Henrietta Barnett, Latymer or Dame Alice Owens

@choosingtherightschool I think they lost a court case which meant they aren't allowed to only have IC doing the exam. It is a massive waste of resources for an underfunded school. My daughter's rank before they took out OOC was over 500. We found out in March that she was on the waiting list and finally got a place just before term started. She was all set to go to our local school which was our second choice. Ideally I wouldn't recommend this path!

@megafemme Latymer does Latin too from Y8. For some reason they do German in Y7, we would have preferred Spanish.

My dd went to HBS and had a really good experience. IMO the pastoral care was strong and it's the parents who create a pushy vibe, not the staff.

We live not far from you OP and her journey was easy, the 263 bus to East Finch then the 102 for the 10 mins to HGS.

She did lots of music and several really nice school trips. One factor in our decision was that HBS offered Latin and DAO doesn't, which she always liked. Then again, Latymer offers Russian!

In terms of travel, I'd say HBS would be your easiest journey. The 626 will get you to DAO but if you're involved in extra curriculars it's another matter entirely. And please do not believe the hype about Latymer being situated in the North London equivalent of the Wild west .

My line of work brings me into contact with students and parents at all three of those schools. They are all good in many ways. IMO one of the nice things about HBS is that it remains relatively small which creates a more nurturing environment.

Feel free to PM if you want more details and good luck with your decision.

@HoverParent just to add another variable. After you get a place in the top 650, you then get your English final place. But then in January your place moves again when they remove all the out of catchment places. My daughter moved nearly 200 places, I think over 40% of the top 650 were OOC.

So Latymer results are out since Monday night! Luckily we were up binge watching Squid Game, so we caught it at around midnight! (Anyone else feel like Squid Game is the ultimate metaphor of the Grammar School process!)

OK, so deciphering the results from being non-news is challenging. It is only really news if that was the end of the line. So, out of 2500 applicants, 650 are through to having their English scored, which will then result in a new final ranking of the top 200. So kids have gone from a 1/12 to a 1/3 chance.

For Music, out of 200 applicants, 30 were invited to audition, and an undisclosed number were accepted based on evidence of Grades. I would guess about 10 of the 30 will be accepted (again about 1/3) and 10 places would be based on Grades (not sure what the probability is here, since about 100 kids did provide evidence but no idea how many were G5 and above), but that is purely speculative. I don't know this for a fact.

So either, this was end of the line, and for the rest, wait another two weeks, something like that!

Apparently Latymer are having technical issues and won’t be sending out results until Monday.

I think it all depends where you are based op and realistically the travelling. My kids have several friends that go to all 3 of those schools-the favoured one is definately DAO. Latymer is in quite a rough neighbourhood and there were a few incidents of muggings for phones etc. HBS has the rep of being a hothouse and lack of pastoral and is a pain to get to unless you live in HGS. DAO is the only one with a sibling policy plus it is one of the top rated schools for music and has several bus routes.

Oh thank you. Not holding our breath, tbh, and unsure about the distance anyway, but good for the mental load to narrow down the options. Good luck!

@longestlurkerever
Latymer results are supposed to come by email in the next 2 hours (I heard that it may be end of day Oct 1, to give people the weekend to process it, whether good or bad)!

No problem @Anydream. It's so early for us but at the moment DD feels like she's being challenged which definitely wasn't the case at her primary.

The buses at DAO do go at the end of the day. Lots of students stay on for clubs but then walk en masse to the station to get trains/buses or parents collect them if they can/want to. There aren't any late buses because the school doesn't run the bus services.
@stokey sorry if my comment made it sound as though that was a wider concern about Latymer - I don't think that can be the case as their results are excellent. It was just some of my friends who felt that their children needed to be pushed more to achieve better. I'm sure that that isn't the case for everyone though (and is second hand info!)

@choosingtherightschool my DD1 has just started at Latymer and so far so good. I obviously can't claim to be an expert yet but have been impressed so far by how well she's settled in, she didn't know anyone else who was going this year.

I was worried about the journey and it was nearly a deal breaker, but actually she's coping with it fine. There are loads of kids going to and from the bus stop or train station each day so there's always a group. We met a group of kids from our area who are all going and travel in together. I think from some places, parents have arranged private buses too. School also finishes reasonably early, 3:10 most days, 2:30 on Fridays and every other Tuesday, so it gives them plenty of time to do clubs or get home. She is quite tired but I think they all are when they start.
It doesn't feel hot housey at all, quite the opposite. I've no idea of @Anydream's comment about children not getting expected results as we're nowhere close to that yet.
The music seems amazing, they're encouraged to participate and lots on offer.

I feel like we've made the right choice but only time will tell. Good luck to everyone waiting today.

Very well done to your dd! A slight hijack if I may - does anyone have any idea when to expect to hear about non-music places at Latymer?

Lovely open site too.

DAO is definitely not racist in its intake, or its grading, or the university destinations of its ethnicities. The student population is more mixed than ever. Lots of Indians and Chinese, and high-achieving West African kids as well. Many private schools have less of a mix.

The furore came from how the senior management dealt with a racist incident in a perfunctory manner, and hopefully they have learned from that. And it's good seeing kids stand up for their rights and effect change in a positive manner. Good for them making a big deal of it.

No idea if this is true but somebody told me there are way more children from DAO in Saturday conservatoire than from any other school.