I think Mayfield is a good school. My children are happy and it is very friendly and inclusive. For example, because they have a hearing support unit, all school performances are signed - and even the youngest children will be trying to sign at the same time as sing.
Teaching is focussed to help as many children as possible to make good progress, not just the children who are going to help them in league tables. Some schools have wonderful league table results for less able pupils but terrible for higher ability children - Mayfield is only average for 'children passing basic government targets' - but is well above average for 'children doing very well'. (I think it wants to cater for all of them instead of focussing only on the 'borderline' children and ignoring the rest.) It isn't happy with its results with lower ability children but is looking to improve here.
The grounds are fantastic and the school recognises that the children love playing there - so they are kept open until 5pm for children to play. It's a small example, but it shows the character of the school.
Mayfield believes strongly in character attributes (Core Values) being as important for the children's future lives as academic results. The recent changes in National curriculum were used as an opportunity to rework many aspects of the curriculum over a full school year. As an example of character building, there is a book buddies scheme where every child is paired with another for a weekly session. This encourages social skills, responsibility, empathy, helpfulness... in the older children and helps reading skills in the younger children.
A few years ago, a member of staff said to me that Mayfield prided itself on having 'sparky' children - energetic, happy and curious. I think this is probably right - they certainly would not want the children's personalities to be lost in search of purely academic results.
You can phone up and arrange yourself a tour - with some older children who will tell you what it's really like. It's yet another chance for them to represent the school and take responsibility. And after that if you still have further questions you can arrange to see senior staff.
These might help you imagine the school:
Here is their website:
mayfieldcambridge.org/
Here is their twitter feed:
twitter.com/mayfieldcambs
There are some negatives too - there is a high pupil turnover as many university children only stay for 3 years. This can lead to social issues if classes become unbalanced. It took a while for the school to understand this was a big problem for some children but once they understood it mattered they seem to have taken it seriously, and mixed some classes last year and probably again this year.
I think bullying is usually well dealt with by class teachers with support from management as needed. It's not perfect though.
Other parents would have other views but I think it's probably the local school which is best for my children.