Hill House is such an amazing school and I have so many amazing memories of being there. My 3 brothers, 2 still there, and I all agree that we wouldn't be the people we are today without going there thanks to all the teachers.
P
patrice BOUTIN
11 years ago
Hill House is such a great school.My son has made so much progress throughout the years he has been there.He is so happy and he is always very enthusiatic to go to school and loves it.
A
A. Bokay
11 years ago
I remember my experience at Hill House as a wonderful, creative, motivational time that transformed me from an introverted, terrible (academically speaking) student to a forward thinking, hard working and all around happy person. My teachers were incredible and the environment was so supportive. I met so many wonderful people. The school managed to make me enjoy things I'd never thought I'd like, such as sports, maths and I.T. I was a very creative person and Hill House was the only school I have ever attended to fully appreciate that creativity and put it to good use. Everyone is welcomed and yor teachers push you to put your interests to use and to try new things. After my great experience, both my younger sisters joined the army of ketchup-mustard dressed children and subsequently had an incredible time too. We all remember it as our best time in education. The attitude of the school is best described in its motto, which I still think of today: "A child's mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled."
D
Darcia Martin
11 years ago
I feel the report has not been properly carried out and would urge Ofsted to conduct another inspection as soon as possible
E
Edwina Blackford
11 years ago
As a former pupil of Hill House all I can say is that I have terribly fond memories of the school. I left it a confident, independent and happy child ready to take on the challenges at my next school. We are now considering sending our daughter there in the not too distant future and it would be a great shame not to have the opportunity to do so. I believe its ethos and educational experience are second to none.
C
Charles Cagni
11 years ago
I can only thank Hill House for getting me where I am now. Hill House taught me the principles of life and work and I now realise that.
F
Freddie Ayliffe
11 years ago
I went to Hill House, and it has gotten me to where I am now, which I thank them for
C
Cecilia Merli
11 years ago
e years, BEST school ever
C
Caroline Begg-Smith
11 years ago
As parents, we are very pleased with Hill House. While it certainly has it's quirks, we chose the school precisely because it differed from the other schools. It succeeds in being traditional yet unpretentious, high-achieving without being a pressure cooker, very English while encouraging multiculturalism and acceptance. My son actually runs to the school door each morning, and is smiling each afternoon upon pick-up. In the early years, they have allowed my son the time to be a child, without the pressures of heavy testing and streaming. We have always had reasonable communication with the teachers and they have tailored their approach to our child's needs and capabilities. Our younger son is set to start in a years time, and we have no plans to look any further. The Ofstead report is simply not representative of our experiences with the school and, while there is always room for improvement, my husband and I both stand with the school in the face of this reductive, bureaucratic report.
C
Caroline Granger
11 years ago
As many other Hill House parents, I was truly shocked by the content of this report. It reads like a sentence based on the verdict of two obviously biased people – far from the objective and fair review that one would expect from a governmental body. Some comments are inaccurate and others are purely and simply false. My main concern relates to the comments on the quality of teaching, which undermines the fantastic work of all the amazing teachers at Hill House. Like most of his peers, my son is a happy and well-rounded child who is making very good progress in his education. My son has been at Hill House for the last four years. He used to go to a catholic school (rated outstanding). Although it was a good school we were very frustrated with the teachers as we were never able to receive any clear feedback/report on how he was doing. After due consideration, we chose for him to go to Hill House and we never regretted this decision. Shortly after joining Hill House, he made huge progress in every subject and we finally got the reassurance as to how well he was doing through regular reports based on marks and thorough comments from all his teachers. When I read in the Ofsted report that the children are not assessed and that there is no track of the pupils’ progress I wonder what the inspectors were doing. Every year, the children have two test sessions (before Christmas and in May) and parents receive thorough reports on the results shortly after each test session. They also have spelling tests in English and French every week and “mastery” tests in Maths and English on a very regular basis. Every book and weekly homework in all subjects are regularly checked by the relevant teacher. Any Hill House parents can produce evidence of the regular and thorough assessment of their children. The Ofsted report’s comments are therefore truly inaccurate and misleading.
