Harris Primary (East Dulwich) feedback so far...?

[Bisou]

Hi we are another family who have been offered a place at Harris ED this year, we are excited with a few reservations(I guess we were hoping the new site would be ready sooner)and would welcome any help or contact and advice from people in reception 2015 or parents who already have children attending. Interestingly given the thread here, we are no where near Lordship lane but nearer the temporary site.

I will follow on Facebook and would love to hear about any parents functions or social events please.

Thank you

[ksh]

Thank you to everyone who has posted on here so far - I really appreciate your feedback. We have indeed been offered a place at the Harris Primary and are (as many others are) happy with a few reservations. Our son was at Goose Green nursery so I guess we are concerned about the transition and upheaval. However, given how welcoming and friendly the current parents have already shown themselves to be on this thread, I don't feel that any of us are going to have problems settling into the new community. I am hugely in favour of a get-together in the park. Thank you for making us all feel so welcome.

[Mariamadeit]

We also live nearer to the temporary site than the LL one but it has been fab having the park across the road this year and being able to walk to school etc, the most is being made of the temporary site and the head has lots of plans for making more space for the new reception intake :) happy for you or anyone else to pm questions if you want to.

[Norfolkvillas]

Congrats and welcome ksh and bisou too! The PTA has already started making arrangements for a welcome picnic in June for the Sept 2015 intake and will be starting a new forum thread over the next few days - watch this space!

[Bisou]

Thank you.

We may do that, but it all sounds great thus far.

[landsberger]

180 applications ? I *very* much doubt it.

[landsberger]

My contact at the school tells me they received...less applications than places were available. And how they'd squeeze them into the Police Station site, maybe that's not a bad thing.

[Caroline_S]

ksh Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Our son was at Goose Green nursery

> so I guess we are concerned about the transition

> and upheaval.

I felt the same last year - my son loved his nursery and had strong bonds with the staff and I was heart-broken about moving my son to start at Harris. In fact we had a space at its school and very nearly kept him there. But for various reasons we moved him and he's never looked back. I was amazed how quickly he adjusted and I don't think he's ever mentioned missing the old place once. The summer holidays helped of course, but we had a couple of picnics to meet other families last year which meant there were lots of familiar faces on day one - for him and us.

[Caroline_S]

Also, what's special about Harris compared with other primaries is that it's so tiny it's like sending them to another nursery - lots of lovely new toys (literally) and no enormous children rampaging about!!

[Norfolkvillas]

@landsberger - maybe your contact at the school was thinking of the Sept 2014 intake, as our two reception classes are only 23 pupils per class? As Caroline said, this week's newsletter references 180 applications for 2015, and given Southwark will be publishing this figure at some point for all to see, it would seem a bit unlikely that they'd lie about it....

[Ruth Campbell]

Landsberger. I'm not quite sure why you seem so suprised that so many people applied. As you can tell, those of us at the school are genuinely happy and pleased that we are there. As Norfolkvillas says it would be surprising if the school lied about figures that will be published. Perhaps your "contact" got it wrong.

[Fuschia]

180 applications presumably means families putting the school

As 1-6, rather than 1st choices. That would be similar to st Anthony's and a big improvement on 2014 when

43 applicants put it down

As a choice

The southwark admissions info doesn't give info re 1st choice preferences

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/6403/starting_primary_school_in_southwark_201516

[landsberger]

Norfolkvillas Wrote:

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> @landsberger - maybe your contact at the school

> was thinking of the Sept 2014 intake, as our two

> reception classes are only 23 pupils per class?

> As Caroline said, this week's newsletter

> references 180 applications for 2015, and given

> Southwark will be publishing this figure at some

> point for all to see, it would seem a bit unlikely

> that they'd lie about it....

Harris have stretched the truth about many things. My school contact tells me they had *less than 20* 1st preferences, apparently.

If Harris are so brilliant, why are so many of their Southwark schools half empty ?

[Fuschia]

1st preferences for schools are not published by LAs.

