions to date. No swimming lessons in school before KS2. Hanover is regularly at IRB developing their stronger swimmers after school.
• There seems to be a high teacher turnover despite their claims of employing high calibre consultant level staff for management.
• Communication is a big part of our school choice. COLPAI say they are big on it but all the parents in the playgrounds locally say personal communication (about your child specifically) is poor although the school does send lots of reminder emails about various things. Some parents have reported having several emails ignored, being given the cold shoulder by senior staff members for questioning practices and being brushed off when asking in person. On the other hand some parents say they are given all they need plus more but that’s because they’re on some committee in the school??? There doesn’t seem to be a clear cut practise that we can see.
• They say they provide a world class education and have excellent results but how much of their results are actually from private tuition outside school? City Juniors is a stones throw away and lots of kids try for that (much to the Head’s fury we hear). The school won’t provide references to private schools and won’t prepare kids at 11+ (Hugh Myddleton does this). Apparently the school even sent out what amounted to a nanny/ tuition advertisement of a leaving TA last year?? Should this ring alarm bells?
• We are new to the British education system so are yet to get our heads around what’s what. Is it normal for the Chair of Governors to essentially be a member of staff? The COLPAI COG teaches French and her daughter is the DH in the school. Is this common practice to use governors skills in this way? Is it common to have family links on staff in a state school?

We know that different schools fit different kids. We have little choice around us. It’s hard to ignore the PR pumped out but also we can’t ignore first hand experience being shared. Any insights welcomed! 🤯🤪

Thank you @Pinkheart321 for enlightening the rest of us on our failing to see the lack of perfection in local State schools and for reminding all of us to “check (y)our privilege”.

Just perhaps, however, our “realities” are a bit different than yours.

Some of us happen to work for the NHS and are school teachers. We also pay our taxes through which local state schools are funded. Hence we have a right to expect a standard of education for all our children that is higher than the basic “it’s FREE!!!!!!” criteria that you seem to adhere to when evaluating a school like COLPAI.

COLPAI is not a school set up to educate the poor as a form of charity. It is also not a fiefdom where children are required to be obedient and be grateful that they are receiving “free” lunches and a “free” education that teaches them to “do as they are told” through a combination of shaming and “shouty” (as described recently by several children) leadership in the school.

Did you know that the children are taught that COLPAI “is the BEST school in Islington for its well behaved kids”? Have you ever heard of a headteacher that reprimands parents of young KS1 children for being tardy or absent by trying to scare them with statistics about absences resulting in lower paid jobs in the future? During a COVID year?

That is COLPAI.

Just because you hold COLPAI in high esteem for your child (in your “humble opinion”), doesn’t mean other families have shared a similar experience to yours nor do they have misplaced expectations on what’s good pastoral care. They are free to express here their opinions and insights into the challenges within a school dynamic that clearly has its problems.

You don’t like what other parents are saying here about COLPAI? This thread isn’t for you. This thread is to help a parent who is trying to decide what school to choose for a young child. What right do you have to try to insult other parents and to keep them from sharing their experiences?

All your accusations of “personal grudges” and lecturing other parents on how they need to parent and educate their children, less they “will be terrible adults with mental health issues” are the very definition of “toxic”.

Shockingly, at the same time you somehow think it’s acceptable put down the children at another local school.

Shame on you.

Your post is the most negative one on this thread and hopefully not representative of the typical type of parent mentality that is most prevalent at COLPAI. Somehow you seem to be doing everything “right” as a parent by choosing COLPAI and other parents who don’t share your opinions about the school are being unrealistic and “vindictive”.

Clearly this thread has touched on a nerve for you and perhaps affected your lack of confidence as a parent? No one even has mentioned a specific child unless your child happens to be the deputy head(!)?

One thing you are right about is parents being free to choose other schools for their children. Likely that’s why there are spots across the school years at COLPAI. Just ask around.

By the way, 5pc staff turnover a year is about average at a state school. 10pc or more indicates there’s a problem. Do your own math and you’ll see how much staff turnover COLPAI has had over the past 2 years.

