primary schools in hastings area - st pauls, blacklands, sil

[dotcommon]

hello everyone, i am new to the forum and soon to be a new resident of hastings! really looking forward to our move down from manchester next month. we are in the process of buying a house in the centre of hastings and in a bit of a quandary about primary school for my son. its difficult for me to get to hastings to check this out very well and also quite hard to tell from ofsted reportds what a school is really like. i am not too worried about 'results', i just want my son to be happy in a pleasant school environment.

i had initially decided that st pauls seemed like a good bet. a short walk through summerfield woods, gets a good ofsted report. however i have been warned by someone 'in the know' about hastings schools that the head is quite pushy and the emphsis of the school is strongly on religion and results. we are not religious at all.

this person suggested that silverhill is a really lovely school, though its ofsted resport is decidely average, that it has lovely teachers and is a really nice place.

i am also considering blacklands, which is within walking distance and seems to get nice reports from everyone.

i would really really appreciate some 1st hand impressions from parents. i think these are often more accurate than ofsted reports. i am totally confused and its already all going to be difficult for my son, i want to make sure he s in a nice school.

thank you very much!

[Sunflower_]

My son attends St. Paul's ad I can honestly say I have never felt that the religious side being pushed at us. Yes The head is very enthusiastic but the main focus is big on community and family. Parents are regulary invited to participate in 'working tigether days' which involves children and parents working tofether. However since he took on the role, the school has improved greatly.

Many of my friends childrens attend silverdale and it is 50/50 on the happiness with the school. I am fully aware of many children that have been removed and put into St. Paul's or other schools within the town.

Black lands school is far to small for the number of pupils that attends. I do not know many children that attend here but the few i do know seem happy. They also do not have an on site after school or breakfast club, if that is something you may need in the future.