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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Sacred Heart High Hammersmith: is this school as good as they say ?

13 replies

twoscoots123 · 09/03/2021 09:39

Sacred Heart High Hammersmith: is this school as good as they say ?
I am considering sending my daughter to Sacred Hearth. I hear great things about it but I don't know anyone who actually goes there!
Any of you attending or knowing more about the school ?
Thank you very much.

OP posts:

TomorrowOnce · 10/03/2021 12:56

I hope so. We visited their open days - 2x.
Know of Catholic parents in prep schools who would consider the school if they do not get offers from super selectives.

From what we saw - VG facilities, nice girls ... wonderful ethos. They do online applications now.

TBH, I though the head was a bit uninspiring during the open days. I get her though. There is no need to sell the school since it is way way way over over over (!) subscribed. She pretty much read what you can get from the website - reiterated that they have feeder schools (in Appendix A), those that are in boroughs bordering Hammersmith and Fulham. IMHO, this unfair for those who live in Westminster and live/go to school nearer to Sacred Hearts versus those who live/go to school in far away Brent (Wembley!)/Hounslow/Ealing/Richmond/Wandsworth ---
So if you live in Westminster - be sure you have a back up plan. Your DD will NOT be offered on 01 March. You will have to be on the WL - still some get in.

Which borough do you live? There are other options.

Original poster

twoscoots123 · 10/03/2021 14:22

Hi TomorrowOnce, thank you for your message. Very happy to hear that you visited the school and you liked it. We were indeed wondering how the girls looked like and what kind of ethos the school actually had (not just what you read on the website). You are correct about the exclusion of Westminster (we live in Westminster), which seems a bit unfair...
Do you know if they have outside sports facilities on school ground or do they have to travel for that ? Do they "stream" in a way that one class is full with top students (getting all the attention and resources) ?
Thank you very much..
p.s. what are the other options you were referring to ?
Best

OP posts:

TomorrowOnce · 10/03/2021 14:36

Sorry - I do not have much insider information.
I do hear about the Westminster issue a lot.

I will PM you about possible alternatives. It really depends on where you live.

TheAnswerMyFriend · 10/03/2021 14:48

I used to work at SH, it is a truly wonderful school. The girls are from a wide range of backgrounds but all so lovely and hardworking. It is a very ‘no nonsense’ but very nurturing school, which is why the girls achieve such high results.

Original poster

twoscoots123 · 10/03/2021 15:19

Hi TheAnswerMyFriend, thank you very much for your answer, very useful. Do you perhaps know if they have outside sports facilities on school ground or do they have to travel for that ? And if they "stream" in a way that one class is full with top students (getting all the attention and resources), as we have heard other schools do ?
Thank you very much..

OP posts:

TheAnswerMyFriend · 10/03/2021 16:12

Not sure about the outside sports facilities, sorry. Obviously the outside space is quite limited but I’m not sure if they go elsewhere, I don’t think so though.

When I worked there they did stream pupils in KS3 but there was movement between classes. In KS5 they had sets in English and maths, possibly science too?

However, I have worked in several secondary schools, and I can assure you lower ability sets always have more resources as there are fewer pupils and they often have TAs. When I worked at Sacred Heart, most support was done by specialist teachers (for instance a maths colleague would support a lower ability maths class), which is one of the reasons which all pupils do so well in my opinion.

Original poster

twoscoots123 · 10/03/2021 22:15

Hi TheAnswerMyFriend, thank you very much for your message, very useful.

OP posts:

TheAnswerMyFriend · 10/03/2021 23:02

I meant sets in KS4, not KS5.

hotmilf1980 · 05/11/2021 12:25

sacred heart is an awful school. the environment contributed significantly to my daughters eating disorder which got her hospitalised and it was a very cliquey place. They did not try and get help for her when she was very very thin and ignored the problem despite us trying to raise it as an issue. there has also been racist incidents there in the past which have been ignored.
please reconsider before sending your child here

Gingernaut · 05/11/2021 12:37

Raised Catholic and went to a local Catholic primary school.

Got high grades in the streaming exams and everyone though I was a soo-in for Sacred Heart.

It was so oversubscribed, that I didn't get a look in. I didn't have a family connection to the school - only girl and eldest.

Later found that they jigged their exam stats by preventing below average students from taking exams in the first place.

Mafalda78 · 08/06/2022 16:13

Gingernaut it is interesting what you say about the school, could you elaborate more?

hotmilf1980 I am not surprised at all, the same feeling transpires in many chiswcik/hammersmith primary catholic schools so I guess they do not get any better in secondary.

naran39964 · 13/03/2023 19:15

My daughter went to that school and I have found that if you listen to the teacher's and don't argue you will get on well as they will help you .Many times my daughter came home crying as she had lost all her bubbly confidence.

naran39964 · 13/03/2023 19:19

Absolutely true!!! (Same thing happened to my child)
I hope your child is happy now👍

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