Millbank Academy- good or not?

[Anna2907]

Hi everyone!

We are moving to London in February, so all the research I could do was the online one. We live in the area of catchment of Millbank Academy (0.1 miles away) and it looks like an Outstanding school (according to Ofsted). I would REALLY appreciate some 1st hand feedback from someone that has experience with the school. Google Reviews are not positive at all and my son (6 years old) is quite a sensitive child. Being bullied by his teacher (or anyone else) would smash him. The reason I am mentioning the bullying element is that a mom reviewed the school mentioning her kid was bullied by the teacher.

You need to go and see it.
An Outstanding rating usually means their results are good and that's all. I've known parents who have stepped into RI schools with horrible reputations and absolutely loved them. So please try not to focus too heavily on what Ofsted say.
Get into the school, ask for a tour while the children are there and see for yourself. You'll find as soon as you step in you'll know if it is the school for your child!

you mustn't get hung up by catchment areas in westminster. generally speaking there are plenty of primary school places and so you need to concentrate on making the right choice. if you are very close to millbank then you would be mad not to go and see st matthew's in old pye street. your distance from the school will help you because it is becoming increasingly the school to go to. there is also burdett coutts on rochester row but i think it's a bit im decline. also consider st gabriels in churcjhill gardens estate! the headteachers at st gabriels and st matthews are both really super. Actually, thinking more about Millbank i think they have had quite a few heads. the one who was there when they got outstanding has long gone. hope that helps!

I was really impressed by Millbank when I viewed it. It was top of our list for ages, especially since outside space is so great and hard to find in the area. We only moved it to 2nd place on our list because we loved Marlborough Primary School on Chelsea so much.

I didn't rate St. Matthews at all when I viewed it, mostly because I thought the space that Reception and Year 1 shared was small and run down. Outside space really poor too.

I never visited Burdett Courts because I couldn't get them to let me! Rang and rang to ask about open days or times I could visit and endlessly fobbed off and promised a call back. Eventually got a call 2 days before deadline for school applications. Didn't leave me with a good impression of the management of the school.

Depending on where you are exactly, and if Marlborough is reasonable for you, I'd consider it alongside Millbank.

Also worth saying Millbank is in same Academy chain as Pimlico and Churchill Gardens schools, if that's useful to know.

Bear in mind that people don’t routinely leave Google reviews for schools - it’s the sort of thing people only go out of their way to do if they are angry or have an axe to grind, so negative reviews will always stand out.

Heard from someone that Millbank are getting rid of staff. Anyone know what's going on?

Just posting this here in case anyone looking for open days. Burdett Coutts have nursery / reception open days 9.30 – 10.00am

7th, 14th, 21st & 28th November 2019
9th January 2020