The Lyceum, Shoreditch

[FannyBrawne]

Thoughts? - Including any experiences of secondary transfer from there?

DS is only one (and have name down for L); but thinking ahead....

Very traditional and regimented when I visited. Not my kind of thing, I felt it lacked imagination. But good quality of education and convenient if you're in the City.

My DD goes there. I suppose it could seem traditional and regimented (uniform, manners and rules enforced) but the teaching we have had has normally been extremely interesting and my DD's entire class has flourished. Trips in period costume, lots of performance opportunities - assembly, choir, plays, and seriously excellent music teaching. Arts good. Home-school relationships good and lots of communication. Decent notice of most things - term dates a year in advance, trips that require prep or fees some weeks in advance. Homework small in early years, ramps up as you get to 11+. Small classes and high staff ratios mean no-one gets left behind.

Sport varied rather than in depth, and a lot is off-site (there is no outdoor play area in school but they are taken to parks and the Artillery Ground), but includes at various times gym, dance, ball skills, hockey, tennis, touch rugby, football, rounders, swimming (Golden Lane), ice-skating (Broadgate). Judo an extra but nearly everyone does it; after-school clubs a mix of sport (badminton) and things like chess, big band, music appreciation, plus homework club after that. Provision for odd one-offs if you have a need for club one day.

Work displayed is for everyone - not just the stars.

Secondary transfer seems to be good - people seem to get where they want to go, more or less. We aren't at that stage yet.

Parent evening every term, very detailed and individual report at year-end. You can get an appointment pretty much whenever you need and informal chat at beginning of day.

No school lunches - packed lunch only - there is no room for a kitchen. This is something I wish could change but is minor compared to the advantages.

Best of all, I can be there in 10 mins from work so can go to everything and then go back to work afterwards if necessary.

I think it is a really good school and would strongly recommend going to see it properly, maybe a couple of times to get past the rather small premises and see the ethos.

Key thin

Many thanks to both of you for taking the time to respond, really appreciated.

Actually "traditional and regimented" does not sound too bad to me (but I am in the same profession as mumto lawyer, so that no doubt colours things??)

When I visited they had a "Tudor" theme in progress which looked great.

The more I hear, the more my concerns (which must be common to all prospective parents) decrease. I suppose you can't have everything - especially in London.

Given DS's current dislike (at one year old) for having anything on his head, not sure about that cap though....

FannyBrawne are you really in the same profession as me - I'm not a lawyer! (my DD seems to be in training for one though). If you think you are, CAT me as I almost certainly know you in real life, and I can give you a much better view face to face (I am in a pretty niche environment).

DH & I had a look round recently and the only things we weren't keen on were the lack of daylight in the school (classrooms in basement) and the lack of kitchen facilities. As to the teachers and curriculum we were really impressed. There was a very supportive, family feel to the school and the children seemed happy, engaged and eager to talk to us and answer questions. Reminded me of my old prep school which I loved.

..as for secondary transfers they told us the children tend mainly (unsurprisingly) go on to well-known public schools and a good number to City Of London, which we have our eye on. That said, COL Boys has a 60% intake from the state sector, which is where DS is and is fairly likely to stay.

Mumtolawyer sorry, I had thought you were a lawyer due to your nickname!

bobbuddha - totally hear and agree with everything you say. Am dreaming that DS is able enough to get into COL Boys (or even Westminster if he wants to board). I went to a comprehensive school, so all this prep/indie school thing is new to me. However, seeing as DS can't even walk yet, I am probably getting a bit beyond myself.....

My daughter left the Lyceum a couple of years ago to move on to secondary school (and she got into our first choice!) We were very happy with the school and I would second everything Mumtoalawyer said.

I would add that you do get to interact with the school an awful lot - one thing I really liked were the weekly assemblies to which parents were actively encouraged to come. These assemblies were led by a different class each week, with music assemblies twice a term (in which everyone, but everyone, was encouraged to play even if only a few bars, to furious applause from the assembled parents - great confidence booster). After the assemblies, the headmaster and headmistress run a coffee hour for the parents of the class that just presented and they talk about what is going on in that class and in the school generally, and you can ask questions.

I would also add that the school is genuinely very good at accommodating pupils with a range of abilities - from those who are ultimately offered scholarships to the big-name North London schools to those who are less bright but who get into very good schools for them. All schools will say somewhere in thier prospectus that they "nurture the individual" but the Lyceum really lives it.
The only people I have known to be unhappy with the school are very pushy ambitious parents - the Lyceum doesn't really do pushy until year 6 and even then it is just for a couple of terms while the exams and interviews are underway. I think that it is a great school but perhaps not quite ambitious or academic enough to get boys into Westminster if that is what you are looking at. Destination schools include Forest (quite a few), Queens (also quite a few), F. Holland, Channing (about 1 a year), NLCS (occasionally), City Boys and City Girls (about one each year), Highgate (about 1 a year) Portland Place, UCS (ocasionally)and a few to state schools usually. There are usually about 10-12 children in year 6 just to put the numbers in brackets into perspective. The small class size at that point coupled with the eagle-eyed attention from the Heads means that you can almost certainly manage without tutoring saving a considerable amount of money - at least we did and, as I say, we got into our first choice school.
I would be happy to talk more off-line if you want to CAT me.

Summersoon - many thanks that is v helpful.

I realise Westminster is probably just in my very own fantasy world....and that DS will have his own views about his education and might not be academic in the slightest.

On a more serious note, I think at primary level it is important that children be given a range of activities to explore and the comments I have seen suggest that is the case with the Lyceum.