St Marylebone Vs Parliament Hill

[Claxonia]

Hi,

We are looking at both of these schools for our daughter and have a decent chance
to get into either. I’m interested to hear about the pros and cons of each. Our daughter is pretty academic and gets great results at school. I would say that she benefits from a more structured environment and being pushed academically otherwise she can be lazy but she’s also very competitive. She’s into art and sports and is pretty sociable without being particularly outgoing.

Any insights would be most welcome - thank you in advance!

Hi Claxonia,
We have very good friends with a daughter at Parliament Hill in Y9. She is happy and doing well, and they really love the school and facilities. Generally speaking, they are quite engaged in their children's education and have high standards- they also turned down a particularly competitive independent girl's school offer for Y7 and, at least as far as I know, they have never regretted it. I do not have first hand information about this school as I have not even visited it, though, so this is really all I know but felt I should share it!

Several families from my daughters' independent primary school have had their girls go on to St Marylebone. Its head is highly regarded, and its academic and music/arts reputation probably speaks volumes. One thing that families I know have been frustrated about is how strict it is. One mother said it felt too Victorian, another said the strictness was just not sensible and disproportionate to the girls' generally very minor infractions. You get the feeling that the school feels it must gain the upper hand on behaviour quite early and quite dramatically. The school lunch situation (poor offerings, crowded, eating in classrooms etc.) is really minor in the scheme of things, and it's a state school issue that families I know were surprised about, but it is also a recurring headache (and daily issue for the girls) that hasn't been solved. As our girls are heading into GCSEs the study offerings were quite broad - especially compared to my girl's independent offerings! But some of them were not very academic and this caused friction between the parents, who have higher academic expectations and feel their girls are capable of these, and their girls, who were taken by the more unusual but certainly less university-regarded subjects. The school in a couple cases was not bothered to support the parents in these instances (fair enough- larger issues at hand!). I think both schools are some of the best in the area- Camden School for Girls is another, where we know families who have both been quite happy all around and also who have taken their girls out. In the end, it's about being a good fit, easy commute, and a few things your girl will really like about the place. No perfect school, state or independent, we parents have to remember that!
Good luck!

I should recall that statement about the school not being bothered to support the parents in those instances. I did not follow up on that and don't know the outcome. It seemed that way at the time when decisions needed to be made, but ultimately I don't know how it all turned out and perhaps the school did support the parents. Sorry, I went to edit that bit out but have found that I can't!

Thank you that’s really helpful and I appreciate you taking the time to write such a detailed reply.

Daughter has just finished PHS.
She loved it - did very well in GCSEs. Teaching was great, what I particularly liked was that they cater for all - academic, creative, musical. Everyone’s receiving equal attention. Teachers are experienced and work well with kids looking at individual needs. It makes students feel empowered and not afraid to make their own choices in terms of choosing subjects , assignments, projects etc.
Bullying nipped in the bud and taken very seriously. Pastoral care very good.
Very inclusive - student support is amazing.
Located on the edge of Hampstead Heath and they do take advantage of it! Building has recently been extended. Nice spacious classrooms.
Lunches ok but massive queues.
Transport links very good.
After school activities ok, not amazing.
Large population so something for everyone. It has two other secondary schools in a very close proximity so it allows meeting other students.
6th form located next to the school building which is a consortium of 4 secondaries - wide nice choice of subjects if wanted to continue.

Hi there,

I don't know much about Marylebone but my step daughter has been a student at Parli since year 7, now entering year 11. Academically it is of a high standard and until last year she was achieving well and enjoying classes. There have however since then been serious issues with bullying in her year group, including a lot of incidents involving physical violence, that the school have not dealt with either at all or adequately. Their pastural care (for this year group at least) is not fit for purpose and their bullying policy is not victim focused at all. I acknowledge that this year group has suffered a great deal from the consequences of the pandemic but there have been serious failings on the behalf of Parli staff that have been extremely damaging. They don't seem equipped to deal with students who have specialised social needs and this has had an echo effect on more contentious students such as much step daughter, who has been left afraid of attending school and feeling very unsupported at a critical time in her studies. I'd like to say her (and our) experience is an unfortunate one off but there have been reports of similar situations in her year group that have been equally poorly dealt with.

I obviously can't speak for the other year groups but I wanted to add my experience to the spectrum that have been shared with you.

The headteacher of St M is lovely, many have told me. They would love their children to be under her care.

Also echo this experience at Parliament.