Moving to Crystal Palace/Sydenham

[primaryschoolcp]

Hi, we are moving to Sydenham/Crystal Palace from more central London. I know the areas well but not the primary schools. We did not have long at all to move and need to apply for schools ASAP for reception 2026. Our closest options are -
Kelvin Grove
Dulwich Wood
Eliot Bank
Any info on any of these? Have managed to book viewings but would love first hand experiences. Happy to hear about any others locally but other than this 3 they all seem like quite a walk and I don't drive...

Where exactly are you moving to? CP and Sydenham is a HUGE area.

Moved out of the area a while back, but St Barts is always popular, similar area to Eliot Bank and Kelvin Grove. Lots of people I know love it. Tiny catchment these days, though, and depends on sibling numbers!

Eliot Bank is relatively popular and has a decent reputation. I know parents who like it there and their kids are doing well.

I don't know anyone who put Kelvin Grove as first choice. It's a large school with a lot of SEND, lot of children with English as an additional language,and diabolical parking. Most of the parents locally that I know opted for EB or St Barts instead.

In FH, I have a friend whose kid is at Horniman and very happy, but again it is a tiny catchment! Fairlawn (also FH) has an ok reputation (and no uniform!). You would be too far from Kilmorie or Dalmain to get into those two, which are both popular.

Mixed reviews on Adamsrill from people I know as well- some love it, some not so. Can't comment on the catholic one on Sydenham High St, St Michael's or Haseltine (all Sydenham)

Depending on where you live Dulwich Wood may not be one you can get in to if you're more towards Sydenham/Kirkdale.

It's worth joining the local mums/parents groups on Facebook as they are really helpful with info (look up Sydenham/Forest Hill/SE26/SE23/ East Dulwich mums/parents).

Crystal Palace I don't know much about, but I know a few people with kids at Paxton that are Ok with it.

I live in Dulwich (Southwark) not too far from the Forest Hill borders so Eliot Bank, Horniman and Fairlawn were on our list of primary schools to consider for our DS starting Sept 26.

I don’t have any direct experience of these schools. I’ve heard Eliot Bank is popular. I can only offer the info below in case you weren’t aware.

Admissions for Eliot Bank, Kelvin Grove and Dulwich Wood were oversubscribed last year. The furthest distance offered for entry to Dulwich Wood in September 2025 was 1012 m (Southwark admissions information ) and Eliot Bank was 1344.77m (Lewisham admissions information). The furthest offer distance for Kelvin Grove was around 4200m. All this information is available on the councils websites.

Good secondary school options in Lewisham are not as plentiful as primary school options so you might want to be consider secondary school education for the future in your selection. Dulwich Wood has a small number of priority places for admission to Kingsdale (check Kingsdale admissions criteria for further information) and I’ve heard that’s part of the reason why it’s popular. I suppose this criteria could change over the years and it is a really small number of pupils that will qualify so it would be a minor consideration? but that’s the current situation now.

Good luck with the school tours and your decision.

Agree with @Pastalover1, have a look at Eliot Bank and St Bart’s. St Bart’s takes a proportion of pupils based on faith unless things have changed. Most importantly, remember an application for a Reception place in September 2026 for a school in England MUST be submitted by Thursday 15th January to be an on-time application.

Apologies, it was @Kwamitiki who flagged St Bart’s.

Doesn't surprise me that St B's and EB were oversubscribed. The year before, you had to basically live on St B's doorstep, have a sibling or have a strong religious connection to get in. I know a fair few people who didn't get in as first choice that year.

@Pastalover1 has a point on secondary schools. Sydenham Girls is fine, but FH boys doesn't have a great reputation. I have friends planning to move so there is no chance of their boys going there.

Kingsdale is a bit of a lottery to get in to, and even then it seems a bit...marmite? Think there may also be the option of what was Cator Park girls (now a Harris school) towards the Beckenham borders. We also had a neighbour who went to Prendergast (in Ladywell) but not sure about that. Possibly Harris Boys in E Dulwich too.

For girls, there's also the private Sydenham High (reception to 18) on Westwood Hill if going private- I know a few who have opted for this for secondary. No idea where boys are sent privately (Dulwich, maybe?)! Don't really know much more than that. A lot of people move out of the area in the latter years of primary (we moved pre-Primary admissions)

Depending on exactly where you are, you might also have an additional Harris schools option- they are massively love/hate.

Thanks all. I'm just confused as where we will be the closest schools will be St Barts and Kelvin Grove (0.8 miles both but St Barts a slightly shorter walk) but even that seems to be too far based on what @Pastalover1 has said about distances and also what I've read online. We are by no means on St Barts doorstep even though its technically our closest, and we are not religious. Dulwich Wood and Eliot Bank are a bit further.

Depends which direction! I would say EB isn't really very far from St B (KG is in between them if you walk up the hill that is Kirkdale).

Would the walk to Dulwich Wood be down the side of the woods? Walking that would creep me out, be an absolute PITA in bad weather!

@primaryschoolcp you’ll be fine getting into KelvinGrove, it’s not over subscribed (we actually were allocated it as our school though it was our third preference last year, but moved to a slightly different area and got into a different school.) Worth looking at the difference between total applications and people who put schools as their first preference.

Our friends who lived much closer to St Bart’s than you didn’t get a place last year despite being 3rd on the waiting list so that would be unlikely I think. The Eliot Bank catchment definitely has got a bit bigger in the past two years - friends of ours got in on the waiting list and they’re waaaaaaay down towards Penge East station so don’t rule it out! The previous year everyone who put it as their first preference got a place, according to the head teacher on the tour we did. I really liked it! But we’re too far away since moving.

Just to pick up on the preference point, school admissions use an equal preference system - all applications are considered fairly against the published admissions criteria (the oversubscription criteria in the admissions policy, in this case for 26-27). If your child qualifies to be offered a place at a number of your preferences on the list, then you get offered your highest preference (for which you qualify). Then, if your child doesn’t get offered your first preference, you can join the waiting list or decide if you think you have grounds to appeal. I would name your genuine preferences in order as long as you have a few safe options on your list.

One final warning, check the Published Admissions Number has not reduced from previous years, I.e. if a school reduced its intake from 3FE (90) to 2FE (60) a child living further may have got in last year but you may not get in this year.

Do you know a bit more about the quality at DWP? I was a bit sceptical at the beginning as it's surrounded by a lot of council homes.