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Secondary education

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

Original poster

Holland Park School - please share the latest!

27 replies

JustaDad12345 · 03/02/2023 04:02

Greetings, my son is year 8 in Kew House School. It’s a perfectly nice place, except: it’s not very demanding academically and it’s fairly far from us.

Suddenly we got an email that they have a place for him in Holland Park - we applied previously. So - how are things there?

Obviously “free” would be a nice feature, and it’s much closer to us, but how is the school academically these days? Would it be materially better than Kew House? How is the environment? Is all the drama over? Please share what you can. Thanks!

OP posts:
malfrale · 20/02/2023 15:11

Hi,

I asked about HP a few months ago:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4639440-holland-park-school-any-updates

Good luck and please let us know how things go if you decided to take on the offer.

Original poster
JustaDad12345 · 20/02/2023 18:19

Yeah, thank you, I saw that thread from September of last year. These days for Holland Park School 4 months is an eternity :-)

OP posts:
malfrale · 08/03/2023 12:43

Hi @JustaDad12345, what did you decide in the end?

Original poster
JustaDad12345 · 08/03/2023 13:39

We decided to wait till September. I am surprised nobody here has any opinions though.

OP posts:
MumzTheW0rld · 11/03/2023 01:04

Hi!

My daughter (year 10) and son (year 8) goes here and they absolutely love it! From what I’ve seen at parents evening (and at the open days) it’s got top of the line facilities not typical of a “state comprehensive”.

In terms of academic standards, the school has always been high performing, more so at Sixth Form (it consistently scores on the top 100 London schools for A Level results). According to my son, lessons are constantly creative (with “inspire and enthuse” programmes) and homework is set at rather a demanding rate. (I should also advise you that the school has a particularly strong Arts and Humanities department, nobody from any of my children’s classes got below an 8/A* for their mocks!)

Nobody here at HPS shies away from talking about last year’s drama, though it has had little impact on the quality of education and disciplinary standards (the main change that came about as a result was limited to the senior team).

As far as non-religious, state-funded, fully comprehensive education goes, Holland Park School is definitely on the stronger end of the academic spectrum.

LondonCityMum77 · 13/06/2023 20:28

Would anyone know about the new head (Steve Parsons) departure? Is this true? I cant find info on their website....

mastertomsmum · 13/06/2023 23:14

So is it part of United Learning academy trust? If so, they took over Cambridge’s Parkside Fed schools. It’s been pretty bad and lots of parents very unhappy esp at the Coleridge School site. Very uber focused on uniform, not so much on other stuff. Yr 11 kids have to wear uniform during GCSEs and no study leave.

roses2 · 14/06/2023 12:52

Yr 11 kids have to wear uniform during GCSEs

OMG they make the kids wear uniform??? 😐

mastertomsmum · 14/06/2023 15:59

roses2 · 14/06/2023 12:52

Yr 11 kids have to wear uniform during GCSEs

OMG they make the kids wear uniform??? 😐

Yup, when other schools here don’t as far as I’m aware.

SongThrushFeather · 14/06/2023 16:47

I would say most schools make their students wear uniforms for GCSEs. It’s a safeguarding issue - otherwise how can they tell who is supposed to be on the school site and who isn’t?

mastertomsmum · 14/06/2023 16:57

SongThrushFeather · 14/06/2023 16:47

I would say most schools make their students wear uniforms for GCSEs. It’s a safeguarding issue - otherwise how can they tell who is supposed to be on the school site and who isn’t?

I see what your point is and I know that we always wore uniform for exams even those now only around 30, but it has stopped being a thing. Pupils had to sign in when mine did GCSEs last year

MamaCastro · 31/08/2023 15:28

Hello!
Could you please tell me if Holland Park school will be opening in September 2023? Offset says it has been closed.
Also, any improvement with United Learning?

Thank you so much

ghislaine · 31/08/2023 15:52

The school itself has not been closed down but now it is an academy has a new registration with Ofsted. You can see that here: https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/23/149632

Holland Park School - Open - Find an Inspection Report - Ofsted

https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/23/149632

MamaCastro · 31/08/2023 16:08

Could anyone please let me know how Holland Park School / management issues / students results are after school became an academy please?

Thank you very much

roses2 · 01/09/2023 10:12

any improvement with United Learning?

What's wrong with schools in the United Learning group, aside from the ridiculous comment above that kids have to wear a uniform? My local catchment school is part of the group and is hugely over subscribed.

MamaCastro · 01/09/2023 13:18

Could anyone give me an update on teachers turn out since changes?

Kindest regards

Squashyduvet · 15/04/2024 02:45

i’ve been a Holland Park parent for 9 years now. Kids did well academically but short-changed compared with other state school kids as HPS was/still is an exam factory and students are disproportionately stressed and unhappy. The last few years at the school have been catastrophic - disgraced head who was sacked; over-promoted and deeply inexperienced SLT who enabled him coz they knew no better (no excuse!).My two both left for new 6th forms and never looked back. Fortunately United Learning taken over the fiefdom but I would not be sending kids there until change is realised, not just tacked about

malfrale · 15/04/2024 18:48

I really wanted this to work—see my post last year— but it doesn’t. Teachers come and go very quickly. They changed two science, English, geography and RE teachers in the first term, homework is given without checking if a topic has been actually covered and mid-year exams have been handled so badly I wouldn’t know where to begin.
They have killed my child’s love for learning.
We are really not happy, unfortunately 😞 and desperately looking for an alternative.

TAB22 · 24/08/2024 10:33

Hello, is there anyone who can update here regarding 6th form! Like an earlier poster, my daughter is at Kew House School and very happy there. but it is a brutal financial uberstaking, especially considering the school is academically very poor (daughter is very capable, but needs a little more discipline and structure to do well. and she wants to be a lawyer, so results will matter). Is HPS still academically strong? And has the change settled somewhere happy?

timetorefresh · 24/08/2024 11:00

I knew someone who worked there a few years back. Hated it. They had a massiveky high staff turnover

Esserik · 24/10/2024 22:30

Hi! Can someone share any recent feedback / experience at Holland Park School?
Thank you in advance !

TAB22 · 25/10/2024 07:23

Daughter is atttending 6th form and we are happy so far. Seems like a stable and ambitious academic environment and pastoral care is strong

Esserik · 25/10/2024 11:11

Thank you for replying me!
What about special educational needs? My son has dyslexia and ADHD…

TAB22 · 25/10/2024 11:15

My daughter is Autistic and ADHD and the facilities and support for SEN seem fantastic.

Tayebanks · 10/11/2024 17:57

Hi, I attended Holland Park a few years ago. Academically it is an okay school. But i personally wouldn’t want my own children to go to that school let alone anyone else’s. I know so many people including myself who left Holland Park with ptsd, trauma or depression due to the amount of emotional abuse encountered.