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Where in London is the best place to live for grammar options (boys and girls) and good state school fall back options.

140 replies

TuttleTree · 21/09/2023 21:43

Please help! We are house hunting and torn between London and Chelmsford. Ideally, we would like to stay in London for work, travel, culture, things going on. Etc etc all the usual. However fully aware that as kids are involved we have to prioritise in the right way.

We live in East London at the moment and have great grammar options but not good state options. Feel like with Chelmsford there might be some good state back ups there? But before we do anything drastic and leave the big smoke, wondering where else in London we could go that have the option of both.

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ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 22:30

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 22:10

Ah, I see from one of your posts you live in Hampton Hill. There are plenty of admissions from there.

....that is what I said .....

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 22:13

The sibling won't be on the map, but if the other kids you know were distance admissions, their postcode marker will be on the map. Try plotting their postcode on Google maps to see where it appears. The map is low resolution so difficult to makebout individual streets.

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 22:10

Ah, I see from one of your posts you live in Hampton Hill. There are plenty of admissions from there.

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 22:07

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 21:54

@soopadoopa

There are 3 postcodes on my street. Meaning the very end is different. These are kids that I know, they are not looked after and they are not EHCP. One has an eldest sis in the school ( sibling).

Are you sure you live in Marble Hill, not Strawberry Hill? There were clearly no distance admissions from Marble Hill.

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 21:54

@soopadoopa

There are 3 postcodes on my street. Meaning the very end is different. These are kids that I know, they are not looked after and they are not EHCP. One has an eldest sis in the school ( sibling).

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 21:37

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 21:31

@soopadoopa if that is not the heatmap, where are dots for two kids from my street who were accepted there? Hm? No they were not higher priority. No, I don't live in Marble Hill. i live in Hampton Hill. I said Marble Hill as a good location for all catchments....or Strawberry Hill would be even better.

Distance admission is not contradictory to the fact that the acceptance shows heat map and not every single location of the accepted kids. There is less green dots than applicants

Edited

If you plot your postcode on Google maps it appears in the centre of the postcode, not on top of your house. If there are 2 kids from the same postcode, there will be just one dot at the centre of the postcode.

If you still can't find it, perhaps they got in via one of the non-distance categories.

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 21:31

@soopadoopa if that is not the heatmap, where are dots for two kids from my street who were accepted there? Hm? No they were not higher priority. No, I don't live in Marble Hill. i live in Hampton Hill. I said Marble Hill as a good location for all catchments....or Strawberry Hill would be even better.

Distance admission is not contradictory to the fact that the acceptance shows heat map and not every single location of the accepted kids. There is less green dots than applicants

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 21:27

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 21:20

@soopadoopa

>No, each green marker is a postcode from where at least one child got a place

Do you understand how the heatmap works? Do you think the kids live on the top of each other? In my location older siblings got in and there is nothing in that place. Far around us are green dots but not in my spot and there are few kids living here. This is because it is not that densly populated with kids that went to Turing that year. If they put on the map one dot if there is at leat one kid then the map would reveal personal data where lives somebody accepted ( GDPR) and also would be illegible in dot. There are far far more kids than dots

It's not a heat map! Read the key. It shows distance admissions. If you know children from Marble Hill who got in this year they must have been in one of the higher priority categories like siblings, EHCP, Looked after Children, etc.

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 21:25

@soopadoopa because I was talking about TW12 Hampton and Hampton Hill schools and never mentioned anything about Stanley school or Teddington schools 🙄.
i am not concerned, I am clarifying what I was talking about. I don't have a girl to be concerned about Tiffin girls even. Turing is not on my list as no 2 even 🙄. This is nothing personal but about the place where OP could move in to get in catchment into a few schools at the same time and have a great choice

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 21:20

@soopadoopa

>No, each green marker is a postcode from where at least one child got a place

Do you understand how the heatmap works? Do you think the kids live on the top of each other? In my location older siblings got in and there is nothing in that place. Far around us are green dots but not in my spot and there are few kids living here. This is because it is not that densly populated with kids that went to Turing that year. If they put on the map one dot if there is at leat one kid then the map would reveal personal data where lives somebody accepted ( GDPR) and also would be illegible in dot. There are far far more kids than dots

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 21:19

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 21:15

@soopadoopa I alresdy said that the two girls is an amazing information and it must be only this year.
...and I have never spoken about Teddington but always here about Hampton and Hampton Hill TW12 where I happen to live for the last 20 + years

A lot of TW12 children go to Stanley Primary too. That's in TW11. Not sure why you are so concerned about the school postcode when its the home address that matters for admissions. But each to their own.

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 21:15

@soopadoopa I alresdy said that the two girls is an amazing information and it must be only this year.
...and I have never spoken about Teddington but always here about Hampton and Hampton Hill TW12 where I happen to live for the last 20 + years

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 21:15

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 21:01

They have not put a green spot for every single kid. It is heatmap, a cluster. And as I said, last year it was smalles cacthment due to the birth peak in 2012. This year could be smaller. This is the only area where Orlean, Waldergrave and Turing as well as Grey Coat overlaps or maybe tiny bit more to the south but not further than 1 km from Orlean and close to the river for Grey

Edited

No, each green marker is a postcode from where at least one child got a place. Each yellow marker is a postcode where at least one child is on the waiting list. The key at top left explains it.

