Hillbrook Primary Post Reply

[Dr3amu]

Can anyone help me get some insights on Hillbrook Primary school? We did not get our preferred schools and my dd was allocated to Hillbrook. I don't know anything about this school except that it recently became Outstanding (I think it was under 'Required Improvement' before). What are the teachers and children like? What do your children do after class finish at 3pm? Are there afterschool clubs? Are you happy with Hillbrook overall?
Thanks in advance

[beanzmeanz]

Hillbrook has been rated outstanding for over 2 years. Previously, it was rated good by Ofsted. It may not be the school you wanted, but on paper it looks like an excellently performing school.

http://www.hillbrookschool.org.uk/Paren ... t-Results/

Go and visit it with an open mind. Look at the way the adults and children interact, the quality of the work on display, extra curricular activities, and see what it has to offer your child. Good luck.

[Dr3amu]

Thanks beanzmeanz. yes i'm definitely planning to visit it and independent views from parents would be most helpful too.

[Dr3amu]

How different was it since it became Outstanding? Was there any changes before and after getting that grade? I heard there are 4 classes of reception. did you ever feel that there're too many children in one class?
Thanks.

[Tootytoots]

My son is currently in reception at Hillbrook and we love it. In my opinion it is an outstanding school in every sense, my son has a growth condition related to dwarfism and before he started they invited us in for a meeting to discuss his requirements and so they could learn about him. They then went on to lower his school peg so he could still hang his coat up himself and gave him a stool to carry with him to the lunch queue so he can see the options himself and totally empowered him. He had some trouble adapting behaviourally so he was assigned an Early Year Behavioural and Emotional Development worker who is, I swear, some kind of angel who works with him an hour a day. Their resources are plentiful, they have just had a £6m impovement and built a fancy new building, they have their own field so no traipsing off to the common for games. The teaching is first rate. This morning for example I dropped him off and they had staged a spacecraft crash on the school field and all the kids were going mad about what could have happened and if there were aliens in the school. They then use that to write stories and focus their learning around for that week. Honestly, be delighted if you get Hillbrook it is awesome!

[Tom&Jerry]

Hi,
Our child has been offered a place there too. It is actually good to know about the insight of other parents. Thanks.
We all want the best for our kids and is Hillbrook as good as it sounds on paper? How about the social interaction/ cultures of the children's? I know it is a mixed school with kids from different backgrounds, do children relate well to each other?
Do they have after school clubs?

[Dr3amu]

I heard the children go to Derington centre after school. I'd also like to hear from other parents on how they see they children interact and behave in the mixed class.

[Tootytoots]

Years ago Hillbrook was crap. I moved in to the area 6 years ago and thought we were doomed for schools. Then Hillbrook blossomed into this awesome school and is getting consistent outstanding ratings, Mrs Lamb is a formidable but approachable head, she is ON IT. But it is more than just on paper, it is a place that is more than the sum of it's parts and it's hard to quantify. Teachers greet you every morning at the gates, smiling and welcoming the kids by name. It is big but it feels small.

The school has a very diverse mix of kids almost all I have come across speak English very well as most of them have been born here, which for me is great as I don't want my child going to a cookie-cutter school where all the kids look the same and are from the same background. That is not representative of our area or the world in general. I am from a white middle-class background and there are lots of families like mine at the school and this is increasing in number as the years go on as the area becomes increasingly gentrified and there are also a huge mix of Europeans - Italians, French as well as Indian heritage and middle Eastern and more of course. They have International day every year where the kids look at different countries from around the world and then put on a show doing dances for each of the countries. There are lots of fetes and bake days where everyone hangs out and the kids dance - a lot. It is a fun and inclusive atmosphere and everyone is supported. They really push the kids academically without sucking all the joy out of them with lots of homework. Go, see, feel. Be impressed. I am staying in London until my first needs to go to secondary as I want him to stick there for all his primary years (because then we really are in trouble - Graveney or bust!) and can't wait to get my second in there.

[Tom&Jerry]

Thanks so much Tootytoot for your information and time.
Indeed it is very enriching and in a way I'm feeling more at ease or I must say more confident in sending my child there. Sounds like the school has definitely improved.
We also thought that a school with children from different backgrounds will, in a way, help our child's development and social interaction more and will hopefully help him in later stages of life in multicultural places, like in our society now.
We had big concerns too when our child was born as at the time Hillbrook wasn't doing well and there was no possible way we could afford move to a different area to have good schools around. Luckily for us now things have changed.
The other thing I would like to ask, about Graveney. If your child is in Hillbrook now, does it mean you are in this catchment area and not Graveney's one? How is it going to work out for your child to get into the secondary school? The only thing I can think of is the entry SAT exams in which kids must score like 98%! Because this is one of our concerns too.

Thanks again.

[Dr3amu]

Thanks Tootytoot for your very detailed input - much appreciated.

[roxieandmum]

For those little ones who are starting this sept (2016) I have created a nursery parent Facebook group. Want to try and plan something like a picnic so the children can play over the summer.
Please join if relevant to you.
Called : hillbrook nursery parents network 2016-2017
Roxie