St Mary Magdalene Academy, Islington

My daughter started here in September this year. I was very impressed to see how quickly they settled her in and made her feel comfortable in the school, particularly since she came from a very small primary. There's a big emphasis on all the students being kind and helping one another, which shows in their brilliant 'guardian group' system (where they meet regularly in a small group with an adult guardian and a mix of children from all the other years). Of course, it's a different ball-game academically from primary, but she's enjoying stretching herself and says the teaching is clear and the homework is challenging but manageable. As a family, we're delighted with it and would recommend it to any parents who are looking for a school that balances academic ambition with a calm and friendly approach.

The teaching is often poor and the workload they put on the students (especially the YR11s) is ridiculous, yet the parent teacher communication cannot be faulted and thus is this schools saving grace.

Hair,nails and bag rules are stupid. A hairstyle cannot distract a student from their learning, same with bags and nails.

As an attendant to this school I absolutely love it here. Th teachers are enticing and actually have a love for their job unlike the teachers that are described by my friends in other schools. I'm currently doing my GCSEs and am hoping to come here for my A-levels. The reviews about the rules and unfair judgement to the school are untrue and I believe that the rules are fair and school uniforms are a good choice to have. After looking at some of the other schools and the things people have told me about them, I am very happy to have come to this school.

I've been a parent since reception class. My children are in years 9 & 11, would I send a child there for year 7 in September 2023? YES. SMMA is a good school. This is my candid experience: Pros: good drama music and sport; committed teachers (in secondary they email and call if your child is not fulfilling their potential); usually good results (no one seems to be mentioning the 2022 A level results I am not sure why); there are a good variety of trips and extra activities; school leadership (Ms Lindsey and Mr Reardon) is strong and they are approachable ; impressive external links such as Deloitte who visit the school; very good quality external speakers eg Prof Robert Winston; teachers go the extra mile, a number including the head were recently in Highbury Fields sending kids home, after school, when there was a report of trouble.
Cons: Provision of or implementation of SEN support is poor, this might be a personnel or funding issue; Some Mandarin teachers are a shock to the system, SE Asian teaching methods are alien to UK children; four years ago children on Governor's places seemed to get preferential treatment in year 7 (selected for special trips all pretty much in their own class); there seemed to be a more than average number of teachers leaving in the summer of 2022, but it was the first normal post COVID year, people do move on; just my opinion but the year 10 - 11 inappropriate touching issue might have been handled better from the victims point of view.
If SMMA had an RA grade I would say its 7.1 with potential for a 9.

Impressed by SMMA, our child has just completed 1st term Y7 - high standards of behaviour as well as caring/calm/safe culture, strong pastoral from HoY/Guardian and good SEND support already - agree with the OFSTED "family" comment.
Curriculum seems rich and child loves English, history, geography, sport, drama,, MFL and work in science/maths seems pretty high standard too (I'm a teacher and see standards across multiple schools)
Very organised school too - always quick response and
strong admin/admissions team. Thank you to all.

This school is a total joke. Our children are forced to take classes they do not want to do ( in year 9 when they choose options, RE is continied to be forced on them as GCSE when they dont want to do it). They are forced to wear uniforms to conform to standards and told to remove whatever they dont like them wearing whatever the weather. some of the teachers need to take a look at their own clothing. Children are stopped from being individuals. Their feelings, fears and troubles are ignored. The school have issues over hair, nails bags,coats and shoes again I say the teachers need to take a hard look at themselves before telling our children to conform to the rules.

As a recent Y10 student lemme tell ya, it's actually good forget what people say because my primary school was bad, but hey you can make friends pretty quickly.