There aren't any spots in Marble Hill, probably because they all went to Orleans Park. If they'd tried to go to Turing they'd be a yellow marker not a green one, because they're further away than some of the other yellow markers.

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 21:09

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 20:58

@soopadoopa since when TW11 is TW12?? I am talking about Hampton and Hampton Hill. Only last year maybe as I haven't checked. Since year 3 I observe schools in TW12 destinations and spoke to parents, teachers etc.

Edited

Keep your hair on. I was talking about SMSP, which is in TW11, but near the border with TW12, so some of its students live in TW12. I don't know if the girls that transferred to Tiffin live in TW12.

But Hampton Juniors is in TW12 and transferred 2 to Tiffin Girls this year: https://www.hpp.school/junior-school/about-us/admissions. Obviously I don't know if those children live in TW12 either. Some children go to schools in their own postal area, and some don't.

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 21:01

They have not put a green spot for every single kid. It is heatmap, a cluster. And as I said, last year it was smalles cacthment due to the birth peak in 2012. This year could be smaller. This is the only area where Orlean, Waldergrave and Turing as well as Grey Coat overlaps or maybe tiny bit more to the south but not further than 1 km from Orlean and close to the river for Grey

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 20:58

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 20:54

No, it is not outside the catchment but very much in catchment. And last year catchment is smaller than ever..I really live here and have son in Y6.

https://www.turinghouseschool.org.uk/documents/admissions/Admissions2023.jpg

Edited

That map doesn't show any green spots anywhere near Marble Hill. They only go as far as South Twickenham.

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 20:58

@soopadoopa since when TW11 is TW12?? I am talking about Hampton and Hampton Hill. Only last year maybe as I haven't checked. Since year 3 I observe schools in TW12 destinations and spoke to parents, teachers etc.

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 20:56

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 20:50

What do you base it on? I have copied pasted here in other thread of the postcodes of the girls accepted to Tiffin. This is from What do they Know website; a guy requested it from the school directly..No TW12 was there....

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/2019_2022_year_6_destinations_da#incoming-2327969

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 20:54

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 17:04

Marble Hill is outside of the current Turing House and Waldegrave catchments. But in any case, I wasn't suggesting she could apply to all of them - she's moving house, so can choose to move into whichever catchment area she can afford.

No, it is not outside the catchment but very much in catchment. And last year catchment is smaller than ever..I really live here and have son in Y6.

https://www.turinghouseschool.org.uk/documents/admissions/Admissions2023.jpg

https://www.turinghouseschool.org.uk/documents/admissions/Admissions2023.jpg

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 20:50

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 20:45

I expect quite a few SMSP families live in TW12 and they've sent up to 3 a year to Tiffin Girls in recent years.

What do you base it on? I have copied pasted here in other thread of the postcodes of the girls accepted to Tiffin. This is from What do they Know website; a guy requested it from the school directly..No TW12 was there....

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 20:48

@BonjourCrisette ....and where do you think I live and where my son attends primary? :))
Maybe they got in but they didn't inform both of the schools and ended up in private. Cannot imagine how otherwise the headmasters would not know, parents don't know.

Sorry but I have not said that Teddington is the worse in the Borough but there are better options even in terms of ethos not to mention results. I do not take into consideration HH or Twickenham High.

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 20:45

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 20:40

@soopadoopa that is a miracle. I have not checked yet admission for last year but for years Tiffin Girls was like a castle that no Knight or Dame from TW12 can break in

I expect quite a few SMSP families live in TW12 and they've sent up to 3 a year to Tiffin Girls in recent years.

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 20:40

@soopadoopa that is a miracle. I have not checked yet admission for last year but for years Tiffin Girls was like a castle that no Knight or Dame from TW12 can break in

soopadoopa · 25/09/2023 20:01

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 17:40

And in the last years there wasn't a single girl that got to Tiffin from Hampton and Hampton Hill Primaries. Some boys do.

Not true. Hampton Juniors sent two to Tiffin Girls this year. The data is on their admissions page.

HHJS put their transfer data online too.

If you google, you can find a few FOIs with transfer data for other local primaries.

BonjourCrisette · 25/09/2023 18:52

ThingsWillWorkOut · 25/09/2023 17:40

And in the last years there wasn't a single girl that got to Tiffin from Hampton and Hampton Hill Primaries. Some boys do.

How do you know if anyone got in or not? If it's leavers' destinations, that isn't a good guide for a state school as they are unlikely to give the sort of breakdown that a prep school will (eg x offer, y acceptances). DD got into Tiffin Girls from a very much not high performing primary but I don't suppose she showed up on the stats (if they even published them) as she turned it down in favour of an independent school that she liked better.

Also, unless you look at the different cohorts, it's not really a good guide to rely on results alone. What you need is how your child's specific cohort does, whether that is high/middle/low attaining or whatever. And it's instructive to look at the difference between these cohorts. For instance, the figures for Teddington are decent for all prior attainment. The figures for Hampton seem to be better for prior high attainers than any other group. From that I'd say Teddington is probably a better school than Hampton though I only know a very little about either. If all children are likely to be progressing and feel successful, I'm guessing that is more likely to be a happy environment.

Personally I would look at curriculum/ethos rather than results. And how the school feels when you look round.