I'm not including faith schools in this as we don't have a religion so they weren't an option for us. Also, most of the schools are oversubscribed so distance does often come into play, so it may come down to whereabouts in Hornchurch you are.
Unfortunately the latest government school data was delayed when I had to make my choices... I would have chosen differently if I'd had the latest information.
Harris Academy in Rainham is currently the 3rd highest achieving school in the borough. I would have gone with this school had I seen the results of the school I did choose, Abbs Cross and I'll possibly look to changing him if possible. Harris do push their students quite hard though. They now have a sixth form, which also might be a benefit. I wasn't keen on the fact they're part of such a large academy, but the current head is good and has really brought the school up to scratch.
I chose Abbs as it's closer for us. My son is more sporty than academic so their sports facilities, including pool, impressed me more. The school has really good drama/dance facilities if this is a factor. They are however the only school I think that are forced to take RE as a GCSE option, which I wasn't keen on. They have a construction course which I also thought may benefit my son. The current head is proven and brought the school up as was under special measures when she joined, I think about 8 years ago. Their results however have dropped in the last academic year. Whether this is a blip due to covid remains to be seen! The head did say they are the only school in the borough where every teacher is a specialist in their subject though.
My closest school is Brittons. It's never been a high achieving school and is 1 of the few schools that never fills all it's places. They had a really great head up until last June when he retired, he was actually head hunted to improve the school. He made a good start but now the lady who has taken over although she has been at the school for a few years, has not been a head before and it put me off a bit. I did like the school when I visited though but it's very dated. Apart from the astro pitches they have little in the way of sports equipment and are not a particularly competitive school. Apparently they are being granted a lot of money from their academy to start bringing the school up to date. My heart said Brittons but unfortunately my head wouldn't let me choose it!
Sanders is similar to Brittons results wise. I didn't visit it as it's more tricky to get to for us and if I were to choose a lower performing school I'd have gone with the one on our doorstep. Apparently it has a lovely feel to it though, it's a smaller school so less overwhelming.
Gaynes in Upminster is a strange one. It's been getting good results for a while now but has remained about half full. I believe this was as it performed terribly for many years and hasn't got rid of it's reputation. Also it's in a similar catchment to Hall Mead so I'm guessing it's second choice for most. I heard good things from it's open day but I didn't visit as it's a 2 bus journey. I did put it on our list though. Apparently it has a private school feel as the class sizes are so small.
Hornchurch High used to have a terrible reputation, so bad in fact that they had a special ofsted inspection due to the behaviour of their students. They brought a new head in, she was previously the deputy at Riverside in Barking which is a really high achieving school. However, she is extremely strict and the students have to walk around between classes in silence (as they do at Riverside) and I don't agree with that. I watched a video on their website and they looked like drugged up zombies so put me right off! They have great sports facilities though and their results have improved dramatically.
Those are realistically all the schools available if in Elm Park side of Hornchurch.
Hope that helps and feel free to ask on here or PM if you have any questions. And sorry to anybody I have bored with this ridiculously long post!