rubbish local secondary school choices - London - did you end up moving?

Yr2 is really thinking ahead and as others have said ALL secondary schools all look intimidating at that stage. Ignore OFTED as they are generally out of date and a big shake up will happen before you reach senior school age. Try not to listen to local gossip, when the time comes, Year 5 for preliminary looking, go in and see each school with an open mind. Sometimes it worth seeing something you think you won't like for comparison

There is definitely more choice in London, I looked at my borough and all that surround it (so up to an hour commute) and there were 30+ schools we could have had a shot at either on distance or some kind of aptitude test - there are a lot sport/art/languages/music/ability.

There are a few "good" schools that keep it tight and unless you have a priority place you aren't getting in which includes both Charters and Dunraven. Personally I wouldn't waste a space on the CAF if you are way off the admission criteria.

Totally agree about the hard sell. That 'this is the best school in the world!!!' schtick is really tiresome when you're trying to get a kid to think about what really matters. Plus, it's still school innit.

@ Mardyface and Shreddies- that's great, thank you. All very sound advice that I will try to remember and stick to when I start panicking about secondary schools!

One thing I will say is that I loathe the hard sell they do on kids when they visit, it pisses me right off

@Mardyface has it. Having been through it twice I would be a little careful about the conversations you have over years 5&6. Some years at my kids primary school people really fell out. Think parents slagging off local school when in reality it's the only option for many. Or keeping it quiet that they've been coaching their kid since the year dot. Etc etc

Every single cohort, ppl panic in year 4 and 5, go crazy about the shining great prospect of the fancy pants school and end up at the local options anyway and it's all fine.

I think this is a really balanced post and would add that with all schools the key is to try really hard to be blinkered about what YOUR KID is like and what YOUR values are and try not to be put off by competition/other people/ panic. So visit without a big group of other parents you know and try to make your own judgement based on your kid. It's easier said than done though!

Do you need to stay in London. I used to live near where you are, we look an employment opportunity elsewhere when dc were babies and didn't return, too many negatives.

I would definitely go and look and go with your gut. Some people are very happy with it. Others have said it's very crowded and run down and the main complaint is that kids can get overlooked as it is so big. Extra curriculars sound great but in reality are only a 3 or 4 sessions. A kind of emperor's new clothes vibe.

One friend sent her first but not her second.

I think it markets itself as a pseudo private school but It is still a big, mixed comprehensive in south London with all the issues that brings but that's just my opinion based on a couple of visits and hearsay from others, so do see what you think. As I say I do also know people who are perfectly happy with it

@ Shreddies- sorry, can I ask you what you have heard re Kingsdale? I am considering it for my DS. Thanks!

Agreeing with @Boiledeggandtoast . Grammar schools here have a much wider distance criteria as obv only 20 something % of children pass the 11+. My son has school friends who live in Lewisham, Catford etc
I don't envy their commute to school though!
I believe though that those who live out of borough, have to score higher in the exams.

Yes I moved back to Kent when my daughter was three as I wanted my children to go to a good school with lots of outdoor space. Many of my London friends did the same, some moving to the Kent coast and some to Surrey.
We have the 11+ and so grammar schools here - my daughter didn't pass and went to a very good school, got a good set of GCSE and A levels and has a good job with the Met Police. My son passed and is currently doing his A Levels at a grammar school.
Some of the non selective schools here are good but others are really not. There are also catholic schools. The good ones have a very small catchment areas, less than 2 miles so I made sure that we moved to a place close to the non selectives.

Great, thanks @Mardyface and @Needmorelego

@piglet81 I find people do it as adults only visit in Year 5 to be able to shortlist and then re visit in Year 6 with their child.

Most people start in y5 @piglet81 but now Covid restrictions have lifted I don't think there's an etiquette about taking up spaces. If you want to look you should. In your shoes I think I might wait until y5 to take the kids but I don't really have a rational reason for that!

Following this thread with interest - am local-ish (se6) and have a child in y3. Re open days, is y4 too early to start looking around? I don’t know what the etiquette is in terms of taking up a space that could be used by someone actually applying that year. But I don’t want to leave it too late to start making a plan.

As for Kingsdale - their marketing is certainly top class. But boy oh boy the gossip that I'm hearing from my DC about the kids' "extra curricular activities"...

I think you have to think about the reasons you moved to SE London in the first place too. If it was purely for the cheap(er) housing maybe just move out. If it was because of the diverse, interesting population and generally a bit more liberal attitudes in the area don't forget your kids will benefit from that too as part of their holistic education. If you grew up (like I did) outside of London you think about your own experiences but really it is not the same at all. My kids are getting a much much broader education and being exposed to much more in the way of culture and openness than I ever was and their friends at FHB are too.

As an aside I happened to be outside a private school in Oxford at kick-out time the other day and the boys were behaving terribly. I think kids tend to once they are out of sight of school at the end of the day.

I know the kids in my DC's class do travel "all over the place" for school. But it's not because they got into highly popular places like Charter. It's because there are schools who take from quite a wide area, so the local school wasn't the only option. So maybe you go to an undersubscribed school in a neighbouring borough. Or because they sat it out on a waiting list all summer and got a place at a school they were a small way out of the initial offer area for. And I mean a small way, a few streets.

@A580Hojas actually I apologise. The children I know who attend Charter I believe got high priority due to SEN. I also might be getting my postcode areas a bit muddled up.

I agree with you on this, ime travel like this is due to moving after getting in or older sibling is in or other specialist reason

I'm sure all the hundreds of families waiting for places at both the Charter schools (current "furthest distance offered" less than 1km in both cases I believe) would be interested to hear of the children in SE23 who have got a place there before them.

I visited Kingsdale recently and was extremely unimpressed. Compared to FHS too. I don't think they'll hang onto their outstanding either.

OP, I've just clicked that your child is in year 2. That is very young, 11 and 12 year olds look huge when your child is little, but when you get there secondary schools look much less intimidating.

I've looked at all the local secondary schools twice now and am currently looking at sixth forms. You really can't tell whether you like a school until you see it in person. DS1 had his heart set on sixth form at a local outstanding school, but was underwhelmed in person. You just can't tell, so you need to put the Ofsteds aside, go and look and ask questions until you're happy with the answers.

@Greytea I can only speak for my experience of growing up & attending schools in London & working in schools in London. Perhaps it's very school specific

*theirs