E
Emma Baud
11 years ago
Our daughter has been at Hill House since September, after moving from Paris , where she was attending a French school. She was warmly welcomed as a newcomer, and has since thrived, in spite of the change of cultures, and absolutely adores her new school. As parents, we are delighted to see how happy she is, and are very satisfied on every level with Hill House, whether it be the teaching, the security, the sports, the food, the general emphasis on work, creativity, good manners and kindness to others, something that is being lost today. I agree that the Ofsted report is particularly vindictive and inaccurate, they also seem to have a problem with the uniform?!
M
Marzia Matteuzzi
11 years ago
The report is fundamentally irreconcilable with the findings of all previous school inspections. It conflicts radically with the views expressed by hundreds of parents of children attending Hill House School. When we, as parents, consider the range of subjects covered, the level of detail at which these subjects are taught, the level of overall understanding achieved by our children in each of these subjects, the quality and volume of homework set, the preparation required for internal tests, the level of challenge posed by these tests, the methods of evaluation of test results and the overall performance of Hill House children in everything they do, including the sports they play, the musical instruments they learn and the enthusiasm they display when explaining to parents what they have learned, what they did or what happened to them each day at school, then the recent Ofsted report makes no sense whatsoever. Parents of Hill House children, many of whom are professional people with a high degree of education themselves, overwhelmingly rate themselves as being either “happy” or “very happy” with Hill House School. It is impossible to reconcile the esteem in which the school is held with the recent Ofsted report, which somehow manages to rate it as operating below the lowest degree of satisfaction required by national standards. This report fails at every level in its intended purpose of providing a fair, well informed, accurately considered and balanced assessment of the school. In so doing it provides a huge disservice to the parents, teachers and pupils (as well as prospective parents and pupils) it is supposed to assist.
J
James D'Albiac
11 years ago
My three grandchildren have had excellent experiences at Hill House. this 'Report' is bizarre.
J
James D'Albiac
11 years ago
My three grandchildren have had excellent experiences at Hill House. this 'Report' is bizarre.
P
Peter Livesey
11 years ago
Having read the Ofsted report through more than once, I can recognise some of the criticisms from obvious fact (lack of outside space) and from previous reports (concerns around building safety, teacher training). I cannot though, in any way, recognise Hill House from the other criticisms. Having seen the progress of my son from Small School, which well provided the building blocks for learning, behaviour and personal development, through to Senior School, the contents of the report do not correspond to my experience. The report suggests there has been a catastrophic decline in standards over the last two years, which is clearly not the case. That it classes all aspects of the school’s performance as inadequate is incomprehensible and frankly an insult not only to the School its leadership and staff but also to the parents who choose to send their children there.
J
Jennifer Fitt
11 years ago
I have 1 child currently attending Hill House in Yr 6 and 2 that graduated from Hill House in 2011 and 2013. All 3 are happy children who love going to school, love sport and achieved great academic success at 11+ securing offers at all schools they applied for. These include Latymer Upper School, St Paul's Girls School (2 of my chldren applied and secured offers) and Godolphin & Latymer. This OFSTED report misrepresents the teaching standard of the school.
J
Jonas Cohon
11 years ago
I went to this school for eight years and have some of the best memories of my life. It got me into city of London school easily which is one if the top boys schools in the country! I think this is an unfair representation of a great school
A
Angelo Bianchi
11 years ago
I am concerned about the lack of trasparency of the audit process. It is unbelievable that the report is published prior to giving the school any chance to make their own remarks.
A
Alexander Peschkoff
11 years ago
Those Ofsted inspectors need to be "inspected"...
