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Original poster

Little Heath School, Potters Bar, Herts

16 replies

potteringaround · 27/09/2011 14:43

I'm hoping that there are some Potters Bar mums lurking on Mumsnet and, despite this being a small, one-form entry school, that they might have children, or know children, at this school.

We are moving to the area and wanted to find out more about the school as we cant visit it until much later in the term. It is rated 'good with outstanding features' by Ofsted (for what its worth Hmm), but its KS2 results are really not that great considering it is such a small school (one-form entry schools are like gold dust here in London).

Anyone know it? Any other good schools in the vicinity that I might have missed?

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Original poster
potteringaround · 27/09/2011 19:33

bumping for the evening crowd, although how on earth do I get a Potters Bar Mum to spot this?!

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bodiddly · 27/09/2011 20:20

well I spotted it! Little Heath was my second choice school and I liked the look of it when I looked around a few years ago. However, I was slightly concerned at the time as they were looking at a change of Head and you never know how things are going to pan out when that happens!

Original poster
potteringaround · 27/09/2011 21:12

Thanks for responding bodiddly! I hadn't clocked that the head had changed from either the website, or Ofsted report. Will dig a bit deeper...

What was your first choice school, if you don't mind me asking?

OP posts:
bodiddly · 27/09/2011 21:22

I may have it wrong .. I did spend some time chatting to the acting head at the time but I am pretty sure he said he was only there for 6 months or a year. I think it is meant to be a pretty good school and although I wanted Wroxham I wouldn't have been too gutted to go there.

My first choice was Wroxham. Do you know whereabouts you will be living?

Original poster
potteringaround · 27/09/2011 22:41

Yes you are right as there is now a headmistress!

I've not come across Wroxham much in my research but now I've gone back over it, I can see that it is indeed a fantastic school - can't believe I missed it.

On the Hertsmere website, there is very little info about allocation of places this year (i.e.distances). Apparently it is an 'admitting authority school'. What does that mean as it does look like a church school?

We will be in Billy Lows Lane. I'm sure you will now tell me that will rule us out.....

OP posts:
bodiddly · 27/09/2011 22:48

I am hopeless at road names tho recognise that one. Whereabouts in pb is it?

bodiddly · 27/09/2011 22:53

I just had a quick look and I'd be amazed if you stood a chance with Wroxham to be honest. I think the catchment is usually a couple of roads as it's single class entry and notoriously hard to get in to.. Little Heath is probably far more likely!

Original poster
potteringaround · 27/09/2011 22:54

Apparently applications must be received by the school (rather than Hertsmere) by Autumn half term?? Curiouser and curiouser....

Help! But will call the school tomorrow

OP posts:
bodiddly · 27/09/2011 22:56

There is a web site that enables you to work out your chances of getting in to various schools purely based on the previous year's criteria. It's free and someone on here recommended it a few years back. It may be worth googling to see whether you can track it down.

bodiddly · 27/09/2011 23:04

It totally depends what type of school you are looking for. Wroxham is a "learning through play" school which is v non competitive. There is no streaming or grading as such even in the higher years - quite a different teaching style seems to be employed - the emphasis is on a feeling of friendship and family with no bullying issues that I've ever come across. The children seem genuinely happy. I'm embarrassed to say I have no idea what their results are like compared to cranborne or st Giles etc but the ofsted seems excellent which is what won me over. It is a very inclusive, understanding school for people of all abilities, special needs etc. and I always knew I would be putting in a lot of work at home to back up wherever my child went. I guess I was looking at the "outstanding" across the board from ofsted more than results.

Original poster
potteringaround · 29/09/2011 12:21

I love the look and the ethos of the school. I am very keen on the idea of focus on the development of a lifelong love of learning as well as 'life skills' through broader-than-typical experiences at school. Although high academic standards are important to me, I am not at all keen on the current SATS obsession that pervades. Wroxham's take on these things are refreshing. However, I always believed streaming to be a good thing so am very interested in their arguments in relation to this teaching style.

We are in a position where we could rent next year, not in any way to defraud the system, but because we aren't yet living in the area and because any house we buy is likely to need to a lot of work and we have already considered renting while we do this to avoid living on a building site.

Spoke to the school yesterday, and the catchment is small and has been between a 500m and an 800m radius in the last two years.

Thanks for your helpful responses bodiddly!

OP posts:
Keiraneve · 17/10/2011 08:30

Hello. I am a Potters Bar Mum and a Little Heath Mum. I have 2 girls at Little heath and one to join in September next year.
Yes we did change our head last year. Our new head is great. My girls love the school, its teachers and its surroundings. The catchment for the school can be quite small but that depends upon the birth rate that year.
You have to in practise apply twice to Hertsmere and the school have there own form to completed. My eldest is now in yr 5 and to be honest we have not had any problems. Hope this helps.

Original poster
potteringaround · 27/10/2011 20:41

Hi Keiraneve - thanks for responding. Only just spotted your post! Looking at the stats, we would have been in catchment last year so fingers crossed for 2012. Any idea whether or not there are a high number of siblings expected next year?

Re Head, have to admit that I read her online blog (great idea) and she used zero punctuation which I found off-putting!

Thanks again for telling me about your experiences with the school. We have a tour booked next week.

OP posts:
Kingmeister · 04/12/2011 20:33

Hi Keiraneve & Potteringaround,

Just spotted the trail above...we've just moved to Littleheath and are now worried about the recent Ofsted report which has been downgraded from good to satisfactory. I'm not an expert on these things but I don't think the report reads well, with areas for improvement being pupils writing skills and frequency of work being marked....hmm. What's your view on this? We've got a year to go before applications but have already started worrying!! Do we need to move again?!!! What did you think of the tour? Where have you decided to apply?

Original poster
potteringaround · 05/12/2011 10:38

Hi Kingmeister - spotted your post purely by chance! Won't have a chance to respond properly until later today, but wanted to let you know I saw your message

OP posts:
Lizandherkids · 03/02/2022 17:29

Hello! We are looking at moving to Potters Bar / Brookmans and looking at primaries, any advice?

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