West London Free School (WLFS) - is it fun??

[South80s]

Hi all, looking for thoughts from current parents at WLFS on how much the kids there enjoy it - let me explain...

We visited recently for an open day. We liked the school and the head, and like the emphasis on music, the smaller size, and co-curricular. Of course the results are excellent too. We are aware of the strict discipline, and witnessed first-hand the 'silent transition' between classrooms at breaktime. It was impressive but also slightly disconcerting! As our child remarked, 'It's like the children are hypnotised'. We also saw classes in action where there is no talking other than the teacher (a maths lesson where kids hold up their answers silently on a white board). We don't mind discipline as our daughter is at a similar school with a strict reputation but, in reality, it's fine and the kids are happy. My question on WLFS is that the children all seemed very serious in lessons and from what we saw - lots of whispering and not many smiles.

Is there fun and joy to be had at the school too? We don't mind discipline if the kids are happy and are smiling / enjoying school (as is the case at my daughter's school - the joy there really struck us at the open day and was palpable from the kids). We want our son to have fun at school and look forward to going as our daughter does. He would be fine with discipline but it's more about the overall atmosphere which we couldn't really work out from the little we saw.

Would love thoughts and insights from those with experience of the school and kids there. Thanks!

I know of two children who left in last 18 months - including a close relatives child.

Both were utterly miserable there. Endless detentions etc.

Both much happier in new schools. Relative's child yet to have a demerit mark let alone a detention in the new school.

I looked at it for DD - she sat their music scholarship - and it was a hard no after a morning there from both of us.

Where are those children happy now?

One I don't know where they moved to.
The relatives moved out of London and child goes to their local comprehensive.

Thanks for your reply - appreciated.

Also keen to hear from any parents with children currently at WLFS (or who have left recently). Thanks!

My son is very keen on the sixth form at WLFS - is the atmosphere different for sixth form as it’s in the separate building etc?

Are you going to the open evening @Yinner ? In think it’s tomorrow?

We went to the open evening yesterday, ds really liked it

Thanks for your replies! I think it's possibly not our first choice at the moment due to distance (we aren't very close), although I've subsequently spoken to a few parents who are all very happy with the school. Our DC is likely to be offered a music place based on where they ranked in the recent music aptitude test, but we have a couple of other, closer (and equally good) options to consider as well. Funnily enough we got to see a bit more of the school again at the music test - the kids were on their morning break as I waited outside and they seemed to be getting on well and were having a nice time, plus behaviour was very good and all kids seemed to be included in conversations and games going on etc. My child also said that while they waited for the tests they were looked after by some year 9 kids who were really funny and kind and seemed very happy and liked the school. Appreciate all your responses!

Ah yes, I see there are two open evenings. We are going to try and make tomorrow’s. I glad your DC liked it.

@Hamsterdamn there was a huge queue to get in - it’s good to arrive early!

Oh wow. I might not bother! I’ll have to try and book annual leave to finish work a bit early as it is. The thought of getting there and not being able to get in isn’t great.

I’m a current parent at WLFS.

Is it overly strict with lots of detentions for small things - sometimes yes.
Are my kids happy there - mainly yes.
Do my kids sometimes get upset by the detentions for small infarctions - sometimes yes.
Are lessons still sometimes disrupted by bad behaviour - more often than you would think.
Do my kids feel engaged by the knowledge based curriculum - really yes, more than I thought.
Do my kids get motivated by the very active house point and other rewards system - mainly yes.
Do my kids enjoy their teachers and lessons - some subjects absolutely, some much less so.
Are they doing well academically - yes.
Have they made good friends - yes.
Do I sometimes want to scream at the school for its inflexible approach - sometimes yes.
Do I sometimes want to thank the school for its great co-curricula offer, good academics and some amazing teachers - yes.
Is the lack of space a problem - yes.

Not very helpful I know but like any school it has its strengths and weaknesses. Overall it works for us and we will stay for sixth form which is more relaxed in terms of rules.

@Mouseanons this is fantastic! Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. In the end, we put a different school as our first choice (for a couple of reasons but distance one of them) so I think it's less likely we will get a place at WLFS anyway. But really appreciate your response as it's super helpful.

I’m a child who had left wlfs secondary the open day was excellent I wanted to go to the school the school the discipline the results where amazing the first week was okay then I started to hate it like many other pupils you cannot even speak once in a lesson or passing to lesson to lesson there are teachers on every floor when passing to lessons and if they here one word you get a detention no chances or anything! It’s not a diverse school most teachers are white not to be racist a teacher has called one of my friends a monkey and I think has been fired it’s quite racist one reason why I left and about 2month into year 7 my mental health has gotten bad at such a young age I was going through a lot i hated waking up going school i thought this is what all secondary schools are like but when i moved my metal heath has gotten better and I realised schools aren’t supposed to be military I’ve experienced so much more stuff in that school which I won’t be saying I’m so happy I’ve left my mental health is getting much better!!!**

I hope you are much happier at your new school.

Your description is an identical match with the experience my relative's child had. They are doing brilliantly at their new school and are much happier. I hope the same happens for you. School does not need to be like this.

Thank you xx !!!

@FancyRedBear thank you for your post and I'm sorry to read of your bad experience. I appreciate you sharing it and am pleased you're in the right school now and are much happier.

As it happens, we ended up putting down WLFS third (we only put down 3) but were lucky to get our first choice school - an excellent school down in Dulwich, and with a very different vibe to WLFS (disciplined but with energy and what felt like fun to be had). This school was also my son's first choice so we're all very happy with the outcome and he's very excited about starting there. So far I've been super impressed too with the induction information from the school and general communication. I must say, the silent corridors at WLFS freaked me out a bit on the open day and I felt it wouldn't be the best fit for our son (plus we're based SW so it would have been a long journey for us too and he'd have had no local friends). Hopefully our first choice will be the right one!

It's the absolute worst. I had to remove my son because of merciless bullying. Staff couldn't care less. Most are bullies themselves including the headmaster Mr MC Laughlin who once made me cry and that's hard. Horrible man. The school is like a jail. My son is an angel a straight a student kind caring and desperate to please and he STILL managed to get detentions. They put you in an isolation room for forgetting a piece of uniform that's literally child abuse. A million other ridiculous rules. Avoid this place at all costs.

Hello, just wandering if you have any feedback on West London Free School sixth form? Would you say there's bullying in the school, if so does the school deal with it effectively? Many thanks. I am particularly interested in sixth form as we applied for a place for next year for year 12.