Am I late?? Primary Schools in Shoreditch, Clerkenwell area..

[nickious]

Im moving back to EC1 with my almost 2 year old daughter. I am currently in the search of a nursery. I hadn't realized how difficult can be. Most of the nurseries that I like they don't have availability for 6 months to a year!! I feel that schools are even worse and I should be acting NOW. On the other hand I can't really afford to apply to a lot of private schools as it can be quite expensive. Im currently looking at the Charterhouse, Lyceum and Dalligton but I am equally open to register her in a good state school if there are any in the area.

Im a single mom so I need a school that will has reasonable working hours as Im working full time. Im not British, even though I have lived here for more than 10 years, so I don't know the British system that well.

Ideally Im looking for a school that is pretty liberal and has a lot of arts, sports etc included in the curriculum. I don't really want a school that is only all about academic achievement if thats possible.

Could you please let me know your experiences/advice? Does anyone have experience with any of the above schools? Or any suggestions for a good state school? Please HELP, Im sort of panicking.....

[Onceuponatimethen]

I don’t have personal experience of any of the schools you list but have peaked at Darlington’s twitter. Looks like that school is quite progressive!

[TheClacksAreDown]

The state school admissions don’t require pre registration. You would be applying October 2019 to Jan 2020 online through the local council you will be living in.

[nickious]

Thank you both. Please excuse the stupid question but at TheClacksAreDown how can I find which state school is good and which is not? Is there a report that gets published every year? Are they based on the Offsted?

Again...sorry for the ignorance!

[Onceuponatimethen]

You can look them all up and find the inspection reports (which are graded) in the ofsted website

[pamplemoussed]

You can also look them up (and compare with others) on schooldash.com .

[TheClacksAreDown]

Ofsted is worth reading but it is only a piece of it. The reports can be quite old and schools change rapidly. You will want to visit the schools yourself to form your own view as to whether right for your child.

Bear in mind though that whilst you get to choose options, London struggles to meet the demand for primary school places and so you may have little choice in practice. Your local authority will publish admissions booklets showing what categories got admitted and last distances for the prior year.

[CruCru]

Hi OP

It’s worth bearing in mind that private schools get far longer holidays than state schools - usually 18 weeks rather than 13 weeks a year. So you would have to sort out childcare for those extra weeks.

Of the schools you’ve listed, I would say that Dallington and the Lyceum could be described as liberal. You could also look at St Paul’s Cathedral School (its a few blocks south of Charterhouse Square). They assess the first 70 children on the list so I don’t know whether it is too late to register.

For state schools, I would have a look at the Islington and Hackney Council websites. From memory, Islington has a map of where all its schools are and the cut off distances for the last three years.

[nickious]

Thank you All!

CruCru, I was reading older posts re the independent schools and saw that you had also registered DC for Lyceum. Where did you end up going at the end?

[Schoolworrier]

Hi OP

Another private school you might consider is The Gower School. It's not for everyone - and certainly many MNers may not be fans - but they provide great wrap around/holiday care. In addition, unlike some of the other schools mentioned (SPCS) it won't be too late to register your DD.

For state check out Prior Western and City of London Primary Academy Islington. The latter seems to be v popular with my DCs' friends' parents in EC1. Good luck!

[Onceuponatimethen]

I don’t know it myself but have heard others say Rosemary works independent

[Schoolworrier]

Also Rosemary Works (in N1?) might be worth checking out. I haven't been myself but have been told it is worth a look.

[Schoolworrier]

Beat me too it @onceuponatimethen!

[Onceuponatimethen]

Great minds!!

[nickious]

Thanks Schoolworrier (I love the name!!). I actually live opposite the Prior Western so it would be great if it’s a good school. It will def solve my problems...I’ll check rosemary works as well... thank you guys!!! If anybody else has any experience with the above schools please message me...THANK YOU!!