New to the area exchanged today and applying for schools today! Help please x

[M1mof2]

Hi all - feeling very stressed - would someone give me a helping hand - we have just exchanged contracts for our house in Twickenham - my dd is 14, does well at school and is sporty - I am today applying for schools but not sure that I will actually get her into any. Choices so far (have not had the chance to visit any as we have moved right across the country) are Orleans, Waldegrave, Grey, Christ’s, Turing, Teddington. Not sure at this stage if we will have any luck getting in . Could someone also give me an honest view on Twickenham Academy and Hampton High please which seem to be the only 2 schools available. Many thanks for any helpx

Hello, so your daughter is going into Year 10? Traditionally HA and TA are less popular, they have not performed as well as the other schools in the borough, but both have new heads and are putting in measures to try and improve. As you live in Twick it would seem more sensible to go for TA just for ease of access. If I were you I would rank them in order of what you actually want, but look at distance from your house too. There is lots of movement in and out of the borough, so it really is quite likely that a space may turn up, and depending on how near you live to the various schools you may jump to the top of the queue. Waldegrave is the one that is least likely to shift (I think) but Orleans may be nearer to you, and is a very good school too. It does all depend a bit on exactly where you live.

Good luck with your move - I hope it all works out...it is so stressful. I don't know much about TA or HH, other than TA is improving and had a good ofsted recently - it's sounds like it's definitely on the up and up. Greycourt and Orleans I believe are excellent, know people with children at both. Greycourt particularly I've only heard good reports about - for all abiities. I know Turing personally and recommend it - but your daughter will be in temporary site in Teddington until GCSEs. It's untested in terms of exam results, but teaching is mostly good, leadership and behaviour excellent. It's a friendly, inclusive and un-cliquey school (in my experience). She will be in the oldest year in the school which and they will focus on getting good results from that year. Sports facilities are lacking on site, but they do well to compensate with this and my son does far more sport there and play in teams, whcih didn't happen at his previous bigger, better equipped local secondary school. Waldegrave is I'm sure excellent, if you're OK with single sex - but probably unlikely a place will come up. All these schools will have started some GCSE curriculum teaching in Y9. FYI Turing only offers Spanish MFL GCSE and may have a more limited range of subject options for your daughter.

Thank you for the very kind replies to both of you :)

morning lovely ladies of mn - could I ask advice from one mom to another - would you select Twickenham Academy or Hampton High if those were the only choices available to you? Many thanks x

Depends which is your closest. Twickenham has been getting intensive support and has had stable leadership for longer, and it has been more recently inspected so is more of a known quantity. The previous inspection was terrible though, and their pupil numbers went way down on the back of it, so their finances must be suffering on the back of that.

Are all the other schools full? There's usually waiting list movement well into September.