I'm not a teacher, but I agree. My kids went to our local secondary. When DD1 was born, it was a hellhole. They found a new head who really wanted to turn things around and she did - not by going all Michaela, but by using a lot of common sense. By the time my DD1 was of secondary age, it was a good school. Not elite, but solid.
My crappy little town in Suffolk has pockets of incredible almost Jaywick level deprivation. It also has nice areas. That is reflected in the student population. If you want to work hard and do well, the school facilitates that. It doesn't make assumptions about people based on their home address. We had a girl from DD1's year living with us for the last year of GCSEs because her parents were evicted and she would not have been able to do the subjects she had worked so hard for in the new school. She was the first in her family to ever get any GCSEs and she got 8.
The school runs support classes in GCSE year for all levels, from those who will struggle to pass anything at all to those who are sitting at a 6 but have the potential for 8 - 9. The teachers put their hearts into it. If you want to do well, the offer is there.
But it's not leafy. It's just a state school doing its job. It will never be rated outstanding because a chunk of its student population come from families who do not value education. You have to look past the surface stuff.