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Our View
There’s a lovely caring and friendly environment at this inspiring all-girls school in north London. It takes a ‘character education’ approach to learning, with teaching values and virtues beautifully embodied by specially commissioned cartoon woodland characters – Empathy Rabbit, Bravery Mole and Respectfulness Hedgehog among them – alongside the usual classroom subjects. Pastoral care is spot on and, with a seamless transition to Channing Senior, girls are free to enjoy being sponges for knowledge without the pressure of testing.
Where?
Located at the top of a hill in leafy Highgate, the school looks over London from its impressive main building, which was once the Lord Mayor’s residence. It still has the feel of a house – there are beautiful French doors that lead onto a full-width balcony, with a new extension called The Pavilion below, which is used for indoor sport. The school also has a new multi-purpose hall where the girls eat lunch, where assemblies take place and where a myriad of clubs is hosted.
The garden, which stretches far down the street, has been transformed into a decent-sized playground with a wooden climbing frame, a small climbing wall and lots of swings. There’s also a multi-use games area (MUGA), while a new decorated stable block houses a library and the music and drama departments. It’s equidistant between Highgate and Archway Tube stations, both a 10-minute walk away.
Head
An always-open door into her pretty pink office means head Dina Hamalis often has young visitors. Girls are encouraged to come and see her whenever they like, and they’re more than happy to take up the offer, especially when there’s cake. Miss Hamalis believes strongly in listening to her pupils and hearing first-hand how they’re getting on. ‘Pupil voice is a really big thing,’ she tells us. ‘It is their school and environment, and they influence what we do.’ The current Year 6s were starting Reception when Miss Hamalis joined and, just as she does with all the pupils, she has followed their progress closely. On our visit, they were due to come to her office for tea and cake to give her an opportunity to find out how they’re feeling about leaving.
Admissions
The school is selective and oversubscribed, with more than 200 applicants for the 48 reception places each year. Prospective pupils visit for an hour without their parents for group and one-to-one time, giving staff a chance to assess if ‘the girls can thrive here and be the best version of themselves’, says Miss Hamalis. A smaller group is called back a week or so later for another hour, ‘which we make as fun as possible’. Most years are two forms, but there are currently three forms in one year group as so many parents accepted their offers. Part of the reason it’s such a hot ticket is that once a pupil is in, they don’t have to sit entrance exams to the senior school.
Academics and senior school destinations
Channing’s cartoon woodland characters are at the centre of its ‘character education’, which was something Miss Hamalis introduced to embody what and who Channing girls should be. The qualities of bravery, respect, responsibility, perseverance, curiosity, independence, empathy and resilience are embedded in the classroom and beyond, and they have had a ‘positive effect on the standard of learning’, says Miss Hamalis. A few years ago, Year 6 had a competition to write the best story about each woodland character, and the winning entries have been turned into books. Reception classrooms are wonderfully creative, with a café area, role-play area, reading area and a lovely outside space with a sand table, trikes, a playhouse and even a wooden theatre stage.
There are specialist teachers in PE, drama, forest school, music and Spanish. In Year 1, art and D&T is added, and French in Year 3. Philosophy is taught from reception. There’s a balanced approach to technology – it’s used effectively rather than just for the sake of it. By Year 5, pupils are using devices but handwriting is equally important – we saw some beautifully handwritten work about the Great Fire of London displayed on the walls. Forest school is timetabled weekly for reception to Year 4. There’s an outdoor classroom there, trees to climb and a pond for dipping. A resident fox shares the space.
Co-curricular
Sport is a big thing here, and the school brings home silverware in football and netball in particular. There’s also an elite swim squad, which trains at a local pool. On site, the MUGA is the size of four netball courts and the girls also play tennis on it. Years 5 and 6 have water-sports afternoons – they canoe, kayak and paddleboard at a reservoir they travel to by coach.
Drama and music are both on the curriculum. A drama room is used for rehearsing productions, but they are staged at the senior school. Open and audition-only choirs start in Year 3, and pupils can also join the orchestra, string quartet, guitar ensemble, samba band, mariachi band and piano trio. Music lessons include technology on ChromeBooks. Art and D&T are housed in a large room. On our visit, pupils dressed in green overalls were busy with their creations; Year 5 and 6 do woodwork, making fairground rides among other things.
Clubs change termly and are designed to encourage the girls to try something new. There’s no end of choice: cheerleading, brass ensemble, debating, creative writing, science, cooking and swimming. Year 3s have an annual overnight camp in tents in the school grounds, making s’mores and putting on a talent show. Year 4s get to spend the night in a Tudor mansion, while Year 5s go to a PGL Adventure Centre for two nights and Year 6s spend a week on the Isle of Wight.
School community
Weekly wellbeing and pastoral-team meetings ensure those who need extra support are flagged to all staff. From reception, pupils are taught PSHE and the school uses programmes such as Friendology and Kimochis, where hand-sized beanbags with feelings written on them help girls to understand and manage their feelings. Every classroom has a thoughts & worries box and there is a school counsellor.
‘Parents are very invested in the girls’ education,’ Miss Hamalis says. The PA organises socials for parents and pupils alike; this year’s Harry Potter-themed winter fair featured real owls.
And finally....
Channing makes a strong argument for single-sex education. The holistic ethos means pupils learn while having fun and the girls we met were certainly happy and excited to be showing us around. ‘Doing tours reminds us how lucky we are,’ one said. And with the equally excellent senior school to move up to (without having to jump through hoops), it’s definitely one to put on your shortlist if you’re a north London family with daughters.