Secondary Schools in/near Harrow?

[lovethecity]

I would be very grateful for any advice on secondary schools in Harrow and surrounding area.

My family is relocating from Somerset to London in the middle of next year. My daughter is in Year 6 at the moment and due to start secondary school in September. In addition to my concerns about her having to fit into a quite different area (coming from a quiet country town) I want to make a good choice regarding school/area to live.

I feel very daunted by the whole move and would really appreciate some advice from parents in that area.

Thank you in advance!

State or private?

State only please... Do you have any advice for choosing a school within a ca 5 mile radius. Rickmansworth has been mentioned to me before as well... Thanks!

Ours went private places like North London Collegiate. The second tier for parents who cannot pay would be to try schools like Watford Grammar which is a state comp in a sense despite its name and the Bucks grammars despite the distance. Then you move to third tier and I suppose then you try the religious side - Catholic, very good Jewish state schools and I think we even have Musilim (and now a Hindu primary) and then you will get 4th tier which will be general state comps some absoultely dreadful and a few not to bad.

YOu need a state school parent on here though to advice properly. YOu need to look at GCSE results. First tier better privates are 99% A or A* and worst comps are down to 34% A - C in GCSE.

Only know a few catholic ones St Joan of Arc Rickmansworth, Sacred Heart Girls School, Wealdstone and St Gregorys in Kenton, all of which will take from the Harrow area and I believe all have good results. Worth bearing in mind even if your not catholic as they do have to take a certain number of non catholics.

Harrow has some quite rough areas/schools. If she's in yr 6 already, you've left it a bit late, as all the decent schools will be full/v oversubscribed, surely?

The date in London for places allocation is 1 March - any places left you can then apply for. But as I said, you'd expect all the places at popular schools to be full already, and those with exams are already out of the question, as you'll have missed them.

I thought Nower Hill was supposed to be quite good?
And apparently Whitmore too?

I went to Bentley Wood in Stanmore, and I look back at my school days with fondness - we had horses at the bottom of the field, but that was a v long time ago.

Whereabouts in Harrow will you be?

Haydon isn't bad. It is in Northwood Hills but may take children from Harrow, Nower Hill is very good too.

We're in Brent - but that's nextdoor to Harrow so we looked at schools when my DD was applying for secondary - but we lived too far away to stand a chance of getting in - distance from school is one of main criteria - and you need to be pretty close (around 2 KM) of more popular schools. Suspect you may be too late for Watford Grammar as there is an entrance exam early on in the year before.

I think you would need to get onto the education ppl at Harrow council ASAP and see what choices you have at this stage. AFAIK applications go in the preceding October (ie already done for next year) and anything after that is treated as a "late application".

If you happen to be Jewish there is the JFS. That's in Brent too, but they bus kids in from all over North London. There is no question of getting in unless you are Jewish.

There is a catholic boys school in Wealdstone as well just across the road from Sacred Heart - Salvatorian.

Bently wood is now girls only [maybe always was TooTired?].

Think Bentley Wood has always been girls school, even when it was Herriot's Wood Grammar

Thanks for the above advice. I know we are very late to be moving to the area but life doesn't take too much notice of school admission timetables... ;) We just have to make the best out of a tricky situation.