[martspec]

After reading the comments on here about this Harris primary school I think it is important to state some facts about the school. A large number of families are not happy with the school & the changes following the departure of the last head teacher! I understand from a friend who is a parent at this school that one of the two reception teachers has also just left.Families were not informed & only found out when they returned to school after easter break.It's nice that a few of you parents are happy but please do not make these unsuspecting new parents think the school is great when this is far from the truth. My friend said like herself, most families at this school feel worried about the future of this school and find it hard to believe the explanations given by the school. families have already left the school & lots more are planning on doing the same. They don't even have planning for the new site yet & are trying to squeeze in a new intake in the already cramped space.May even have to take all the children to the girls secondary school for lunch every day as the lunch room will be used as a classroom from September. please do your research & do not be duped into believing this school is wonderful. ? My friend is unhappy & desperately trying to find another school for her daughter & she is not alone. The issues will become more obvious in the next few months when more families walk out.

[landsberger]

Fuschia Wrote:

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> 1st preferences for schools are not published by

> LAs.

I am not getting the figures from the LA

[Ruth Campbell]

Martspec

I'm sorry that your friend is unhappy. Not every parent at every school is always going to be happy. I would say that the majority of parents are happy. It is public knowledge that the planning permission has not yet been granted, this is due the the local authority not setting a planning committee date. Nothing to do with the school.

As for the new head, most people are very happy withe the changes she has implemented. These include an array of school trips, greater communication with parents about the learning activities, improvements to the outdoor learning environment, more involved homework, parent forums and workshops assistance with setting up the PTA.

She's also done all of this while sorting out some of the issues left behind by the old head, which included employing one of the teachers on an agency contract, allowing him to leave with no notice over the easter holidays. This situation was dealt with brilliantly by the head by bringing in one of the teachers who had been employed to take on year one (she had just come back from travelling). As such the class will not be disrupted again as this teacher will take on the end of reception and take them through to next year.

As much as you feel it's unhelpful for us to say how pleased we are with the school, it seems far less helpful for you to be posting hearsay negative comments. As with any school it is not perfect, but we are extremely happy that we have been able to be at this new school from the start.

I realise that for some radon there is lots of negative thoughts about Harris and I don't fully understand this, particularly from people who are not involved in the school and the federation.

Please do not dismiss something that many of us are very proud of being a part of without fully understanding the situation.

And to new parents, please don't be put off by hearsay! We are a friendly and enthusiastic bunch and look forward to meeting you in the summer!

[Bisou]

Martspec. Thank you for this. I am assuming you are a parent? I was aware that a teacher and head has changed but not that they do not even have planning permission for the new site.I was also not aware that families had left and others were planning to leave as they are unhappy.

Your post is worrying for me as our daughter is due to start in September, I would love to hear further regarding these issues from any other parents please. When we visited the school last year one of our concerns was that a classroom was split into 2 parts with one group trying to do a lesson and another group playing. I assume this would increase with a new intake and space at a premium it was not a great situation.

[Ruth Campbell]

Bisou.

A couple of parents have left when they were offered their first choice schools from waiting lists, and I assume that we wil sadly loose a couple more to the new Belham, but as far as I know this is largely due to location. Mary spec says that he is not a parent but knows someone who is.

The reception class is open plan as it allows them to have largely free flow facilities offering greater resources and better leading opportunities.

If you have concerns I would suggest you talk to Jo our new head. I would be very suprised if you were not impressed with her and the way she is building an excellent school.

[Caroline_S]

Martspec. You say you want to state some "facts" about the school, yet by the sound of it you are not a parent yourself and have heard your "facts" secondhand from a friend who is unhappy. Your post is actually very biased and I do not believe it to be an accurate reflection of the way the vast majority of the parents feel. I do not agree with your statement that "a large number of families are unhappy" with the school and the head. On the contrary, my impression is that the majority of parents are extremely pleased with the new head and the direction she wants to take the school in. You give the impression that families are leaving in their droves but again that is not the case. I think we have gone from about 49 children to 46. A small number might be leaving next year, but we've been told that a small number will also be joining our soon-to-be Year 1. I also know of several families who have turned down offers from other well-regarded schools including Goodrich, Heber and Bessemer Grange to start at or continue with Harris.

