I am British .My daughter actually chose The English College  having heard it was less 'academic' and more friendly than other secondary schools. She also notes that this doesn't mean it's an 'easy school' - discipline is quite firm and students are openly encouraged to keep standards e.g. dress & behaviour! My daughter has been very happy there - she seems to be doing better now (with the same minimalist approach to study!) and is genuinely more interested in learning new stuff! She has had a good set of teachers who seem to be interested in her and able to help motivate her to do well in the more frequent assessments they have in secondary / high school.

 As with every school, there have been a few problems - 'in-out-crowd', best friends falling out, girls being 'excessively' bitchy but much of this is down to the dysfunctional impact of a few kids and what school doesn't have those? However, the school and its teachers have been eager to follow-up on issues. We have had no major 'challenges' with administrative / teaching staff so something must be working right!