Catchment Areas - Bush Hill Park - Enfield

[Enfield77]

Hi There,

Quite a niche question but really hoping for some help. Local knowledge here would be much appreciated.

We're trying to buy a property in the above area. Based on Rightmove the the three closest primary schools are:
George Spicer Primary School
The Raglan Junior School
St Andrew CoF E Primary School

These three schools are equidistant to the house that we're interested in buying. The house is in EN2 and the schools are in EN2/EN1.

All three schools are rated as good by Ofsted and having read the Ofsted report they do seem generally good.
Our preference would be for the Raglan School but this is mainly because we are familiar with it (we live nearby) and like that it has a big playing field and the children all seem happy and well behaved and the parents we see outside seem polite and friendly to each other. I think its the smallest of the three which also appeals.

Anyway we don't have children yet and have no friends with children at the schools and so nobody to ask really.

Does anyone know much about these schools? Any knowledge of the process for deciding the catchment area? Any thoughts on the points that I raise above.

If all goes well with the house purchase we could be in the area 5 or 10 years/indefinitely so are trying to think everything through.

There is another house much closer to the Raglan school (but I understand that distance from the school doesn't necessarily dictate that a child would be accepted anyway?) than other schools but I think we may have been outbid.

EN1 and EN2 are both cheaper than other areas of north London but its still a big commitment so we're trying to plan ahead.

Any thought/suggestions/links to other pages much appreciated.

Thanks

Any thoughts on this?

Anyone with general tips about how catchment areas are worked out?

Thanks

I don't know about catchment areas as these change each year but I believe the 'last pupil to get in' was 0.597 miles away for Raglan and 0.777 miles away for George Spicer. This varies every year so best to keep an eye on the Council's website for this info for future years.

I'm looking for a school and like you, we're within those distances of Raglan and GS. No chance to visit but parents in the community describe George Spicer as 'beautiful', 'nurturing' and their progress results look encouraging. I like the fact that they're a rights respecting school and the allotments they have at the infant site. I believe the assistant head has been there for a long time and we got a good feeling from staff at a recent virtual Q&A. They're on two different sites as you may know which helps with the size. Raglan has like 930 (incl nursery) places so between the two I'd say it's the larger one but both are four form entry.

Raglan parents have described it to me as very strong on developing the whole child with lots of music, sports and arts. Their progress results are at national average or slightly above and their recent Ofsted reports (if you care about this) are encouraging. It certainly paints a picture of a happy school community.

I know nothing of St Andrews but it's the smallest of the three and many would-been George Spicer parents have opted for it because of the size.

For me, I've noticed George Spicer and Raglan don't have a strong MFL programme which is a shame but other than that I think they're both solid options. Worth checking the schools' admissions website where George Spicer has a virtual tour. Raglan has a helpful school prospectus and website. Hope that helps!

Raglan and Spicer admissions criteria are these - neither have any fixed catchment or priority zone so criteria e does not apply. so distance from school is the main driver if not a sibling, and maximum distance will change each year. (St Andrew's prioritises regular church worshippers, ).

Children in public care (looked after children) and children who were adopted (or subject to residence orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after. This does not include children who were adopted without having been previously looked after. Please see page 18;
b) Children for whom a particular school is appropriate on exceptional medical grounds
c) Children with a brother or sister who will be attending the school or linked junior school at the time of proposed admission. The children concerned must be living at the same address;
d) Children whose parent is a member of staff who has been employed at the school concerned for two or more years at the time of application and/ or children of a member of staff who has been recruited to fill a vacancy for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage;
e) Children genuinely resident within the school’s designated priority zone (for schools with an identified priority zone);
f) Children living nearest to the school measured as the crow flies, that is, in a straight line from the child’s home to the main entrance of the school. (Travel by private car or public transport is not taken into account).

Thanks to you both for your helpful replies.
The house we are interested in appears to be equidistant from the three schools but all three seem to be pretty good and so it is good to potentially have three different options.

Enfield77 - I'm not sure if you'll have come across this during your research but

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/freedom_of_information_request_p_555#incoming-1391660

This details a freedom of information request submitted which shows whether children were admitted based on location, and if they were, how far the furthest child lived.

Only George Spicer appears on your list here, but you might want to consider submitting your own Freedom of Information request rather than trying to navigate various tools and websites asking for money to view catchment areas - it's free of charge and they have to provide an answer.

It appears that over the past 5 years up to 2019, George Spicer was full using other more essential criteria for admission in 2017 and 2018 and that no one was admitted based on location. Most recently in 2019 the furthest distance was 0.589 miles away.

Guess it's the luck of the draw, although George Spicer appear to have grown their reception intake gradually up to 2018 with a new building so it might be that 2017 and 2018 don't show a true reflection of the current situation and that 2019 is more accurate.

KRs

Thanks again to you all for this helpful information.

It would appear that it isn't possible to predict how the catchment areas will change but the closest three school geographically all seem pretty good. We've decided to go ahead and buy the house and so will just have to wait and see at the time which school we get.