Would be so grateful for a review of Northbridge House Canonbury if anyone has actually got a child there ?
My daughter really liked it when we looked around - she is dyslexic, very creative with a high IQ, loves school and desperate to learn but not learning well in a class of 30 so we feel we need to go down the indie route for secondary to give her the best chance. Based on current (mostly average, and low average in Maths) scores she would not get a place at a competitive/ selective school. Socially, however, she is very happy in a mainstream environment so I don't think somewhere like Fairley house is for her. She needs low pressure, small class sizes, supportive teaching, creativity (a good art dept) and a nice peer group - doesn’t feel like we’re asking the world but we have been considering moving out of London as the options for a girl of her profile seems to limited.
However, there is NBH Canonbury, which is our local indie - she could walk there in a few mins which makes it very attractive - and it seems a small, supportive option.
I read a lot of stuff on Mumsnet which talks about how NBH is a backup option, better / more high achieving schools available etc etc - but none of that is really relevant to us! Our state option is Highbury Girls but I worry about large class sizes, the focus on stem/ academics and the lack of creativity. My worries about NBH are the gender balance (seems very boy heavy) and whether my daughter would have enough girls to find a nice group of peers. Would also like to be reassured about the quality of teaching and whether they're likely to get the most out of a dyslexic girl who wants to do well but currently lacks confidence.