Fuschia and Landsberger. It is not fair to compare last year's number of applications with this year's. The admissions process was done completely separately so we were all holding two offers and as such no-one was listing it as one of their 6 choices. Many families did not even know about it until after the admissions process. You are both well-known for taking any opportunity on this forum to have a go at Harris schools for some reason, despite not actually having children at these schools.

[Bisou]

Bubblebob, Thank you.

Yes we will of course talk to Jo and have a day when we re visit.

There does seem to be people contributing here on this thread who have another agenda other than the welfare and education of the Children. It's not helpful if someone is just anti Harris for whatever reason without having their Children at the school, it becomes Political. I am not quite clear why some people are just generally Anti Harris academy's maybe someone could enlighten me?

There are advantages and did advantages to this situation which we have to carefully look at, however I do not have any issue with Harris as a rule my only concern is the slight insecurity of a developing school and the transition.

[Bisou]

Caroline_s thank you, I thought as much. these posts are Anti Harris as opposed to useful guides to a school, To be honest I want to talk to parents who are happy or indeed unhappy with the school.

I too was under the impression that many people had chosen this school above some others and we also put this school as a preference above some of the others you mention in your post.

[queenB]

Hi Bisou

I second the comments from Caroline and Bubblebob. My daughter is at the school and absolutely loves it. I have been very impressed all the way through by the standard of teaching, wrap around provision, involvement of parents with the school as well as its friendly atmosphere. For any specific worries the Head would be more than happy to talk them through with you I'm sure.

[Fuschia]

landsberger Wrote:

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> Fuschia Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > 1st preferences for schools are not published

> by

> > LAs.

>

> I am not getting the figures from the LA

I meant, a school can claim whatever no of 1st preferences it likes, as the 'official' figures only show how many families chose a school within the 6 preferences

[Mariamadeit]

We turned down a local school in favour of Harris last year, the advantages as I see them to Harris over other schools are:

1. Much smaller class sizes but the same or better teacher ratios (though it looks like the new reception class will be full)

2. Teachers and teaching assistants (some of which also hold teaching qualifications) are friendly, good at their jobs and committed to the school (the first head left as a result of a Harris internal reshuffle which is not expected to happen again, he is still involved in the school and one teacher left unexpectedly over easter, as explained above).

3. The Head is experienced and full of ideas for reaching the target of outstanding when OFSTED visit, she is balanced and approachable and is very well liked by the children and parents. She is at the school gate almost every day and is very hands on with the children.

4. The open plan nature of the reception class allows for free flow between the two areas and the space is changed regularly with various activities set up for the children. The space is far bigger than other classrooms I viewed on open days.

5. Although the outdoor space is small, children do have access to more space (tennis courts for PE) and it is very well set up with various resources, parents were involved in planting and developing the space.

6. As it is a small school, the children know each other, there are no issues with much older children bumping into little ones etc as I have heard can be a problem in other schools. The teachers know all of the children well.

7. The resources, books etc are new and well cared for and the Head has been adding to the resources regularly, my son particularly enjoys the building area which has toy cement mixers, bricks, hard hats etc.

8. The PTA has recently been set up and has been very successful in raising extra funds for the school, which shows the commitment of parents to helping the school.

9. With the small number of children, lots of trips have taken place and are due to take place including zoo, farm, library, wildlife centre etc.

10. The Head of our school and the Girl's school have been working together to ensure that the best opportunities are provided for our school, for example, at Christmas, the children performed eir nativity play on the Girl's school stage, they are also able to use the girl's school facilities.

Yes there are issues with the new site and there are challenges to be overcome with fitting the new reception class on the current site, but I am confident that the Head is doing everything possible to ensure that this goes as smoothly as it can.

Yes there are people who have been offered places at their preferred school and have subsequently moved, but this is normal around here isn't it?

Yes there are parents at school who see the negatives rather than the positives, but isn't that the case everywhere too?

Yes there have been teething problems but nothing you wouldn't expect from a new school, the water pipes froze and school was shut for a day, a member of staff left... All of these things have been managed professionally and parents have been informed.

Not every school is going to suit every child and the difficulty is that parents must decide for their family, what is going to be best, it is a difficult decision but I can say wholeheartedly that we are very pleased with the decision we made in choosing Harris, my son is happy and thriving at the school and for me, that is the best outcome.