Brixton primary schools

[koshkalila]

anyone out there with kids at school in Brixton? mine are 3 and 1 and I'm hoping we'll get into Sudbourne. Unlikely, but what are the alternatives? is Jubilee a hellhole or is it ok? no Ofsted report since 2003 which is 'helpful', but the results just keep going down and down.....

The Sudbouren catchment is very very tight (because of years of people renting temporarily to get in, then moving away and renting the flat temorarily again), and every subsequent family in the rented flats then gets all the siblings in! But I think they are expanding the school - not sure if it will happen in time for you?

Do you have any religious credentials that would get you into Corpus Christi or Holy Trinity? Or St Judes? (which I think has slightly more places for 'proximity' rather than religious observance).

Stockwell Primary is doing v well, I think, and there are schools further away that are v good and seem to have places more often - like Ashmole near the Oval.

Which wedge of Brixton do you live in (if you imagine them radiating out like slices of Dairylea in a box):
Acre Lane - Brixton hill
Brixton Hill - Tulse hill
Tulse hill - Herne hill
Shakespeare rd - Camberwell Rd (inc Loughborough Junction)
Brixton Rd - Stockwell rd
Stockwell rd - Acre lane

Brixton hill-tulse hill, so Jubilee definitely nearest.

Like your dairylea analogy very much. I will use this in future. Do you know anyone at Jubilee?

Not catholic unfortunately (although I went to a catholic school and my husband was baptised catholic, randomly)

Don't know St. Jude's, where is it?

i am in the same "wedge" - but we are catholic so ds goes to cc. go and visit jubilee, my husband was quite impressed with it when we were doing the rounds - see what you think. i know someone from one of the neighbouring roads got into st judes so it can't be too far. another family opposite us went to king's avenue.

St. Jude's looks lovely, the ofsted report positively glows and I didn't even know it was there. Thanks for that, will look into it. Any ideas why the results go down every year for all brixton schools? maybe they've changed the parameters somehow

what do you mean the results go down?

what do you mean the results go down?

I think Sudbourne had a bit of a drop down the tables...there was a big gap with no head. But if you are looking at tables, the points are often so close that actual position doesn't mean much.
Keep an eye on Jubilee, and do visit...Like all schools in similiar areas, there is a very very wide demographic, and just because the average is low doesn't mean that the teaching is bad, that behaviour is not succesfully managed, or that an able child cannot actually do very well. Look at the 'value added' more than the aggregated scores. I have had some contact with Jubillee and thought the teachers were excellent, but there were some problems with it being so new.
Depending on how far south you are, Holy trinity might be a possibility - not sure what the admission policy is.

St Judes is over-subscribed, though, I thnk.

But it's all worth a try, and schools often have places in Yr1 or 2 (even Sudbourne!) so you can stay on waiting lists - and if your older child got in in Yr 1 or 2, your younger would get in as a sibling.

I'm going to go and look at Jubilee properly. Lots of our neighbours have little girls the same age and if we all get in together maybe we can make a difference.

Regarding the results: when you go to the Ofsted website and look at the graphs for the aggregated results, all the Brixton schools go down significantly year on year while the Lambeth and UK graphs have a slight upward trend. Maybe I should ignore them and look at the value add scores as suggested....or perhaps just get a grip and go and see for myself

good for you. it is very new, so the facilities should be good anyhow.

Koshkalila - My DS goes to a Lambeth school not v far away from Jubilee, with a very very varied intake. It's fine - plenty in the class do extremely well academically, some averagely, some are having to work hard to keep up, some are a nightmare and downright disruptive, some have quite advanced social issues to contend with - but DS has a group of friends who are all doing well, and they tend to just get on with it, and they do get lots of input. There are 2 TAs in the classroom as well as the teacher, which helps. I have no idea whether this is the norm nationally, but it is v common in Lambeth primaries.

It is a beautiful school, building-wise!

Hooray! she got a place at Sudbourne in the nursery after Xmas. Thrilled, although it is the afternoon session which is tricky for a small person used to a siesta! this doesn't guarantee a place for when she is 5 but it's a start. Went to hand in acceptance this morning and got all excited, it is such a lovely environment.

My daughter's in reception at Jubilee. I'm really happy with it. She goes to the breakfast club, which luckily she thinks of as a treat! The parents can come in for the library session and I saw a phonics session one day - all the kids were so engaged, for a whole half an hour - it was amazing! The parents I've met are friendly and support each other really well.