@Tosh101 here’s the thing. COLPAI hasn’t had an Ofsted for years (Nov 19), not since it first opened when the school was very much in honeymoon period. COLPAI doesn’t yet have any KS2 SATS results. There is zero parent feedback to Ofsted for this academic year to date. A prospective parent such as myself can’t check the history of progress and attainment, or secondary destinations, as no cohort has yet completed primary school at COLPAI. I can hear/read about all the wonderful things of COLPAI on tour, read about it on the website, in the school prospectus, in the newsletters (or curriculum letters?) online, hear from parents out and about locally or in the historical Ofsted report (whatever that is worth). What I was after was clarity on some PR-contradicting experiences and POVs shared with me locally to make the most informed decision we could in ranking our school preferences. Eyes wide open and all that.

Less of the charade. I'm not alone, rereading the comments, but you sound like someone who has a personal grudge against the school rather than someone who is genuinely considering the school with a fair and open mind. Maybe go with the schoolgate gossip and go elsewhere. Please.

Pleaee do take the above with good Grace

There are loads more factual information about COLPAI and what its senior leadership is doing that can be posted with physical evidence to back it up. None of what’s been happening at the school is a big secret. Parents with DC’s now at COLPAI know there’s truth behind what’s been shared here to help other parents in their making their school selections. Be warned that where there is smoke, there’s usually fire.

No school is perfect of course, but it’s only fair now COLPAI has been around for 5-6 years that parents get to share their honest “review” of what COLPAI is like from the inside.

You don’t need to agree or like what other parents are writing on this thread, but at least try to make a contribution to the discussion that’s more useful than insinuations of grudges, telling parents to go to elsewhere. sigh Not much help to anyone, is it?

From an outsider’s perspective, the reality of COLPAI doesn’t match with its PR. Which is fine if it was acknowledged rather than buried. There’s always two sides to a story. Most adults can read between the lines or filter through and come to their own conclusions on these threads. Others gaslight or misconstrue words. All to be expected as it’s a reflection of society, innit? It’s just not very helpful and did surprise me a bit seeing as the local WhatsApp groups are very helpful in offering differing views and suggestions on schools.

In saying that, what’s useful with this thread, is having personal COLPAI experience and opinions shared (what @Tosh101 deems school gate gossip) where other internet research comes up short. MyLDN, school dash, Ofsted parent view, the find school performance and get school information gov.uk sites, Locrating etc cannot/ do not provide current parental views (and anecdotal is so much more useful than multiple choice isn’t it?!), KS2 data, next schools etc. Ofsted is increasingly seen as “not fit for purpose, unreliable and flawed”, the tragic death of headteacher Ruth Perry only highlighting this even more. So historical Ofsted reports and grades aren’t enough proof or validation or peace of mind for some prospective parents, especially those of us new to the English education system. My DC wouldn't be starting school for another couple of years back home. So we will question what we hear and what we read. We will research and dig deeper until we’re familiar with the nuances, expectations, standards, lingo, options, and gaming etc. and find a school (state private forest or other) that ticks most of the boxes from our list and is doable for us as a family. We will have to entrust the state school we are allocated, with our DC, to nurture and develop and grow and learn in a safe and caring environment that best aligns with our own values so most definitely won’t be placing blind trust in or passively accepting anything, ‘free’ or not.

Btw, if I was a current parent hitting brick walls with the school, I wouldn’t bother posting in the education section of mumsnet. If anything, I’d post in AIBU??

@Wasntmeanttobethishard . You've obviously done a huge amount of research on COLPAI and I'm assuming it is now not on your candidate list but you must have done the same for all the schools you are considering. Can you share your thoughts on those? That would be helpful. Thanks

@Positivemama we were guided by a list of questions other parents had shared with us. We refined the questions to be more specific to our DC and what’s important to us. We asked clarifying questions where the information provided was insufficient or unclear (both of school and community). It’s been such a steep learning curve for us and we still feel like we are fumbling! Here are some suggestions:

Outdoor time/Forest School time
Provision for Art/Music/Sport etc. do they have good spaces/equipment/go on trips
Staff retention/turnover/experience
Food
Before and after school clubs
School trips
Provision for SEN/ DME kids (applicable to my child)
Religious schools we asked about how RE is spoken to, if it’s an issue not being of faith etc. What time is given to this.
What the school feels they have as priorities/excel at. What opportunities there are.
Parent involvement in school/community
How do they communicate progress/document child’s day
Parent/teacher communication.
Where kids go on to for secondary school.
SATS results (not a priority for us)
Attendance (good indicator of happy families/kids and well run school)
Do they have waitlists for a place/are they fully subscribed.
Hope this helps!

