Year 3 transfer from shit school to decent school

[Dexter77]

I have a massive problem regarding my 8 y/o’s school: she’s been attending an utterly terrible south London state primary for the past 4 years.
The school is dreadful and now rated “requires improvement”, and she needs to get out of there immediately, the damage that’s been done is already enormous both behaviourally and academically.

We have also just moved to another area, so she need to change schools anyway.
I have applied for in-year transfers to decent state schools in reasonable distance for months to no avail, they are all oversubscribed (in Islington and Camden, EC1 and surroundings). We are on a few waiting lists.

It is now late May and I’m panicking. We need a school place by September at the latest, and it needs to be a good school that can iron out some of the damage that’s been inflicted over the past few years and plug the massive gaps in her learning because of school closures during the pandemic.
I have even looked into private schools in our area, such as City School for Girls and their new Junior School, but we are too late for the admissions process for next September I think.
Where can I go from here? Are there any decent private schools in the Clerkenwell/Islington area or even Southwark that are worth the money and with a chance to be accepted for next September in either year 3 or 4? Or any undersubscribed good state schools? (Hahaha).

Losing my mind, it shouldn’t be this hard to obtain a school place that isn’t terrible, any advice greatly appreciated.

Is faith enough of an issue for you to want to avoid? If a school has spaces then oversubscription criteria don’t apply, so you could take the space regardless of faith.

@ConfusedaboutSchool

"Mayflower in Poplar, east London, boasts standard assessment tests (Sats) results that no independent prep school can beat"

How many independent preps still do SATS? Particularly the "top" ones?

A medically fragile child can have a hard time in any school, unfortunately. Do you have a specific reason why you want a specific school?

You have the makings of an argument here, but you will need to demonstrate why your preferred school can cater for your child’s needs better than the allocated school.

@EduCated faith schools are out of the question for us, yes, which dramatically narrows the choice, but we can’t fathom Jesus talk on a regular or even daily basis.

@Innocenta and @PanelChair yes, am aware we have to cite specific reasons why child needs to attend a certain school. I’m not going to divulge the entirety of our argument here, but we know pretty much exactly what the school needs to be like/be able to provide.
The question is currently more one of ‘which school is that’ than ‘what will we say in a possible appeal/application on medical and social grounds’.

There is only one state school in the area - and that’s already 25-30 mins away - I’m aware of that seems to be the sort of place we’re looking for. On waitlist obvs for this one, but we may appeal.

If anyone has any pointers re private schools in central London/King’s Cross/Angel/Clerkenwell/Farringdon/Holborn/Strand that’d be super useful, as we are preparing ourselves for the scenario of simply not being able to find a state school place that fits DD’s needs.

I've heard the Lyceum school in shoreditch is excellent if you're considering private - I know someone who transferred in yr 3 previously. Very musical and nurturing- good results for 11+

@user149799568 Guildford High School Junior School for one. However, even if you look back a few years ago when more did do SATs, it would still blow out the score of most top selective indies.

I can't comment on specific schools, OP, but my extensive experience of DC at private schools suggests that they can offer much more flexibility re admissions than state schools can (assuming it's not a school with a massive waiting list). In-year admissions are not uncommon, so an admissions enquiry for a child potentially starting at a standard point in the academic year (i.e. September) really wouldn't be an issue for most independent schools, regardless of their published deadlines.

Does your child have an EHC because that would certainly strengthen your case on getting a certain school. I appreciate you may not want to say what her needs are, but it maybe helpful because some private schools aren't always the best places for special education needs. So are better than others. Some just won't be interested at all sadly.

Is your move permanent ? Just asking because there are outer London areas with much better schools and still great transport links.

@Dexter77 have you spoken with any other private schools apart from City Junior and CLSG?

In the EC/Islington area, I can think of the following:

The Lyceum
St. Paul's Cathedral School
Charterhouse Square
The Gower School
Dallington School

I have personal experience of one of these schools and know parents who've had DC at most of the others. Happy to talk via dm if that would be helpful.

