My son is in year seven there and I really like it so far. Strong discipline but still warm and seem to know and like the children. Quite old fashioned values which I like- anti smartphone, encouraging of extra curricular and outdoor activities and encouraging parents to let their kids work towards independence. We had a free choice of schools and went for this one out of some very good offerings.
My big son does not have any SEN, though and I think it might not be right for my very introverted littlie who has ADHD, although it does apparently have a fantastic SEN provision. It is early days but I am investigating Laurel Park in Enfield for him.
Depends on the type of SEN but my closest friends with SEN children have been really impressed with Parkview and Greig City (but the behaviour is not as good as APS).
I knew two people that worked at Heartlands and both said that it was not all it was cracked up to be and senior leadership talked the talk without walking the walk. Despite hearing from people on here that it is excellent for SEN, the headteacher was very keen to distance herself from that on the open day and I wonder if they are having the same issue APS did/has: such a great reputation for SEN they are struggling to meet need and so they were trying to distance themselves a bit.
My main driving factors for choosing APS were personal recommendations and liking the values as opposed to the open evening which is slightly hell on wheels as it is rammed (when we went there was monsoon like rain which thinned the herd a bit and I got to speak to some teachers one on one which was great). Open morning better as they leave you in the hands of the kids who are obviously completely unprepared (I.e. not told what to say) and left to show you what you want.
Completely suits me and my family and they clearly are able to work very successfully with SEN but they will not bend the rules for parents who think their children should be the exception (as opposed to genuine need). E.g. my son is adopted and has a dedicated member of staff who looks after all LAC and former LAC kids and form tutors have extra equipment and are on hand to help SEN kids who might struggle with forgetting and losing things. However, there is no point complaining if little Mollie is upset that she has a ten min lunchtime detention for being late to class and it is so terrible she might not have enough time for a leisurely lunch. It will fall on deaf ears. So if that is not your jam then there will be others that are a little less strict but not hugely- all schools in Haringey are strict to some degree as they are so big.
Do you have an EHCP so you can look at anywhere in borough? Or are you restricted by distance? Might help narrow down the options- I visited all Haringey secondaries other than Hornsey, Fortismere and St Thomas More when looking for our son.