Hello, yes being honest even the cost element it starts off sounding cheap the hybrid platform but if you read into it Portland Place they start you off on one day but as soon as you hit GCSE they say to do certain subjects it costs more as you need two days. I asked some parents by the gate as was thinking of moving my child to Portland, who said its been bought out and their children are already seeing school trying to save money by scrapping certain things, cramming more pupils in etc. I am sure Dukes will do the same and reading some parent reviews for their non hybrid schools already do since I moved on.
Sadly I think it seems all hybrid schools are modelled on the same basis that a school is struggling and they see hybrids as a good way of bringing in extra money. The parents I asked who were using hybrid had experienced several instances where whilst their child was working from home teachers would just dump an online quiz/activity and say it will take the lesson with no interaction from the teacher. The teachers if you complained would then basically say your child could not work out how to connect or their internet kept going down due to number of pupils joining. Plus in reality it was a premade resource e.g. bbc bitesize quiz that took a few minutes.
The regular school pupils seem to look down and tease / bully the hybrid pupils and as they pay more in most cases school seems more concerned about keeping them happy.
I was lucky enough that a local state school had enough land to build a new school on the playing find and the old building has been turned into special provision for a range of SEN, anxiety etc.
I also have worked in state and independent and can say the state system is a lot more moderated. I know Ofsted has its big downfalls but at least state schools keep tabs on things. For example I have worked at independent school's where teachers have taught the wrong syllabus all the pupils fail and school do not pick up on it until its too late. This was not a one off unfortunately. All they do to resolve is sack or demote the teacher. Safeguarding at independent schools also seems to be non existent. ISI vs Ofsted you are basically paying to come in and tell you that you are great (no matter how bad you really are).
If it were me, I would look for a state school which is getting the funding and space from local authority due to an influx of varying needs as they really will deliver.
I have never posted on mumsnet but made an account and felt compelled to warn people off given my experience. Please also remember independent schools and I remember one school the marketing guy told me part of his job was to write glowing reviews of the school on e.g. mums net snd google etc. I really would recommend talking to parents outside the school gate. All these prebooked open days and evenings are just a big performance with the best kids put out to play along with the schools good sales pitch.
If anything my child went ten times backwards under one of these setups but I was fortunate in the end to hit the jackpot. The state school we had to fight to get into but they allowed hybrid learning and had a great teacher to pupil ratio. They already are coming on leaps and bounds and cannot see us having to switch schools again finally! Hope you all do too.