St Mary Magdalene Academy, Islington

[Suchislife]

I've recently moved to Islington in North London, and our nearest Secondary School by far is SMMA.

My ds is currently in year 5, so I need to seriously consider where he will be going to school at secondary level.
Does anyone have any experience, personal or hearsay about SMMA? It would be great if he could walk to school and make friends who live nearby etc but on the whole I have only ever heard negative things about Islington Secondaries.

Private is definitely not an option, not that I really agree with it anyway, so If anyone could offer an insight on this, or other nearby schools that would be great.

Thanks.

bumping for you. I don't know anyone at SMM but I have heard its quite good for islington and I'v met one family who go to church more regularly than they normally would, so that their child has a better chance of getting in.

should have added, you might want to consider Dame Alice Owen school if you are in islington. Its a pig of a journey but there are quite a few children who go there from near highbury corner, if thats close to where you live.

I can recommend SMMA. I have been involved with the Academy since it opened and was a governor of the primary school of the same name which was formerly on the site. You are asking about secondary education - so let me focus on that for you.
re comment about church attendance - that does not make a difference to secondary admission.

There are three types of places - community - those nearest to the school. foundation -available to children who have attended a church of england primary school in Islington and new for year 7 entry in 2013 the governors are offering 18 places to students with an aptitude for learning languages

This year will be the first year for gcse results - but the results for the first set of sixth from exams last year were impressive and certainly above national average. Sixth from students study the International Baccalaureate - which reflects the international specialism of the school. In years 7 and 8 they offer a homebase approach. This means that students have a main classroom and key teacher for humanity subjects. Specialist teachers and labs are used for maths, science, pe, music etc. The homebase approach eases the transition from primary to secondary and enables the key teacher to get to know students well and to assess their core skills. The focus in years 7 and 8 is on equipping the students with the communications and numeracy skills they need for later exam success. The curriculum offered is an academic one -there are no btech or GCSE equivalents and all students have to take a language - again reflecting the global citizenship and humanities specialism.

There is a new admission criteria for year 7 entry in 2013 - the governors are offering 18 places to students scoring highest in a language aptitude test. This will offer students outside the tight catchment area an opportunity to attend SMMA and again reflects the specialism. New for September 2012 18 Governors' language places are available for immediate Year 9 entry. The website gives more details on admission and gives a flavour of what the Academy is like. www.smmacademy.org Open evenings are held in september/october.