Virtual Coffee Morning with Mr Magnus Bashaarat, Head of MAida Vale School

Once again, Mrs Hampton was delighted with the turn out for this morning's Virtual Coffee Morning  with the new Head of Maida Vale, Magnus Bashaarat. CHS was well represented with parents from across Key Stage Two, Form Three and above. 

Mr Bashaarat engaged the group with a thorough description of the history and values of this relatively new local senior school which is part of the family run Gardener Group that continues to be led by Maria Gardener. 

Mr Bashaarat described the building which is housed in a purpose built educational facility with light, open spaces and classrooms filled with natural lighting keeping serotonin levels in mind. He continued with the school’s vision to create a social space for parents, as well as pupils, recognising the importance of co-curating the children’s development during their senior school education and embracing the partnership with parents. The school boasts a coffee shop for parents within the school premises and encourages parents involvement within the school community. 

Now in their third year (their first year was largely virtual due to Covid), they are looking forward to opening their Sixth Form facility in September 2023. With an ultimate capacity of 600 students, their aim is to consistently grow to between 450 to 500 students in the coming years. Tutor groups of 16 to 18 children are likely to maintain the same Form Tutor throughout their Maida Vale journey. Currently they are slightly boy heavy but plan to balance cohorts to 50/50 within the coming years. With more single sex girls schools in the area, they do recognise that there is greater demand for places for boys but are consciously addressing the balance of classes. 

The school day is timetabled to offer four 90-minute lessons a day, two before and two after lunch.  They believe this approach allows for students to learn at greater depth not just in the academic subjects but also in creative topics such as DT and Art. 

As a central London school, beyond the astroturf pitch onsite, they make the use of a variety of sporting facilities such as Paddington Recreation Ground, Willesden Sports Centre, mobility sports and tennis at Queen’s Park to fulfil a wide and fulfilling sports programme led by experts in their field. 

Similarly, theatre and musical productions and performances of all sizes and scales are celebrated throughout the term with varied GCSE and A-level programmes in place. The importance of pastoral care underpinned many of Mr Bashaarat’s comments and it was obvious that this key element was a high priority topic. Familiar arguments for small class sizes to develop emotionally aware adults were shared. 

Mr Bashaarat outlined the admissions process, highlighting the school’s recognition that children sitting entry exams at 10 or 11 years old are at varying levels of maturity and may not have all reached their academic potential but that Maida Vale are looking for children who are inquisitive and share an aptitude for learning. Therefore the selection process is heavily focused on the interview where children are encouraged to bring in an artefact that they can use as a prop to engage interesting conversation. This relaxed interview is supported by the ISEB test (which is held here at CHS late in the Autumn term) and the references that are shared from each child’s primary school.

Finally, he outlined that as a mainstream school, they do not specialise in SEN education. However, they have a successful and well resourced SEN department to support their slightly fewer than the national average SEN students registered. Each child with a SEN presentation would be assessed on their merits and on the school’s suitability to meet their needs to access the curriculum. 

For those parents who were able to attend the meeting I am sure that you will have gleaned further information from the opportunity to hear from the Head of Maida Vale School firsthand. For those parents who were unable to attend we hope that the notes above are helpful. As always we recommend visiting the schools well ahead of registering. 

Their next Open Day will be on: Wednesday, 14th June 2023 at 10.20am & Wednesday, 5th July 2023 at 10.20am

https://www.maidavaleschool.com/admissions/open-events-booking