Please or to access all these features

Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Good sixth form (not private) options N/NW/C LONDON?

38 replies

stirling · 10/12/2020 08:55

Hi everyone
Ds is currently in year 10, high achiever and high predicted grades. Live in nw London. He's at Mill Hill County school but would like to move elsewhere for various reasons, mostly teaching quality and the need to be with more like minded students. Kings maths school would be ideal but it's in SE London which would be a real trek.

We're looking at Woodhouse but are there any other options to consider?
Thanks

OP posts:
footballfan1963 · 13/12/2020 09:54

*live

footballfan1963 · 13/12/2020 09:53

If he’s very bright you could look at QE Boys. Or depending on where you love, Watford Boys.

footballfan1963 · 13/12/2020 09:51

Dd was at Woodhouse and had a terrible experience. Behaviour was awful and they have a drug problem. Wouldn’t recommend at all.

stirling · 11/12/2020 19:38

Right now he's doing art, geog, German and triple science. For a level he's considering maths, further maths and physics or chemistry, but ideally he'd like to take Art instead of further maths but worries it'll put him at a disadvantage for uni.

OP posts:
Arlington45 · 11/12/2020 18:36

Which subjects is he doing now/interested in for A Level?

stirling · 11/12/2020 10:05

Hi, thank you everyone for your suggestions. Really appreciate it. I'd forgotten about leSwap.
Made a note and about to look up.

OP posts:
Moominmammacat · 10/12/2020 13:57

I've heard nothing but positive about Woodhouse. DAO has a very good maths dept, I understand ...

EssexCat · 10/12/2020 13:44

Or maybe look at scholarships if the only reason for not private is the money, rather than ethical.

Wiifitmama · 10/12/2020 13:12

St Marylebone is excellent. My son is there (he got a place via a music scholarship - not money related as it is a state school). I have been so impressed with them this term even with Covid. The academics are excellent. My son is a high achiever, on track for A*s, looking at Cambridge, and I feel he is well supported.

EssexCat · 10/12/2020 13:08

There’s one in Stratford (but that’s east London) that I’ve heard loads of good things about: London academy of Excellence. We looked at kings maths, but it was too far away from us.

mollscroll · 10/12/2020 12:57

St Marylebone?

LarkDescending · 10/12/2020 12:55

You could also look at the LaSWAP consortium, which brings together the sixth forms of La Sainte Union, William Ellis, Acland Burleigh and Parliament Hill.

Effzeh · 10/12/2020 09:16

We've had very good experiences with Woodhouse, as have the various other people who have sent their dc there after listening to us rave about it.

My dc who went there underperformed at GCSE, but Woodhouse really turned him around, and he did much better than we could have hoped for. They do really well for dc of all abilities - mine was not a super high-flier, but came out with the 'Woodhouse treble', ie,. a clean sweep of A/A*.

Pastoral care very good, and academic supervision tight - expect a flurry of texts and emails if your dc is not in a lesson when they are expecting them to be. It's not a spoon-feeding environment, but if your child wants to do well they will support them all the way. Quirky bunch of students, lots of opportunities to find your groove.

Other options we considered but didn't opt for are Fortismere (narrower intake demographic, plus thought it might be cliquey in terms of most dc having been up the secondary school together) and Camden (similar).