Hampstead Fine Arts school

[floandbo75]

Hi all

I found a thread from 2017 wrt to HFAS but cannot find anything since. Has anyone recently graduated from this school or know anyone that has?
we are UK citizens living in the USA, my kids moved here when they were very young and we are moving back in time for my youngest to start A levels. she is in the state school system here and I think she has been allowed to get away with far too much. She has danced competitively at a very high level since she was 5, but is loosing the love of dance unfortunately due to the requirements put on the kids to attend 20 plus hours a week.

I was looking at Tring, but she feels intimidated by the school which I can fully understand, She is a very talented dancer but not sure it’s what she was to do professionally in life. She is creative, has found an interest in photography and fashion and textiles and possibly graphic design. She has also lived a very sheltered life in the usa, we live in a ski town (she is not a mountain girl, hence the move back). we are looking to move around the St albans area, but my sister lives in Muswell Hill and she is desperate to be near her cousins. I am not opposed to a state school but I do feel she needs structure and more rules. having said that if she is doing something she enjoys major she will change her attitude to school. She is bright but not in a position to take the entrance exams that some schools require in the UK. The USA curriculum is very different, and mostly behind the uk, she does work with a UK tutor for English to help her catch up - I am not sure how she compares to the Math curriculum yet but we will be testing that soon.

Any advice would be appreciated please.
Thank you in advance

That is interesting and helpful, but equally confusing. It’s so hard for arty children that are sensitive to a big school. Do you mind me asking what was the environment like was it calm and did they children have the ability to focus on lessons?

My son entered the school for A levels. The intake is small enough that everyone knows each other. This also enables close relationship with the staff, which my son thrived on. One of my son’s classes had 4 students. I felt he was encouraged to be independent but also supported.

They have a traffic light system on reports so issues can be dealt with early. Lots of feedback. From my experience I think it’s an incredible well managed school with a lovely environment.

Thanks that’s really encouraging.