Channing school

[Sunshinemum21]

Hello, have been offered a chance vacancy place at Channing school. Really like it but keen to hear any experiences from parents

I don’t have personal experience but have many many friends whose children have attended over the years and have all enjoyed it. Possibly it’s not right for sporty girls - but the 8 or so girls I know who went all loved it.

I had a daughter there for 5 years 11-16 fairly recently. We moved her at 16. The culture at the school was self satisfied and there was little interest in getting to know our daughter as an individual. There were honourable exceptions but they were exceptions. Music dept was particularly disappointing - condescending, continually underestimated and discouraged our daughter. Everything was too much trouble and rather than trying to build her confidence or find ways to help they would just put her down. She is now past grade 8 and at professional standard no thanks to Channing. Results are respectable but that is unsurprising given the background of the parents - lots of north london professionals who supplement the average teaching with tutors. They force ipads into every new child's hands and when challenged about the benefits of even more screen time the head was unfamiliar with the mountains of research showing no benefit or negative outcomes. Clearly put out that we (and other parents) raised the issue in the first place. Had remaining children at NLCS and it was fantastic - night and day in comparison.

There are plus points - the theatre is a fantastic building and there are some individually very dedicated teachers but that is always the case at any school.

If you are looking for a safe, unremarkable school to park your daughter for [X] years at significant cost then this could be it. If she is in a nice year group no doubt she will be happy and the school certainly wont put her under any pressure. If you want a school with staff who have an enthusiasm for learning and a culture that really promotes girls education then this I am afraid is unlikely to be it (unless a revolution has occurred in the last 3 years).

Thank you so much for this response. After further enquiry and experience we pretty much came to the same conclusion.. we’ve decided to stay where we are. Thanks again

We had a daughter in the senior school for over a year but ultimately decided it wasn't for us. It's a very good school - for the right kind of kid.
Pros:

• Beautiful location and facilities. Vibe is calm and happy.
• Feels super safe. Everything really locked down.
• Excellent SENCO.
• Academic without being an insane hothouse
• Stable teaching cohort.

Cons

• Unashamedly privileged - lots of expensive overseas school trips
• A bit of a machine - the most "business-like school we've experienced so far. Expect the same speeches every year.
• Quite conformist, not really suited to rebels or oddballs
• Quite "traditional" - steers girls hard towards languages and music
• Very IT based learning. Tablets are at the heart of everything.

From my understanding it’s great in certain areas (drama, languages), but nowhere near as academically challenging/impressive as other N London indies - could be a good or bad thing, depending on the child!

Agree with levels of privilege point and there’s something a bit precious about parents who send their kids there - not very in touch with reality, whereas other local private schools seem to make more effort to keep kids grounded, despite the obvious wealth factor!