Middle Street and Queen's Park Primary Schools

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Hello Brightonians :-)

We have just moved to sunny Brighton and we need to decide which one of these schools would be best for our two children aged 6 and 4. They seem quite different and I can see good points in both. Queen's Park seems nice and spacious, with friendly teachers. The site at Middle Street seems a bit tired but all the nice exhibitions on the walls suggest it may be more fun while still good academically. Am I right? Wrong? It would be so helpful if we could get the impressions of people whose children have been to either.
Thank you in advance.

My DD finished her primary schooling at Queens Park & after a very difficult time at her old primary, culminating in us having to remove her part way through yr 6 - I just cannot recommend the school highly enough. The pupil behaviour there is amazing, the school are fantastic at how they manage any problems & as a result the kids behave well in class, but feel valued & not afraid if the teachers - they get the balance just right, teaching us great & they have so many more interesting educational trips out than her old school & MS too - I don't understand why it isn't rated Outstanding

We have friends whose DCs went/go to Middle Street, it's good, but it's not great - with inside knowledge of both schools we avoided it.

Thank you very much for your reply. It's very helpful. Has anyone else had any experience with either school? Thanks again.

My daughter who is 3 (4 in march) is about to start nursery at Queens Park. I was really impressed when I got shown around. It had a really nice friendly and happy vibe. Seemed very arty and multicultural. I've had lots of positive feedback from friends in the area and its ofsted rating and report was very encouraging. We are moving to Kemp Town and don't know any mums in the area with kids 3/4 so if you fancy a meet up or organising a coffee morning or something let me know as thinking of setting something up.

Both my DS's have been or are currently at QP. It is a fabulous school. If you want any extra info just send a PM.

I withdrew my daughter from Middle street two years ago as it was absolutely awful, the headmistress is completely incompetent and is a complete wet blanket when it comes to taking action on bullying, my child was severely bullied and the school did nothing about it as the bully had a mother on drugs. The head has her "projects" that get special treatment but when my family had problems there was no provision for my daughter and they were actually nasty and accused her of bullying the one time she stood up for herself after a year of bullying day in day out. They actually took the bully into a room and gave her a biscuit once after she attacked my child as she was "upset" Also there is little academic progress going on, the only asset was the deputy head and when he got the head teacher's position at Somerhill half the school defected including me! Somerhill has been excellent and my daughter moved up two levels in her first term from level 3 to 5. Also there is limited space to play at Middle st and only one class per year which is tricky if you get a clash like we did with another child. It gets very terretorial in the playground as the children get older as you cannot swing a cat in the outside area. Somerhill has fields and trees and a very nice and fair head teacher. Moving her was the best thing and I wish I had done it sooner. I can't recommend Somerhill enough.