City of London Academy - Highbury Grove Secondary school

[Iavarone2012]

Hello everyone!

We are in the process of finding a secondary school for my son (currently Y5) and unfortunately we live outside most of the catchment areas of the schools we would like to be in. We live in North road (Islington) near Caledonian park. At the moment we are looking at Highbury grove because looking at the last catchment area report we should be in but we don't have many feedbacks regarding how good is the school. We attended the open day and we had a good impression, teachers sounds prepared and commited and very honest in saying that the school used to have a bad reputation but there was a shift of Headteacher (about 5Years ago) and thinks have improved since then. Our son loves music, maths and languages and we found the school is well equipped for that but we also have some worries about the last GSCEs results looking quite low compared to other schools, size of school, traveling time It'll take him (probably bus 393) to get there as i know how Highbury corner can be during peak times and in general if there are any issues with bulling or anything else we should be aware of. We are planning to go and see with our eyes and a get a feeling of the kids at school rush hours when they hang around but it would be great to hear from anyone that has/had kids there or have anymore clues and interesting news about the school.

Many thanks in advance

Marco

Bumping as interested too.

In case you are still wondering, its a good school. It had gone through quite a rough patch before it had been transferred to the city of London. As an independent school it was one of the best, garnering an outstanding from Ofsted until around 2018 where it was labelled inadequate. After the city of London it greatly improved in both student grades and reputation. On a recent ofsead they were awarded a Good. Which is a big improvement from only 3-4 years of being an academy and it only seems to be getting better.

Thank you. I'm personally really concerned about the last academic results which are very low! Only 33% 5pass in both english and math. Middle and high attainers have a negative progress score. As a parent who wants to stretch her daughter academically, I'm really curious to know if the school has a serious strategic plan in place to fix this. Facilities are not everything. Any insights appreciated.

@LondonCityMum77 if you have a girl you're better off looking at the local girls schools.

I agree with the other user. Highbury fields has allows performed better than Highbury grove and it's only across the road. As for the decline in grades, I'm not sure. The last grades i saw were, i believe, was 2018and it was about 50% achieved a 5 or above in English and maths , 33% is a worrying. I have a nephew who goes there now but my last child did relatively well. Highbury fields however, would be a much better option.

Highbury grove secondary is full of teachers who bully and students too. Leadership is their to just gaslight parents when they are confronted to what’s happening to their child everything is sweeped under the rug also parents are to scared to complain if you do your child will be targeted made an example off. Avoid this school.

I heard from several parents who are so far happy with the schools and the direction it is going although it was not their first choice. Also the Trust as recently hired a well known director of standards ( Mouhssin Ismarl founder of new ham 6 form/ second best 6 forms in the country) to improve the Trust schools performances. He is a non nonsense person with very strict rules re standard of teaching and behaviour. I’m sure the school is in a transition for the better and results will go up. The head who I met is also very invested. Of course it will be important for parents to “buy” into the “No excuses approach” other wise it won’t be a good fit. Personally that’s what I’m looking for in a school. To be continued…

correction: The new chief of standards is Mouhssin Ismail. Apologies for typos.

You should be in catchment for St. Mary Magdalene Academy?

Not really. Ridiculously small catchment and also partly selective (which explains In part their results) plus I’ve heard some insiders experience that made me “tick” . But don’t talk abt it on public forum

Hi, saw your message in March re reservations about St Mary Magdalene. Any chance you could tell me privately, or even fix a phone call? Such a problem for boys in this area; girls seem to be ok!