@Tamandua and @imasurvivor2 thanks for the tips, the Lyceum sounds great!
Have looked into Charterhouse, the Gower and Dallington - Dallington just had a bad Ofsted rating and haven't heard good things, reviews of Gower and Charterhouse are also quite 'meh', and for that they're very expensive. If anyone has more recent info on these that'd be v useful!

St Paul's primary is for boys only or am I mistaken?

I'd missed that. I'd very much highlight that CLGS is not a school for girls who are behind at all academically.

The girls are typically working well in advance of the national curriculum as its very academically selective school.

Given your current situation a mixed ability private school with a strong reputation for pastoral care would probably be a better option.

Dallington and Gower are very different schools, and in my experience quite marmite - either loved or loathed! Dallington I understand has not done so well since the death of the original headmistress a few years ago. Charterhouse has a bit of reputation for being academically hot-housey, but that might work for you if you're looking to make up gaps in your DD's education.

St. Paul's Cathedral is co-ed. I think that most of the girls and about half the boys leave at the end of Y6, the rest stay on until Y8.

It's definitely a mistake to assume that private schools are always going to be better at accommodating children with additional needs and/or a degree of medical fragility. That is not the case. (Of course I am not saying they never do! But many don't or can't.)

I fully understand not wanting a faith school, and it is something I would
want to avoid too, but with the current situation as bad as you describe I would seriously consider going to look around and get a feel for what they are like in practice. Not all faith schools are equal in terms of how prominent the religious aspects are (and there’s no such thing as a truly non-religious state school under current UK law/guidance).

@ConfusedaboutSchool yes, indeed re CLGS. My kid was top of the class pre pandemic, is generally v academic but has temporarily fallen behind due to school closures and disruption.

@Innocenta agreed! Which is why I was initially hoping to just find a decent state school but chances look increasingly slim due to oversubscription of these schools.

@EduCated Yes, I’m sure that’s true, and I know that many faith schools are very good. We really want to avoid faith schools (husband is categorically opposed) but I guess an exceptionally good one in close proximity may be preferable over a worse school that’s farther away.

@Tamandua Thank you, all very interesting and helpful!

@Dexter77 I really hope you get a place at a school that fits your DD's needs. It sounds like she's been through so much.

I live in EC1, have a kid in nursery at Charterhouse Square and moving to Hugh Myddleton for reception in the fall.

Have you looked at Moreland? It is chronically undersubscribed, but I think a much better school than people give it credit for. Both Charterhouse and SPCS were advertising availability a few months ago, something unheard of in years past.

Get yourself on the waitlist for some of the popular state schools (Myddleton, COLPAi, Christopher Hatton, possibly Prior Weston, but that's a bit of a stretch, Winton, etc.), call some of the private ones, have a terrible or faith one in your pocket for just in case and something is definitely going to work out by September.

How about St Clement Danes in Drury Lane? It’s C of E but not sure how “churchy.”

@psychopompos Yup, we are on wait lists for Myddleton, Tyndale, COLPAI and Christopher Hatton.

Don’t like Moreland judging from Ofsted report and other reviews, Prior Weston seems to have been good once but was rated as requiring improvement in a rather scathing Ofsted report recently. Winton looks v similar to the kind of school DD is currently at unfortunately. Currently exploring private options and yes, some of the faith schools, and hoping for a miracle, haha.

What do people think of Canonbury Primary?

I'd encourage you to make up your mind based on more than just ofsted reports, there's always the possibility that you'd really like the head's answer to the question: "why was your last ofsted report so bad?".

Forgot to mention Hanover, another decent state option, and certainly closer to EC1 than Tyndale and Cannonbury.

Agree with @psychopompos - or even better "what are you doing to address the issues raised in the last osfted?"

Schools with an outstanding ofsted can be complacently deteriorating as the structures of management that earned them that gold standard takes so much toll on staff morale that they suffer a recruitment crisis.