London 6th Form William Morris or Burlington Danes

[grunty]

Dd is looking for a Sixth Form place for A levels. Her main career path is Art but she will also be doing English Lit and probs psychology and history. DD loved the art teaching at BDA - only 7 students so they all had their own space etc. William Morris was a bit cramped in comparison with less teacher contact.

I thought WM was a lovely school, post 16 only and the staff seem really caring. Dd thought it was too shabby.

Does anyone have experience of either of these schools for A levels?

Bump! Does anyone have experience of either of these schools?

I know this is an old post and hope you've got some info on these two schools.

I've got personal experience of William Morris - on paper it's less teacher contact but there is far more opportunity to see teachers in study support time. The pastoral care is excellent and the quality of teaching for those subjects is too. The staff there genuinely seem to care about their students and the curriculum is much wider than other school sixth forms.

The building is a bit shabby but I'd rather have better quality teachers than the shiny glass and concrete boxes in newer buildings and less good teachers. I don't have a huge amount of info about Burlington Danes but there's been a bit of flux in leadership there I think.

I think the art teacher at BDA is leaving, so unsure if that will affect the attractiveness of the Sixth Form art provision.

My daughter has been offered BDA, William Morris, Hammersmith Academy and Holland Park. I prefer William Morris because I thought the whole idea of a Sixth Form school is fantastic. I also liked the inclusiveness.

My daughter prefers BDA but she was 'hit on' by boys at open evening and when she visited for interview, which I thought was unacceptable behaviour tbh. I hope they don't do the ranking thing which they do with the lower school at 6th because that would destroy her - that is post up weekly lists of rank in each subject.

William Morris definitely don't do the ranking - the students have three (private) subject progress meetings and tutor reviews over the year and regular informal update on their progress. Many of the departments have moved to smart TV and iPad style teaching which I think is evidence of more forward thinking and dynamic teaching. I know that there have been a few students moving from other sixth forms after their first year of A levels to William Morris and have found it a much better experience.