We’re blessed with a very popular and successful local school – which is also quite an unusual one, almost unique in London. There are three classes in each year group, one of which – the Belleville Wix Academy – is English and fully state funded, one of which – the École de Wix – is a fee-paying private school that teaches the French national curriculum in French (and which is a feeder school to the French Lycee in South Kensington), and one of which is joint venture between the two streams to create a bilingual English / French class (where half the students pay fees – and half are state-funded) – with an innovative approach of alternate weeks in different languages, and a curriculum that blends the English and French approaches.

While the idea of several different schools on the site may sound confusing, it very much works as a unified single school with the canteen, playgrounds, facilities, after school provision and the like all shared. It’s also an interesting mix of private- and state-schooling – we have yet to see any other example of its kind. Above all, it works – and it has proved very popular and successful over the years – many of our correspondents can attest to this being a really excellent school with very skilled and hugely committed teachers and leadership, across all three language streams. The French and bilingual provision is also one of the reasons Lavender Hill (and especially the eastern end of the street) has such a large French speaking community.

The Belleville Wix Academy has quite an interesting history: it used to be the Wix School, and it’s fair to say the old school had some pretty turbulent years back in the early 2010s where the catchment area briefly grew to over three kilometres! Everything changed, however, when the school had a complete relaunch and joined the ‘Quality First Educational Trust’ back in 2017, which essentially made it part of the same group as Belleville primary school off Northcote Road – a school that was closely linked to the surge in popularity of the Northcote Road area with young families in 1990s, and which had long been so popular that people who actually lived on Belleville Road famously couldn’t find places at the school one year! Although we should reassure readers that local residents do now have a decent prospect of admission to the various Belleville schools – partly thanks to a big crackdown on a once-common practice of of parents who lived miles away renting houses right by the school gates for a year ‘while their other house was having building works’ to get a place – which saw some landlords do ridiculously well but which was not helpful to create a ‘community’ school. The merger was very successful, with the new school benefitting from the strong leadership, enthuisiastic staff and robust academic focus of the wider Trust, and quickly racing up the rankings.

And for interested parents, there are a couple of open days coming soon. These are a great way to find out more about the school – the school is hosting Open Mornings on Thursday 16th and Tuesday 21st November 2023. The one on Thursday 16th will focus on the English stream and the one on Tuesday 21st will focus on the bilingual (French/English) stream, but parents are welcome to attend whichever date is more convenient. The tours will start at 9.15am, followed by a talk by the Headteacher, and the event will be finished by around 11am. The flyer & further information for the open days is below – and for more details or to book a slot on the tours, click here. For those who are unable to make the Open Mornings and would like to come on a tour, there’s also an option to book a small group tour of the school.

Belleville Wix Academy is a successful and vibrant school. We are part of the Quality First Education Trust. In October 2019, we had our first Ofsted inspection as a new school and were delighted at the outcome of ‘Good’ with an ‘Outstanding’ Early Years provision. We believe in doing ‘whatever it takes’ to help every child succeed.

We offer two streams of education, a class in English from Nursery through to Year 6 and a bilingual class in French and English from Reception to Year 6. Children are happy and successful at BWA and achieve well beyond the national average. Our Year 6 leavers go on to a wide range of state and independent secondary schools, including those with selective streams and scholarships.

To support working families, we offer wrap-around care from 7.30am to 6pm. We also offer a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and a great programme of visiting speakers, day and residential trips, and sporting competitions and festivals with other schools. Every child is offered the opportunity to learn to play a music instrument and play in a musical ensemble.

We welcome children from throughout the local community into our Nursery, Reception, or into Years 1 to 6 where there are occasionally places available.

In addition to our November Open Mornings, we have a virtual tour on our website, and we also offer small group tours throughout the year. For more information about these, please visit:
www.bellevillewix.org.uk/admissions/open-days-and-tours/

We very much look forward to welcoming you and your child to Belleville Wix Academy.