Good schools in Islington or Hackney

[amispeakingenglish]

Hi, just wondered what peoples recent experience is of schools in either of these boroughs? The posts on here are from 3 yrs ago and thinks change quickly in schools.
Which schools can people recommend and which to avoid would be a good start!

[CruCru]

Round where I live, people seem very keen on William Tyndale and Gillespie (the second has such an insanely small distance cut off, even people living really close seem to have no chance of getting in).

Why do you ask? Do you live on the border of the two boroughs and are applying to schools?

[SliceOfLime]

To be honest you don't really have that much choice - it's large determined by distance from the schools, so the first thing to do is look at the data on the council's website Admissions page which will tell you the furthest distance from the school that a child was admitted last year, then see which schools you have a chance of getting into based on your home address. Then look at which of those you might like. There's no point looking at places halfway across the borough if you've no chance of being offered a place there.

[Vinorosso74]

As per above posters it does depend on where you live as to which you'll realistically have a chance of getting a place.
Look on both council websites for info about admissions criteria and cut off distances (these can vary yearly depending on sibling admissions) so are only a guide.
Are there any particular schools you're interested in finding out more about?

[hibbleddible]

I agree with others that choice is very much an illusion. All you can do is express a preference (which you may well not get).

Are you looking to move near a good school or wondering what good schools are near you? They are two very different scenarios.

[MN164]

Does your equation include CoE or Catholic?

I have friends with kids at all of the below and they have had/having good experience (in the main, nowhere is perfect for each and every child all the time!).

Yerbury
William Tyndall
Canonbury
St John Evangelist
Hanover

(probably spelt all of them wrong)

As mentioned, catchment area and "god" points make all the difference to your choices.

[leaningtoweroflego]

I'm guessing the OP is asking as they intend to move next to a good school? Otherwise why would they be asking about such a wide radius?

OP, have you seen the school checker in Right Move? I have no idea how accurate it is, but it's great to get an idea of what schools are near properties you might be looking at, what their OFSTED rating is at a glance, and what kind of catchment they have.

[leaningtoweroflego]

Ah OK, I did wonder!

Still useful for getting an snapshot of local.schools and their OFSTED though. And you should be able to find out the furthest distance admitted last year from the council.

[LarkDescending]

Furthest distance admitted can now also be ascertained from findaschool, which also includes OFSTED results and other information.

[leaningtoweroflego]

That's useful LarkDescending thanks!

[CruCru]

Here are the cut off distance maps for Islington for 2015 entry

This gives some cut off distance maps for Hackney