@Pinkheart321 You absolute troll ! It's 2023 please leave your toxic ways behind , leave the CAPS alone and perhaps be more curious than judgemental. Your comment's only doing COLPAI a disservice IMO. Your comment doesn't really deserve anymore attention however should you decide to join in with a sound or factual or more helpful comment I'm sure you'll still be welcomed on this thread.

COLPAI like any other school has positives and negatives, quite often it's the SLT that sets the better schools apart, how they support NQTs for example. I know this has been an issue in the past and many teachers have felt they had to leave which I think is a problem and quite telling. If anyone has any questions about COLPAI do free to DM me, always happy to help!

So what did you end up getting ?

I have just seen the previous threads for fellow users. I believe it is important for users to know what sets the school apart from other schools. What I can say from where my area is that not many children have got a place in COLPAI,and I have heard more getting places in HM. These families are 5 minutes away from where I am based. Ultimately a key factor was after school provisions and resources available. Like I mentioned sometime ago school will have good and bad. That is also including for SEN/DME children. Communication I believe is always a key factor for parents. This is an area which COLPAI can improve on going forward in the future, too many emails in my inbox and almost full now. This is also including communication methods on child's progression in school.

No one should feel to disclose outcome of school application but advice from parents who children are in the school gives valuable insight. For me the education system as a whole is too broken and know that what I set my kids to do will thrive in my presence and also interjection. Cannot rely solely on oral feedback. COLPAI due ofsted at anytime so will see how it plays out. In agreement with fellow users that gifted children are not stretched and therefore wish for labels to be associated with them. I believe labels sometimes bring negativity and therefore strengths not been seen or acknowledge. No one should feel we are destroying the reputation of COLPAI. Users are drawing on personal experiences and not holding grudges. Important to do what right for your DC and take personal responsibility and not waiting for the school to act on your wishes.

No school is going to be perfect (and compared with nursery, I don’t think many schools have “good communication” - an occasional newsletter and the need for parents to intensely monitor the class Whatsapp group seems to be the norm).

For me, lack of a playground, lack of a music teacher and lack of PE, with limited ASC provision, would be massive dealbreakers regardless of how good the phonics teaching is. It was a big part of why we picked DS’s school, which is excellent on all of those fronts.

His school also focuses on reading and handwriting, but is weaker on maths, science and languages, but that is something we can compensate for at home (we’re a bilingual family, and we do maths practice at home, and DS goes to science club in the holidays).

Definitely weaker for gifted children, but excellent for children who are less able (not just SEN). I think that is pretty standard in state schools honestly, if your child is exceeding expectations they often just coast. I honestly quite like the “no child left behind” ethos, and am not sure DS particularly needs hothousing aged 6. We aren’t aiming for private secondary though.

Somebody else might prioritise differently. It doesn’t mean either school is “bad”, just not right for your child.

Alas, house sale fell through and DC is gonna be stuck at COLPAI for a few more terms at least.

To summarise: high staff turnover, families leaving, nepotism, safeguarding incidents… these are all easily verifiable facts.

Add the several complaints about questionable pastoral care, and you can make up your own mind: either there is an evil cabal secretly conspiring to slander COLPAI, or where there is smoke there is fire.

If you decide to go further with your research, at least you have been forewarned against the truth twisters / PR masters in charge.

On another note, the attempt in this thread to shame parents for challenging a questionable SLT as opposed to just accepting anything just because it’s “free” is just laughable.

Most people here pay their taxes, vote and support their community: more power to you for wanting the best for your children!

