Where is a strategic place to move to in south London for secondary options

If a child is a sporty type then definitely Teddington with its amazing sport facilities and extracircular clubs will be a much better choice. Also for the kids who love drama and music. They have theatre and music bands there. But for a typical nerd not into sports TKA may be a better choice.

Some of the points in general - Didn’t like the feel of the school. The head teacher was a complete ball buster - I’m sure she gets good results but we didn’t warm to her at all. Limited outside space ant breaks and poor sport facilities. Surrounded by concrete. The school itself is compact so they have corridors through classrooms which isn’t ideal. People believe it’s going to be a north Kingston bubble with well behaved “middle class” kids but in reality it isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great school but these are some of the smaller points when deciding between very good schools. We know parents of kids there and they love it. And equally we know lots of parents Teddington who also love it. We are lucky to have these schools close by.

@Turquoiseturtle3

We know a lot of people who loved TKA on paper but in reality were put off.

Why is that? Did they provide any specifics? TKA has certainly better GCSE results and is more cosy than a very large Teddington school. Teddington school has certainly good facilities but they come up with strange ideas at times e.g. only 15 min to go to toilet during the school day. 🤦🏼‍♀️This way they wanted to control the damage to the toilets.😄 Parents opposed and now it is back to normal 😀

Forgot to attach it. Expand the image to see Waldergrave etc

I am afraid you are not correct. Here is screenshot of 2024 patterns of admissions. Nothern Strawberry Hill is in Orlean Park Catchment and Southern is in Waldergrave catchment.
Also you are in Teddington catchment.
And this is only the list from National Offer Day. Not yet including the results from waiting list. Waldergrave shows a lot of movement this year as already several kids from our class have got an offer as a result of waiting list.
Turing is simply a popular choice because they had the best GCSE results in the borough.

... and Waldegrave for girls of course.

The linked primary school system was dropped about 10-12 years ago. Before that, Trafalgar kids had an admission policy link to Teddington (which was considered better than Orleans Park back then). After it was dropped, more Trafalgar kids went to Orleans Park. But now, the Orleans Park catchment has shrunk so much, Trafalgar kids are mostly split between Turing House, Richmond upon Thames School, Twickenham School and Teddington School.

I didn’t know that about Trafalgar. My son went to infants there for a while before we moved and most of the kids went to Orleans Park from there but I guess the catchment has gotten smaller over the years.

From Twickenham Green it's 17 minutes by public transport and 10 minutes by safe cycle route. That's closer than Teddington school, which is where Trafalgar children used to go under the linked primary school admissions system before it was dropped.

Turing House is a good school but no where near Strawberry Hill. I think it’s very unfair that you are forced to send your child across the borough just because they couldn’t find a suitable site within the catchment area they were meant to be providing for

Is it?! I live in and love Strawberry Hill and i really don’t think so.

If you have a daughter, you need to study the Waldegrave catchment really carefully. We’re over by SH House and most years we would be outside their primary catchment (Area A). Boys and not-Waldegrave-girls are only in catchment for Turing House, which is a bus ride from Stanley Road unless Catholic enough for St RR. All but one of the 10 or so secondary-aged children on our street goes to Turing House.

For Richmond schools the ultimate place is Strawberry Hill.

@LDNmeetsSurrey where did you go for in the end?

For balance in the Kingston discussion, we are really happy with Teddington. After visiting the school and doing a LOT of research/speaking to locals with first hand experience, we decided to put TKA below Teddington, despite being in catchment for TKA. It’s interesting how some people can love a school and others not. We know a lot of people who loved TKA on paper but in reality were put off. Likewise we know others who were willing to move a few hundred metres to guarantee their place there. Open days are really helpful and might be worth going to later in the year to help with your choice. No school is perfect. We loved Grey court but were just out of catchment. They have just had an ofsted so that may help shed some light. But again, you need to be within 2.7km walking distance to get in there.

>atmosphere seems great and the kids I know who go there are happy, safe and thriving.

What about the bullying? How do they deal with bullying?
There is only one thing which I don't like in Turing and that is the fact that they don't offer wider range of languages. Only Spanish

I wouldn't call a school with 60% with 5+ and a good progress school just ok though but you can disagree. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Here the OP has a choice of schools that have measure at 75% + and those that are not grammars e.g. Holly Cross and few other schools

I live between Teddington and Turing House schools and there's no world in which I'd send my child to Teddington at the moment. It has a fairly blessed catchment and yet seems unable to get on top of behaviour. I went to a comp in a northern mill town in the early 1990s, so I am not naive or sheltered, but the behaviour I see around the school and at bus stops etc is absolutely atrocious.

As a cohort, the Turing House intake is much more mixed but the atmosphere seems great and the kids I know who go there are happy, safe and thriving.

Yes for the third time I said the Catholic schools are the best, they are some of the best in London probably.

My point was Tolworth & Hollyfield are not the only schools or the closest ones...

I wouldn't call a school with 60% with 5+ and a good progress school just ok though but you can disagree. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do you mean Tolworth girls when you say Toolworth?

yes

>People I know from New Malden always went to the Coombe schools

The GCSE results for Hollyfield and Coombe are similar and GCSE at 5+ are in a region of 57-60% It is not amazing just ok and there are schools with better results e.g those catholic there

also not always

@RedFluffyPanda I already said the Catholic schools near New Malden were the best. Do you mean Tolworth girls when you say Toolworth? I've not heard anything bad about there but it's in Surbiton. People I know from New Malden always went to the Coombe schools

You mentioned New Malden- yes? Holyfields and Toolworth schools are exactly catchment for New Malden area. If somebody lives in New Malden, the best option is to become a catholic ( Holly Cross and R Challoner) as there are not many other good schools that they have a choice of unless they are incredibly talented and will surpass 16 candidates in the race to Tiffin or Sutton Grammars.

Or would need to live just in Kingston to get to Kingston Academy or Greycourt
And if it is a girl that is the best option for Tiffin Inner Circle catchment. If not then in Richmond are good schools and still in catchment for Tiffin and some get to Sutton schools too with the pain of commuting there.

I mean 2022 results.

@LDNmeetsSurrey One thing to definitely do (because lots of people have outdated info) is look at every school you are interested in admissions policy.

@RedFluffyPanda You’re confusing me. WP is in Sutton so why would a dc there go to Chessington? Where is Hollyfield? There is a specific catchment thing for the two schools I mentioned with regards to WP so you don’t need to live next to them…