Mossbourne or Haggerston?

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I am tying myself into a knotted bundle over the order of schools on DD's CAF.

Basically, we are unlikely to get our first choice so am now debating between 2nd and 3rd preferences. At the moment we have Mossbourne (Community not Victoria Pk) as 2nd and Haggerston 3rd.

I liked them both when we visited. I know Mossbourne has a reputation for being super-disciplined but am not necessarily put off by that. When I discussed it with DD she is ok with both but I know she would prefer Haggerston - her face falls a bit when I mention Mossbourne. BUT, I think she would probably do better academically at Mossbourne given their results.

We prob won't even get a place at Mossbourne given the lottery system (we are middle circle) but arrrrgh, it's so difficult to know what to do for the best!

Anyone have any recent experience of either/both schools/words of wisdom to share?

Thank you!

Friends with very bright kids at Haggerston are very happy with it and have said they are glad they are not at 'boot camp'.

Got all As and A*s, pastoral is good.

As long as they don't hanker for anything outlandish, I think young peope need to feel happy about the choice of school.

What's your first choice, out of interest?

tallstork - our 1st choice is Latymer - DD's ranking in the entrance tests mean that she may be on a waiting list but not guaranteed a place.

Haggerston's lovely. She'd be fine if she went there. Lots of very bright motivated kids, who do well.

Hi there,

I know it has been a year since this was posted, but I found myself in the same situation. I can't make up my mind between the 2 schools.
Which school did you choose in the end and are you and DD happy with your choice?
Any input from anybody else is welcome.
God, this is so stressful!

Thanks

How about put Mossbourne first and rethink if necessary later? Haggerston is never oversubscribed I don’t think, tho check last year’s figures in the guide.

If you take a look at the progress tables published by gov.uk it will tell you everything you need to do. Mossbourne is adding significant value whilst Haggerston is doing the exact opposite. It’s a no brainer to me

Poggle, there's a reason why Mossbourne do so well and it's the reason why lots of parents choose Haggerston!

btw, Haggerston's Progress 8 for 2018, was in the average range according to gov.uk (0.06), so hardly failing..

He we was in similar position last year. Latymer first (borderline result) and second mossbourne or stokey. I was tempted to put Mosboune second but My DS prefered stokey over mossbourne. At the end we chosed stokey as more relaxed and DS is very happy there. One of DS clasmate went to mossbourne snd is very stressed.

Each to their own. I suppose it depends on how your child learns. Haggerston is a very chaotic learning environment with challenging behaviour. Mossbourne is very structured with a lot of focus on attainment.

Pogglebon, do you actually know any children at Haggerston, because it really isn't chaotic. Read the last ofsted, as that's a good summary. That comments on the happy pupils, good behaviour and calm atmosphere.

There's challenging behaviour at every school, state or private. The important thing is how a school deals with it. The Ofsted for Haggerston said bulling is rare, children feel safe, students are respectful of teachers, corridors are calm, etc, etc. That's how the school is. It's not chaotic, it's a warm, kind school with a real sense of purpose and community and yes, aspiration too.

Mossbourne does suit some kids, but sadly what Ashok says is true too - kids leave each year, as they're unhappy or stressed.

Yes of course I do. I don’t make throwaway statements which are unsubstantiated. I know both schools well and have had children at both. Very few children leave Mossbourne to my knowledge - where are you getting your facts from? As I said - each to their own but if you want a school where the focus is on learning it’s a no brainer. Behaviour at Haggerston is a barrier to learning. Hence the substantial difference in their progress figures. Children don’t make progress at Haggerston because the focus isn’t on learning nor teaching for that matter.

We went mossbourne for open evening last year. The school looks better than anh other school, but the pupils we tried to talk tk were not very confident and quickly teachers answers our question. Thiis was first sign of their strict policy. My dc is very academic and very confident as vell. I do not want to kill this. This school wiil suit some of children but definetely not mine. Usualy clever kids are question everything and do not want yo follow unreasonable ruless. I wanted my ds to be happy in school firstly and then he will do his best in learning. For me this was very important as with dc2 we had to change the primary school. Unhappy child = not very good results.

Poggle, I think we'll have to agree to differ. Yes though, I do know children at both schools and have kids at Haggerston.

Sadly, I personally know two children who have left Mossbourne due to stress and have heard of more. Obviously I don't have stats, but it's pretty well known that lots move - in the early years especially. To give an example, a friend's DD started at Easter in yr8; on her first day, she was one of 6 new kids. For the places to be available, that means 6 kid have left. I doubt they all just moved house!

There's a theory locally, that one way Mossbourne get their results, is to filter out the kids who don't fit their mould, then bring in ones that do. Obviously there's always a waiting list, as a lot of parents want the high results, etc. They are canny too about bringing in the right kids - the rowing 'scholarship' is an obvious example. It's great that kids get a chance to row - I'm not disputing that at all, but it's also a clever way of bringing in more high achieving kids. I think it's 20 kids who can get in via the rowing 'scholarship' in year 9. Three kids were accepted from my son's school and surprise, surprise, all were bright academically. One of them, told me that quite a few of the others, were from private schools, like Forest. So that's 20 new kids, who are highly likely to go on to get storming GCSE results and add to the school stats. It's clever really, but sad for the other local schools, as Mossbourne's taking some of their brightest kids.

As I've said before though, I really don't have a problem with Mossbourne - they're transparent about the way they work and I know lots of parents approve of it. I know kids who are there and fine, so it does work for some and that's great. My only real point is that it definitely doesn't suit all.

Obviously the reason I posted initially was to defend Haggerston, as the way you talked of it was so dismissive and critical and that's honestly not how we've found it. I'm sorry if that was your experience though.