St Francesca Cabrini Primary School

"The best school ever that I choose for my child. Teachers are excellent as well as the head and members of staff. Keep up the good work"

"i have two daughters attending this school and can honestly say that as a parent i am more than happy with ALL aspects of their schooling.This great school is served by a very professional,efficient and caring team of staff.The school recently bid a fond farewell to its long serving headmistress Mrs.Martin who was succeeded by her long serving deputy Mrs.Lawton-Quin who has continued to uphold the schools high standards. This is a traditional Catholic school(as the sign clearly states) founded by the schools namesake over 100 years ago, which bases its ethos around the catholic doctrine whilst still extending a warm and all encompassing welcome to all faiths and nationalities and as a result enjoys a very diverse demographic which is a good reflection of our modern day society. For some reason the school receives negative comments for being "Too Catholic" which i fail to understand- it is a Catholic school after all! Please note there is no intention/desire to convert anyone to Catholicism! The standard of teaching is outstanding - ALL teaching staff were individually assessed by Ofsted and rated as outstanding.The school operates a "Forest School" programme which in addition to the schools own extensive grounds also utilises the facilities of the Devonshire Road Nature Reserve to give the younger pupils an insight into the natural world,this is continued in later years by the pupils active participation in the growing of various vegetables and flora in the school grounds.The school also has its own chickens(raised from the egg by Reception pupils) and rabbits which were featured on CBBCs' PETS FACTOR programme recently.The school offers an extensive sports programme and has a very successful football team,swimming lessons are conducted at Forest Hill Pools.The school offers many extra curricular activities including drama, music,breakfast club, after school club and the opportunity for pupils to undertake additional lessons by opening early @0855hrs. This school provides a safe and caring environment in which all pupils are encouraged to develop good social skills and to achieve their best in all aspects,a very good school which in my opinion should be rated as outstanding."

"Our kids were there, but we had to pull them out pronto. St FC should be the default choice for so many local kids as a community beacon, but fails. As Plutarch said: "A child's mind is a spark to be ignited, not a vessel to be filled...". These observations from 3 years ago: Positives... a great site with oodles of potential as an education space, some truly superb, gifted, caring and compassionate teachers. Negatives... The current administration had little empathy towards parental concerns and brooked no interference over a range of issues - pupil interaction / bullying / safety concerns of pupils arriving and leaving the school / excessive 'crowd control' and 'obedience training' on wet-play days (as in our kids' case sitting in a darkened classroom watching animated films, for Heaven's sake!), and appeared to have little interest in any community ethos outside the Community in Christ. The Head Teacher, who has been at the post a number of years, felt instead indignant towards other local faith schools for attracting 'the brightest and best local kids', and had total disdain towards any notion of a PTA or other parental interest, which was perceived as interference."

"I left this school 2 years ago and it was brilliant. The teachers were amazing and supported the kids no matter what. I got excellent grades all through the school, which got me into a great school. I would recommend it to anyone and I disagree with the 1986 student. My little sister is still there and loves the school. The opportunities for sport and music are amazing and the school is a community of people who care for each other."

"I attended this school in 1986 and hope it is better now. Assembly was a nightmare as the head would slap kids in the crowd at will. Don't remember his name but absolutley typical of catholic schools at that time."