Interested in any views on Hurlingham Academy and Chelsea Academy please

[CarolinaAUSA]

Hi I recently heard about these schools and have not had a chance to visit. So any views on the school's academic, ethics and social/cultural aspects would be very helpful. Thanks

I went to visit Hurlingham Academy last week on an open morning. I wasn't that impressed. The children in the classroom didn't look engaged, half were not looking at the teacher during the lesson. Class sizes were big compared to other schools I visited with 30 kids in each lesson whereas other schools split them into smaller sets of ~20. There were a lot of classrooms but many were unused, not sure why. A lot of staff in meeting rooms with other staff members ie they were not teaching. I think they could do more to alleviate the large class size by using these teachers to teach in some of the empty classrooms. I didn't see such under use in any of the other schools I visited.

For Chelsea they are a church school and you need to be an active church go-er to apply. Do you meet this criteria?

https://chelsea-academy.org/admissions/admissions-policy/

https://chelsea-academy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Y7-flowchart-for-Sep-2024-with-March-2023-offers-1-1.pdf

The .pdf shows the way that applications are ranked, and no, it is not necessary to be card-carrying CofE to apply (they can't police who applies, anyway, merely publish and follow an admissions policy compliant with the Admissions Code to decide who, from those applicants, will be ranked high enough against the oversubscription criteria to get a place).

Should they reach PAN somewhere in / just at the end of the 'siblings' criteria, religion won't help, either.

This isn't the school that someone on another thread described as 'like a prison', though, is it?

CA is very multi cultural. Many many children there are not CofE. I think it's more important to be at a feeder primary think?

This isn't the school that someone on another thread described as 'like a prison', though, is it?

I think that's Hurlingham Academy which is part of United Learning group which includes Holland Park School and Paddington Academy. From Google reviews they are certainly described as being like a prison!

No, I was right (perhaps they both are...? Or not, as the case may be, of course).

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4907516-terrible-school

Chelsea academy Is literally a prison

hi yes we are church goers, Catholic

Regarding the link "terrible school" I would be cautious ... I asked several students and parents at the gate... they all said it was a very good school and they were happy. A strict environment might not suite everyone...

If you are Catholic there are some outstanding state options in London. I would look into these.

I read some reviews here about Hurlingham and I have to say people do not know what they are talking about. The school is outstanding. I talked to teachers and even other headmasters from rival schools and they all said the school is fantastic. The headmaster at Hurlingham is doing an impressive job. The kids love it. The academic results are great. Just because someone visited the school one time and saw empty rooms, they make ridiculous assumptions.

The headmaster from Hurlingham said to us that parents are welcome to visit any time they want, they have nothing to hide. So, go and visit the school, talk to teachers and students. Talk to parents who have kids there. Talk to the headmaster. Calling it a prison because they ask for discipline, is either woke or an idiot. Or both.

Hi there considering sending my daughter to Chelsea academy... What are peoples views on senco please ! I visited and was impressed