High View primary SW11 - any thoughts?

[ReadingTeaLeaves]

Does anyone have any experience of sending kids to High View in Battersea or know anyone else who has? How do kids get on there, academically and socially?

We live too far to get into Belleville and Honeywell, the two local schools that dominate all chat about local primaries and High View really is our only state option. I'd love some views from anyone whose kids are there, or have been there, or from people who have chosen not to send their kids there - why not? Which secondaries do children go on to? We may consider going private for secondary (depending on finances and the future state of local secondaries). I know league table don't necessarily tell you much, but my (possibly incorrect) reading of the latest league tables seem to put High View higher than Belleville so I'm not quite sure why Belleville gets so much said about it and High View isn't talked about at all. Any ideas?

Is it a good school that you'd be happy to send your kids to or should we be preparing to bankrupt ourselves and go private for primary as well? We have a couple of years to make our final decision. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Hi
I am sorry but I don't know High view. However have been in the same situation. In Brixton Sudbourn is the school that is talked about and has been mentioned on thsi board. Tiny catchment area and very elitist. My duaghter attends Stockwell Primary which when we applied was above Sudbourne on the tables. We have'nt looked back and the school is great. There are probably less middle class parents there but that is changing. When my daughter started i spoke to a mother who had gone private as (in her words) she did not want her daughter to be the only white face in the crowd. Not a friend of mine I hasten to add. When the time comes visit the school talk to parents and form your own conclusion.
The schools that are always named are at risk of becoming smug and complacent in my opinion

Please don't judge the school on my spelling. My daughter goes there not me!! ha ha

JJ6 - I agree with the principls of your post: in fact since Sudbourne used to be judged the only decet primary in Lambeth / near to brixton, there are actually many whic are doing very well indeed.

Parents do fall prey to collective panic, and infectious 'We must get into this particular school or nothing'.

I'm sure Sudbourne is great - but I know a family wh moved thier child to a schol in another part of the borough when they moved house, and are even hapier with the new school!

But sorry - cannot offer any knowledge of High View. Visiting schools is the only way to form a real opinion - people have so much invested in keeping their own schools top of the rumour league! (not saying that any first hand expeience from MNers re High View won't be useful, of course)

Hi there

I don't know anything about HighView but got to thinking as we're probably not going to get into Belleville or Honeywell either. Did a bit of research and the league tables certainly seem to put HV ahead of Belleville, by a couple of points. That's on last summer's SATS results.

But if you look at Ofsted then Belleville is outstanding across the board and Highview is Good. The report is certainly positive but I don't think that HighView sounds anything like as good as Belleville on that basis.

There is a lot to be said for going to your local school, - would HV be the nearest or would it in theory be Belleville / Honeywell were it not for the ludicrously small catchment areas?

Sorry this is not much more help. Do post your thoughts - am in the midst of primary school angst and it would be nice to hear about other schools other than Hwell and Bville for a change!

I know Highview through working there at times, and I have found it to be a very warm, caring school with outstanding staff and pastoral care.
Doesn't look much from the outside, and definitely more multi-cultural than Belleville and Honeywell, but I was very impressed (and I see a lot of schools!0
Sacred Heart is excellent too if you are RC,

Definitely go see High View, you really might like it. I can totally understand that all the Wandsworth Common Honeywell Belleville chat is unsettling but a child does not have to attend one of those schools to be successful in our area - it is just hysteria/myth/legend/etc! If the results were better than Belleville then it can't be too shady and ofsted reports do not have to be outstanding for a primary school to be a very positive, supportive learning environment for our kids! As you probably know, Honeywell was only rated 'good' by ofsted and clearly people are gnawing off limbs to get in there (or at least paying £1m plus for their houses...) Lots and lots of luck!

Thanks so much for all the thoughts so far. These are useful and reassuring comments and we will definitely go and look around. I agree that hype around a school means you get a self-fulfilling prophecy - and other schools shouldn't be written off as a result.

We are closer to HV than Hwell or Bville, so it really is a local school for us - which can only be a good thing. And more multicultural than the others seems like a positive thing to me as well - so long as the education provided is good. Sacred Heart (and other 'faith' schools) aren't an option for us sadly .

I would love to hear from any parents with personal experience of sending kids to High View (or making a choice against doing so - what were your reasons for doing so?).

OP, have you looked at this site www.nappyvalleynet.com ? I can't see anything specific on there about HV, but you might have more luck with finding people who have experience of the school as it is a local site.

Good idea, I'll do that. Thanks.

just wondering if anyone else had any thoughts particularly parents with personal experience of sending kids to High View or avoiding it.

I tried Nappy Valley Net and had no responses...there's obviously nothing like Mumsnet!

Hi ReadingTeaLeaves, just wondering whether you'd got any further with this. I think we'll be in the same situation as you (not for a couple of years but I think it will come round quickly) so would be interested to hear how you get on. The children I see going to and from High View seem happy and well-behaved as far as I can tell and the Ofsted report sounds positive. I found a couple of reviews on schoolsnet.com but I'm not sure how recent they are. I'll ask around and let you know if I manage to find anything more.

Good luck with the rest of your search.

Im sorry to say, but I really didn't like my experience of HV. My son had to go there for 3 months until a place came available at Belleville. Every day I was upset thinking what to do but all I could do was to wait for a place to become available at my nearest Belleville or Honeywell. I did not like the idea that my son was one of the only white children at the school, he felt quite out of place and 'different'. None of the other mothers said a word to me for 3 months, there was no info about a PTA (not sure they had one), lots of teasing happening at playtimes, and sometimes quite shocking language and manners from children. It really wasn't very welcoming to my son as a new student. He also never came home with homework, sometimes little bits of reading thats all...in general, I wasnt happy. Now after 2 weeks of him being at Belleville, I know lots of other mothers, I get emails from PTA almost daily on various fun events and my son has lots of new friends. So much nicer environment and I feel happy to leave my son there during the day. He comes home happy and full of new skills :-)

I have just read your comments about High View primary. My daughter has been at the school since Nursery and now is in year 6. I have always been really happy with the school, it is a very good school. I find it annoying how it is often compared with Belleville when I have heard of certain issues at Belleville. High View have always dealt with any issues or concerns that I have had in the past and I have always felt confident that my Daughter has been extended to reach her full potential at High View. It is a caring school. All the teachers my Daughter has had have always cared about her emotional needs as well as her education needs. She has always felt safe at school. When my Daughter started in Nursery I met some of the other Mums and they are still my good friends now. The school performs just as good if not better than Belleville in results. Also it is a smaller school where the staff really know every child and that makes a big difference having the personal touch. In a larger school like Belleville which has almost a thousand children in the school that is the equivalent of a secondary school not primary you are not going to get the same personal touch. I am sad my Daughter is leaving High View this year to go to secondary school as we now have a new head and I am sure High View is going to be a more sort after school.

I think you guys have bad info
I listened to your comments and I enrolled my children in the school and I have never heard such horrible language from the children. the staff are not helpful there was a parent who approached the bullying child who terrorised her little girl and was made fun of because she was a muslim she told the teacher about it but the bullying continued so the parent approached the bully's mother in the play ground and the teacher came over to investigate he saw the mother who told his about the bullying and he said I will deal with it that was 3 weeks ago after the little girl learned what racist was ,the teachers are rude and they never update on your childs progress and the head teacher is only concerned if the children attend school she is not helpful at all I will be surprised if she has children she's rude to the children she will get hers one day there are a handful of parents who feel the same just see for your self before school in the play ground
Before you enrol your child see for yourself and speak to the head teacher a few times and look at the many other reviews on google

Readingtealeaves did you attend High View in the end??