Haven High Academy

I attended Haven High Academy (Marian Campus) from September 2011 to June 2016, as well as the Sixth Form from September 2016 to June 2018, before it became what I believe is now solely housing the Year 7s. From my personal experience, this was a decent secondary school. The teachers I had were generally very pleasant and were helpful in focussing on my individual aspirations in class, even when the majority of the class misbehaved, which I understand is difficult. The support from the teachers allowed me to leave with As, Bs and Cs. The learning support centre was absolutely fantastic in addressing my needs there and definitely improved my confidence, as I'm sure it did for other SEN pupils too. Thanks to Haven, I realised my dream of going into academia because of the informative Citizenship lessons and work placements set up for me, and am now happily striving towards my dream job studying at university. However, I cannot speak for every pupil who attended or will attend here; the measure of any good school is how it prepares their students for adult life, which is different for everyone. And with this, Haven's flaws are apparent. Haven is what you would call a 'sink school' - now, without letting your built-in prejudices against the working class population override your opinion of this school, it does its best with what it's given. As I'm sure you are aware, Haven has built up quite the reputation for its students. Many of Haven's students come from working class backgrounds, an increasing amount of them are from EAL backgrounds (not like this often affects their performance, despite what others will make you believe); as you would expect from a comprehensive school, most of the pupils also didn't pass their 11+ (however unfair it is to assume a child's potential at just 11 is your opinion) and are labelled as 'rowdy', 'undisciplined' etc. A lot of them will go onto Boston College to take on limiting vocational courses. There is definitely a strong pattern. However, while judging a school solely on the characteristics of its pupils is always wrong (and ignorant), it does say a lot about how the school handles the situation. Unfortunately, it is too difficult to manage every student's needs - many swiftly ignore the behaviour system in place; for some it seems to have no effect at all, leaving quite a few students to fail. Personally, I think this seems more of a result of flawed parenting, but to each their own. Likewise, one problem I had with Haven was that it was 'static' - the school never changed its walls or sought to try and enhance the pupil experience. The fact that I still saw the same pictures of me in Year 8 on the corridor wall when I was going to take my final A-Levels in YEAR 13 says it all. Similarly, the lack of school trips/external outings did make classwork predictable; although personally I've always been an indoors-orientated person, so it didn't matter for me as much. This is merely what I have observed from both studying here and taking work placements in teaching. I understand that the same year I left, a new Headteacher took over the school, and from walking past on the occasion I'm back in Boston, it does appear more 'prisony' with its large, restrictive gates. Best be hopeful for the future! If you are a teacher, I hope you take some consideration into my observations. If you are a parent or pupil reading this: ignore the demonised image of this school - visit the school on an open day, familiarise yourself with the environment. It's important for your child to decide themselves whether this school is for them, not anyone else, or anyone's portrayal of the school. If your child has any disabilities or learning difficulties I would especially recommend Haven for its wonderful Learning Support Centre. I've also observed that Haven is ideal if you're interested in sports - if there's any subject Haven specialises in, it's definitely sport. And remember, there is more to a school than its pupils.

Absolutely brilliant school. They were fantastic with the issues I had during school. They have also been brilliant during my son's time at the school too.

This school is staying open even though it's a very difficult route to school, alot of the buses have stopped running but so I'm told by my daughter if Mr reed can get in then all can, he drives a 4x4. More snow expected and he still keeps the schools open hardly any children were in today I don't rate this school at all. I'm lucky my daughter finishes her time this year we are both glad. there's plenty of better schools than this one so I'd send them elsewhere

I've been learning there before (5 years ago) , and from my experience I can say it's not the best "Academy" or "School" where you could go. Teachers are great, but the students are just lil' evils.

Nothing but problems with this school some teachers are very disrespectful and if you ask for help with anything you don't get it. Would NOT recommend this school to anyone