Brighton area schools

[KobaniDaughters]

We’re looking at a potential move to the Brighton area and wondered if anyone had any feedback on state secondary schools? The usual ones in Brighton itself but also Longhill, Peacehaven, Patcham, Portslade Alridge etc

Hey, speaking as a local brightonian and with a bit of knowledge on the schools here.

Currently, the best state school is called Varndean and it is in the patcham area. There is also Dorothy Stringer, Kings and Hove girls which are doing quite well too. Schools that seem to not be doing as well are Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) and Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA)

Hope this helps! :-)

Varndean and Dorothy Stringer are popular and make up one catchment but it's a lottery system and the catchment is consistently oversubscribed.

Patcham is mixed reviews.

BACA and Longhill not great.

On the other side are the hove catchment schools, again it's a lottery so you don't get a choice. Blatchington most popular and Hove Park ok.

Cardinal Newman is the popular but massive catholic school.

Not sure what PP means by Hove Girls though - maybe Brighton Girls but that's private.

Just remember - be very careful about catchments and always take into account the lottery system. Plus if it's for admission in the next 2 years expect the varndean/stringer catchment to be oversubscribed and for a handful of kids to get bumped to Longhill etc

Sorry, missed out PACA. New buildings but historically not great. Kings is new too and seems popular.

Great, thanks all

Varndean has this great reputation based on historical performance BUT those days are long gone... Check their results... Th ey are no better than schools considered 'bad'. Their pastoral care is appalling... I know this first hand. Some kids do well there... But their drug problem is massive!

'Varndean has this great reputation based on historical performance BUT those days are long gone... Check their results... Th ey are no better than schools considered 'bad'. Their pastoral care is appalling... I know this first hand. Some kids do well there... But their drug problem is massive!'

Sorry, but I don't recognise this version of Varndean at all! They're the leading state school in Science in the county, their pastoral care is OUTSTANDING, their free enrichment programme offers the students 80 lunchtime and after school activities, the new head is very impressive and they are transparent and open in everything they do.
My kids are extremely happy there and have transformed from kids who were bored at school to kids who are genuinely excited to go into school each day.
If anything Stringer is the school with the behaviour and drugs problems.

I work with the schools in East Sussex -
Academically & behaviour wise - Varndean, Blatch, Stringer are the best, in that order.
Kings is new and untested.
Hove Park, improving but the weaker of the Hove schools - I find their buildings a bit grim and depressing...
Cardinal Newman is HUGE - Catholic, mixed results. Their pupils don't have a good rep on behaviour. Biggest high school in Europe so that will always be a factor and yes, RE does colour everything they do as you would expect from a church school.
PACA, BACA - struggle on academics, better on sports. BACA known for behaviour issues amongst kids.
Longhill - poor academically, 'rough' by reputation - good for sports/dance.
If school is important then you need to think re catchments. If you live in Portslade you'll prob get PACA and I wouldn't want my kids there. Go the otherside to Peacehaven and you'll get Longhill, my kids wouldn't have lasted 5. mins there!
The catchments are on the council website, and there are a few areas where your choice would be Varndean, Stringer, Newman. And you;d be unlikely to be given Newman of you're not religious.

@KobaniDaughters hope that helps!
What I will say is that ALL of the teachers I work with, regardless of school, seem hardworking, dedicated, passionate about their schools and determined make the best of what they have.

And as for academics - these schools are state comprehensives, not grammars or academically selective schools. Their results will reflect the fact that they welcome ALL children regardless of their backgrounds and ability. Good pastoral care is really what you should be looking for once you know a school is al least 'good' according to OFSTED. None of the Brighton & Hove secondaries are 'Outstanding" on paper, but in reality a few probably are.