Tufnell Park Primary Schools

[taniadougs]

Hi there mums!

We are moving to Tufnell Park and I am told that we are in the catchment area for firstly Yerbury and then Tufnell Park Primary School. I do not know much about either school, so was hoping to get a feel for them on this thread in respect of general atmosphere, teaching etc Is it general a happy place for the kids to be? Also, not sure what the situation would like for In Year applications? I know both are meant to be great schools.

Also, which secondary schools are around there (Private and State).

Thanks in advance.

Tania

Yerbury is what is usually referred to as a "sought after school" which means that people will on occasion be influenced in property purchase decisions by being able to get in to it. The longstanding head retired last year, having given the Governors enough notice to make sure that they could appoint a replacement in an orderly fashion.

The largest single destination school from Yerbury is Acland Burghley.

Yerbury is definitely considered the better of the two. Lots of liberal middle class types. Have no personal experience of it but was bought up close by.

Thanks. It just feels very stressful moving there with such uncertainty about which school you get.

Tania

Did you check the last distance offered stats in the borough's primary school booklet? Just checking as estate agents often say a property is in a 'catchment' yet if it's a sought after school that's not always the case. Worth double-checking or calling the school office, some can be very helpful.

Yerbury has traditionally been the more 'sought-after' school, the kind that people sell their grandmother to get into.

But the catchment area has become ridiculously tiny, and combined with the long-serving head leaving and the improvements in other schools in the area, Yerbury is definitely no longer seen as the only game in town. I hear lots of positive things about Tufnell Park primary - it's a much more representative, normal intake than Yerbury, and seems to be going great guns.

It's a mistake to get obsessed with one 'destination' school and assume that all other local schools are no good - often they are just as good but without the hype.

Absolutely right, GregorSamsa. Moreover a school which is right for one child, may not be right for another.

Hi

Thanks Pink Delight. Yes I did check and the catchment looks right. Not really too concerned about which one they get out of the two schools. Main thing is that my kids are happy and the school is local (walking distance) and not too far away.

Thanks for sharing comments.

So if the primary schools are good then does that translate on to the secondary schools? Which secondary schools are the kids likely to go on to within that area?

Hi Yerbury and Tufnell Park are both very good schools with very good teachers.

The old head of Yerbury was very old fashioned in many ways and the new head has been trying to bring many of the practices up to date. As with any change of management it lead to some people reassessing whether it was time to move on. Some excellent members of the management team have remained and some very good new staff have been recruited.

If you are wealthy and like an upper middle class monoculture, with a small number of people from other cultures/classes thrown in for novelty value, Yerbury will fit the bill.

Tufnell Park is more mixed (ethnically and socially) and much more representative of the local community and some people have found it all the better for it.

Many of the children from Yerbury (aided by extensive tuition from around year 3) go to selective and/or private schools around London or the family rent or move to Kentish Town to get into Camden School for Girls or Muswell Hill to get into Fortismere (usually around year 6). Most of the children who go to the local secondary schools are the working class ones (very few of the lower/middle middle classes remain in Yerbury) with a few exceptions to prove the rule.

The listing of which schools pupils go to is slightly skewed as a few Yerbury parents, each year, move away (to aid access to 'better schools') or move their children to private schools in advance or year 7.

Acland Burghley is the most obvious local school, but TP is also in catchment for Parliament Hill (girls) and William Ellis (boys).

Hi there

I was wondering if anyone has any experience of Hargrave Primary School or Duncombe? I am making in year applications for local Tufnell Park and would appreciate a general view of the local reputation of these schools? I have been on the websites and they both look nice. Which others should I consider? I already have Yerbury/TP/Grafton listed.

How likely am I to get into Yerbury for Reception and Yr3 - is it a mission impossible??

Many thanks
Tania

We had a place at Hargrave Park and would have taken it but a very local place came up. I was very impressed when looking around the school, although this was prior to the recent building work. I know people with DC at the school who say they are very happy with it.

I know Yerbury is seen as the be all and end all, but I don't see why. Considering some of its teachers are now at Tufnell Park- I think the deputy moved there.

Grafton seems to be the school of the moment, maybe more so than Yerbury, as it's more like a London School, mixed, rather than mc?

I think you would be fine with any of the schools you mentioned. I certainly know parents who are very happy with TP.

Local parents worry most about not getting into any of those schools, and having to commute long distances to less well thought of schools. Have you schools you can get your children to, if local schools don't come up? Or are their current schools too far away?

Hi!!

Thanks for your reply. It was really helpful as I am trying to research these schools as much as possible in case we get lucky. I have heard good things about a lot of the ones I mentioned but have not heard much about Hargrave or Duncombe. Do places come up more for these schools rather then the sought after ones?

Yes, we plan to keep them in their current one which will be abit of a commute until we get offered a local school in Tufnell Park. I am just not sure how much movement we can expect for Reception and Yr 3 spaces in the sought after schools, so the uncertainty of when we will get a place is unsettling for us all. I really don't want have to take up a school that is further away from our new house and then have to move them again if we get a nearer one in a few months.

Thanks so much. I have my fingers crossed.

Tania

I think it's more likely that a school place will come up further up the school when people move to be nearer secondary, or just leave London. For most schools you will get one child in, then the other will go to the top of the waiting list as sibling priority.

I think most of those schools have 45 or 60 intake, so you've got a better chance of getting in than with an intake of 30.

I don't think HP is sought after but it doesn't mean its a bad school, just not a celeb school ;). I have heard lots of good things about Duncomb too. I thought that was quite sort after?

Good luck and join the Tufnell Park Parents Support Group, they have a website and it's a handy source of info for the incomer.

I would have been happy for my child to go to any of those schools, but we aren't in the right area.

Oh thank you so much!! You have been such a great help!! I will definitely join that support group. It is good to know that they are all good schools. Puts my mind at rest.

Txx

Hargrave is 1 form entry, though I think they have had a bulge class at some point. But probably less movement overall, though it is not regarded as a fashionable 'destination' school, so there probably won't be eleventy-million people waiting for every place as there might be at some of the schools you're after. The people I know with kids at Hargrave are happy with it overall, if that helps.

Duncombe is also not regarded as a fashionable choice, presumably because it has a very mixed intake, so is never going to be sought-after in the way that Yerbury is. But then again you may view that as a plus... It is a bit away from the other schools you're looking at, distance-wise, so might be quite a hike if you're living in Tufnell Park proper?

There are other schools in the vicinity of Grafton, eg. Montem, Pakeman etc if you're really stuck for options. Brookfield in Camden is the other option in the very north of N19/NW5, depending on exactly where you're living, or Brecknock and Hungerford schools if you're over the N7 side.

Wrt religious schools, St Johns' UPper Holloway and St Joseph's do have spaces further up the school and will take people not from that religious background.

Thanks. It's really helpful to have some advice from someone with local knowledge. I will do some more research and make my mind up. All the schools look pretty good to me. For us it's more about keeping it local enough for us to walk and that the kids are happy and safe.

Thanks for all your time and response.
Tania