T
Tracy Provo Sanna
11 years ago
The Ofsted report does not bear resemblance to the school that we happily take our son to every morning. He arrives with absolute pleasure and excitement to be there and comes home in the afternoon with stories of everything that they have learned. The teachers are wonderful and really care about the children. How can a regulator tell from a couple of days that the children are not learning at a speed relevant to their potential. Our son and his classmates are happy, kind, confident and independent children who are absorbing their school work with joy. I don't think that there is a regulatory statistic to measure the priceless benefit of that.
Hill House is such an amazing school and I have so many amazing memories of being there. My 3 brothers, 2 still there, and I all agree that we wouldn't be the people we are today without going there thanks to all the teachers.
Hill House is such a great school.My son has made so much progress throughout the years he has been there.He is so happy and he is always very enthusiatic to go to school and loves it.
I remember my experience at Hill House as a wonderful, creative, motivational time that transformed me from an introverted, terrible (academically speaking) student to a forward thinking, hard working and all around happy person. My teachers were incredible and the environment was so supportive. I met so many wonderful people. The school managed to make me enjoy things I'd never thought I'd like, such as sports, maths and I.T. I was a very creative person and Hill House was the only school I have ever attended to fully appreciate that creativity and put it to good use. Everyone is welcomed and yor teachers push you to put your interests to use and to try new things. After my great experience, both my younger sisters joined the army of ketchup-mustard dressed children and subsequently had an incredible time too. We all remember it as our best time in education. The attitude of the school is best described in its motto, which I still think of today: "A child's mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled."
I feel the report has not been properly carried out and would urge Ofsted to conduct another inspection as soon as possible
As a former pupil of Hill House all I can say is that I have terribly fond memories of the school. I left it a confident, independent and happy child ready to take on the challenges at my next school. We are now considering sending our daughter there in the not too distant future and it would be a great shame not to have the opportunity to do so. I believe its ethos and educational experience are second to none.
I can only thank Hill House for getting me where I am now. Hill House taught me the principles of life and work and I now realise that.
I went to Hill House, and it has gotten me to where I am now, which I thank them for
e years, BEST school ever
As parents, we are very pleased with Hill House. While it certainly has it's quirks, we chose the school precisely because it differed from the other schools. It succeeds in being traditional yet unpretentious, high-achieving without being a pressure cooker, very English while encouraging multiculturalism and acceptance. My son actually runs to the school door each morning, and is smiling each afternoon upon pick-up. In the early years, they have allowed my son the time to be a child, without the pressures of heavy testing and streaming. We have always had reasonable communication with the teachers and they have tailored their approach to our child's needs and capabilities. Our younger son is set to start in a years time, and we have no plans to look any further. The Ofstead report is simply not representative of our experiences with the school and, while there is always room for improvement, my husband and I both stand with the school in the face of this reductive, bureaucratic report.
As many other Hill House parents, I was truly shocked by the content of this report. It reads like a sentence based on the verdict of two obviously biased people – far from the objective and fair review that one would expect from a governmental body. Some comments are inaccurate and others are purely and simply false. My main concern relates to the comments on the quality of teaching, which undermines the fantastic work of all the amazing teachers at Hill House. Like most of his peers, my son is a happy and well-rounded child who is making very good progress in his education. My son has been at Hill House for the last four years. He used to go to a catholic school (rated outstanding). Although it was a good school we were very frustrated with the teachers as we were never able to receive any clear feedback/report on how he was doing. After due consideration, we chose for him to go to Hill House and we never regretted this decision. Shortly after joining Hill House, he made huge progress in every subject and we finally got the reassurance as to how well he was doing through regular reports based on marks and thorough comments from all his teachers. When I read in the Ofsted report that the children are not assessed and that there is no track of the pupils’ progress I wonder what the inspectors were doing. Every year, the children have two test sessions (before Christmas and in May) and parents receive thorough reports on the results shortly after each test session. They also have spelling tests in English and French every week and “mastery” tests in Maths and English on a very regular basis. Every book and weekly homework in all subjects are regularly checked by the relevant teacher. Any Hill House parents can produce evidence of the regular and thorough assessment of their children. The Ofsted report’s comments are therefore truly inaccurate and misleading.