Colpai's new outdoor play space(including new equipment) will be opened for the return to school in September 2023

Is the school website up to date? It says the head is SENCO? I thought it was someone different.

Fascinating! SENCO still the same, must have become aware of this page so sweeping in under the rug, is my guess.

@IIN16 😳really? You think a school would do that?! As it’s the end of the academic year, I thought maybe the SENCO was leaving and the head was short term overseeing as perhaps she had experience with SEN. I actually went looking to find out more information on their extra curricular and enrichment to see what year groups can access what. On tour, I recall being told there is a choir. Can kids from across the school participate in this? Like from reception or year 1? And the kids play football. Again, is this kids from across the school or only the older ones (saw celebrations in the newsletter. Congrats!) It’s a bit hard to navigate the website, it seems a bit sparse with information I’m after. Or I’m just hopeless 🤪 is there a list of clubs and activities and what year groups can access these? TIA

What school did you go too?

School year just started this week and it looks like 10pc+ of last year’s COLPAI’s year 2 children have left for other local schools. Both fee-paying independents and area state schools.

Parents vote with their feet.

This message on ASC and Enrichment clubs is given at the start of each term. In agreement about school website and navigation is tricky.

Already start back in school and issues already presenting with dc and have another child going there and feel my head is about to explode. Not being negative for my other child but having to twitch my eye a lot. Cannot trust institution to do right by my child.

Just came across this thread. Honestly COLPAI is a great school, it could definitely do with more extra curricular music and sports for sure but overall it has a lot of virtues. Kids that I know are proud of their school and happy there. Yes some parents leave but they mostly go to local private schools which yeah if I had the money I'd do that too. But for those of us who need to choose between local state school we are in catchment for, it's a solid option.
Kind teachers and children, good quality teaching and great facilities.

I genuinely believe this thread to be helpful to parents researching their school options. On paper COLPAI seemed great to us too, sadly with an inexperienced SLT ( deputy head's first time in the role, headteachers first time , first time assistant head and previously sacked SENCO ) its no surprise.

There's a running joke amongst parents about the DT being given the role by her "momager" the current chair of governors and their French teacher and the ethics of the school being run as a family affair.

The only thing COLPAI may have going for itself is the lack of "outstanding" schools in the catchment. There are many safeguarding issues , lack of supervision during playtimes, kids injuries , wrong parents called to collect wrong children ... lack of problem resolution when challenging behaviours arise or SEN support for those who need it ( again their SENCO is ... the best word here would be ... useless ) this is now resulting in parents having to address those issues amongst them which has very recently resulted into a "punch up" at pick up , swearing, shouting the works ... so .... again no wonder with such lack of effective leadership.

Kids watch tons of TV during the day not only during wet play, so not sure about the school being "academic" at all ... SLT seems to be drowning so much so they are unable to organise a sports day , on time their sports day for 2022/23 is scheduled for 19th October , that in itself tells you a LOT and it seems like COLPAI kids are the ones missing out on very, very basic school experiences, this does not seem to be.a problem at HM or other locals , so cannot be blamed on Covid or whatever else SLT may try to say

There are some lovely and kind teacher, sadly they get overlooked and eventually leave ...

That's interesting to read. I guess this thread really shows how different schools are not right for everyone/ every child. The 'family run' vibe of the school has really worked for my child so far and we are not family/ friends of anyone in SLT but certainly feel very welcome.

The sports day was purposely scheduled for Autumn due to rising temperatures in Spring was it not or am I remembering incorrectly?

Oh and the fight between parents is not something unique to colpai unfortunately, I've had the displeasure of witnessing one at my older sons school.

I think it's important to weigh up all options when choosing a school but I'm not recognising a lot of the issues mentioned on this thread as major concerns from mine or other parents I know in the class.

The only gripes I really have heard are;
-lack of before school and limited after school provision (after school club is massively popular though so not sure how that can be resolved)
-Not enough or any sports/ music clubs
-more academically able children aren't stretched enough.

Not discounting anyone's experience with SEN as I can't comment on that, I really do hope that if SEN provision is an issue that gets addressed urgently for all the children

Wow. How unkind you are @IIN16 . Your poor child.