Ashmole Academy

[Merhaba2000]

Hello. Wondering if anyone has experience and comments to share about Ashmole Academy in Southgate. Thinking of sending my daughter there for secondary school. Any comments highly appreciated. Thank you so much.

I have experience of both, but a few years ago now. I wouldn't choose either, but hopefully as both have had new Heads in the last few years, things have changed. Have you looked at East Barnet? That's supposed to be very good and I wish I'd sent my DC there tbh

Thank you so much. We visited Ashmole and thought it was a nice environment. Teachers all seemed friendly and switched on and the school's offsread stats looked good too. Any specific reason you wouldn't send your child there?

Ashmole used to have a HM who was all about the results. The children who weren't so academic, would sink rapidly. My DD went there and they pushed her to her limit. DD2 went elsewhere. DD3 went to Southgate in Cockfosters and again, pastoral care was non existent. Hopefully now that both schools have (reasonably) new heads, they have realised that MH is more important than League tables and results

Thank you so much for sharing your insights.

Actually I totally agree with @Whatisthisbs . I had similar experience with Ashmole for my DC. Teachers are friendly, they show they are encouraging but school does not have "funding" and enough support staff to help a child who is not academic. My DC is on mild SEN without EHCP and felt low after year 8. The gave promises for extra support but never had consistent and strategical support until final year of GCSE which was no good. If your daughter is academically good it should be fine because its still all about results, otherwise you need to put your foot down right from year 7 for support and I was too polite. Good luck.

Some of the previous points made are valid but overall it is a very good school. My daughter left Ashmole in recent years and I can’t fault it. A school as large as Ashmole will have students and parents with different opinions. No school suits every student- just make sure you think it is right for your child. My daughter, who is bright but had support from the SEND department too, spent 7 lovely years there, was well supported by staff pastorally and academically and is now at University. The school environment is good, safe and there are lots of hard working teachers. The school has had a new Headteacher since around Covid times and he is excellent. Compared to most areas in the UK, this area of North London has a very good selection of state schools. I think you should consider Ashmole but you need to be in the very small catchment area. Good luck to you and your daughter.

@SBOwen2 yes your daughter is bright so she was supported well. Same was with one of my DC's friend who is also on SEND and is very bright in languages. No doubt about well disciplined school and hard working teachers as long as student is bright. But definitely big promises and not much help to students wh struggle academically.

I would agree, Ashmole focuses a lot on academic performance, very few enrichment activities and very little pastoral support. A lot of unnecessary homework from year 7. My DN, who had anxiety, had a terrible time there. I know you’ll get differing opinions. Do you know any students that go there? I found parents aren’t always honest. The buildings look impressive compared to other schools as the building is relatively new and there’s a whole host of parents who rent to get in there, giving other parents an inflated opinion of it.

Hi everyone,
I’d like to ask for some advice and hear about your experiences.
My two daughters are currently in East Barnet School, one in Year 9 and the other in Year 10, but unfortunately, both are not very happy there.
My Year 9 daughter has asked me to transfer her to Ashmole Academy, but my Year 10 daughter doesn’t like that school.
If any parents have experience with East Barnet School or Ashmole Academy, I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts — especially about the environment, teachers, and how happy your children are there.
Thank you so much for your help and advice!

Hi @MikeMike2025 if your daughters are academically good they will be well supported to push their boundaries otherwise you have to push them to support DDs. They are very good at delaying support in a sophisticated way. Many teachers are hard working but many dont bother to reply to parents' emails. Not sure about current environment, when my DC was there it was considered quite disciplined. Its a huge set up, so mild bullying was always there. Some of my friends' daughters were bullied. God forbidden, if DCs have any special needs or health conditions support is in theory/paper. Staff and students have very little awareness about SEN and it seemed it was waste of time to create awareness. Again, pastoral care is good for well performing students. In short if your DDs achieve higher grades they will like Ashmole.

But if you want to send your child to the primary is a good idea but maybe not so much for the academy after what my daughter told me about how the PE teacher spoke to her the other day.