Our daughter has been at Hill House since September, after moving from Paris , where she was attending a French school. She was warmly welcomed as a newcomer, and has since thrived, in spite of the change of cultures, and absolutely adores her new school. As parents, we are delighted to see how happy she is, and are very satisfied on every level with Hill House, whether it be the teaching, the security, the sports, the food, the general emphasis on work, creativity, good manners and kindness to others, something that is being lost today. I agree that the Ofsted report is particularly vindictive and inaccurate, they also seem to have a problem with the uniform?!
The report is fundamentally irreconcilable with the findings of all previous school inspections. It conflicts radically with the views expressed by hundreds of parents of children attending Hill House School. When we, as parents, consider the range of subjects covered, the level of detail at which these subjects are taught, the level of overall understanding achieved by our children in each of these subjects, the quality and volume of homework set, the preparation required for internal tests, the level of challenge posed by these tests, the methods of evaluation of test results and the overall performance of Hill House children in everything they do, including the sports they play, the musical instruments they learn and the enthusiasm they display when explaining to parents what they have learned, what they did or what happened to them each day at school, then the recent Ofsted report makes no sense whatsoever. Parents of Hill House children, many of whom are professional people with a high degree of education themselves, overwhelmingly rate themselves as being either “happy” or “very happy” with Hill House School. It is impossible to reconcile the esteem in which the school is held with the recent Ofsted report, which somehow manages to rate it as operating below the lowest degree of satisfaction required by national standards. This report fails at every level in its intended purpose of providing a fair, well informed, accurately considered and balanced assessment of the school. In so doing it provides a huge disservice to the parents, teachers and pupils (as well as prospective parents and pupils) it is supposed to assist.
My three grandchildren have had excellent experiences at Hill House. this 'Report' is bizarre.
My three grandchildren have had excellent experiences at Hill House. this 'Report' is bizarre.
Having read the Ofsted report through more than once, I can recognise some of the criticisms from obvious fact (lack of outside space) and from previous reports (concerns around building safety, teacher training). I cannot though, in any way, recognise Hill House from the other criticisms. Having seen the progress of my son from Small School, which well provided the building blocks for learning, behaviour and personal development, through to Senior School, the contents of the report do not correspond to my experience. The report suggests there has been a catastrophic decline in standards over the last two years, which is clearly not the case. That it classes all aspects of the school’s performance as inadequate is incomprehensible and frankly an insult not only to the School its leadership and staff but also to the parents who choose to send their children there.
I have 1 child currently attending Hill House in Yr 6 and 2 that graduated from Hill House in 2011 and 2013. All 3 are happy children who love going to school, love sport and achieved great academic success at 11+ securing offers at all schools they applied for. These include Latymer Upper School, St Paul's Girls School (2 of my chldren applied and secured offers) and Godolphin & Latymer. This OFSTED report misrepresents the teaching standard of the school.
I went to this school for eight years and have some of the best memories of my life. It got me into city of London school easily which is one if the top boys schools in the country! I think this is an unfair representation of a great school
I am concerned about the lack of trasparency of the audit process. It is unbelievable that the report is published prior to giving the school any chance to make their own remarks.
Those Ofsted inspectors need to be "inspected"...
The Ofsted report does not bear resemblance to the school that we happily take our son to every morning. He arrives with absolute pleasure and excitement to be there and comes home in the afternoon with stories of everything that they have learned. The teachers are wonderful and really care about the children. How can a regulator tell from a couple of days that the children are not learning at a speed relevant to their potential. Our son and his classmates are happy, kind, confident and independent children who are absorbing their school work with joy. I don't think that there is a regulatory statistic to measure the priceless benefit of that.