North or Central London state secondary schools or not too pricey private???

[CocoPopz]

Sorry sure this has been asked before but my search came up with threads from 2004!

I understand things can change, but can anyone suggest any decent state secondary schools in London? We have 2 boys (8 & 6) and starting to think about secondary schools and if we should look to move to the suburbs (reluctantly) or move further out of zone2 where we currently are? We would definitely consider boys only schools if there is such but mixed totally fine.

Also, is there a good time to ever move your children out of primary school?

TIA

Graveney in Furzedown (Wandsworth borough) has just got an 'outstanding in its latest OFSTED - is that central enough for you?

You're looking at a minimum of £12,000 a year for private secondaries in London and most will be more like £14,000+. If you were paying any less I'd be wondering why, unless its a GDST school, which obviously won't be relevant to you with boys!!

thanks generalhaig we prefer to stay north of the river

we lived in SW19 for all of 6 weeks when I was pregnant with DS1, the commute was a killer!

£14k x 6 years x 2 kids plus all the rest GULP!!

Depends on whether you want selective or non-selective, and whether you're after formal or more laid back. The selective schools that people go nuts over (and read the 11+ chat forum if you want to see exactly how nuts) are Dame Alice Owens in Potters Bar, Queen Elizabeth Boys in Barnet and Latymer in Enfield. All fiercely selective, people tutor and prep for years to get their dc in

Of the non-selective schools Fortismere in Muswell Hill is the honeypot school that everyone wants to get into (mixed liberal arty academic comp) but you have to live on the doorstep, and the tiny catchment area consists mainly of houses in the £1M + bracket.

Otherwise (in no particular order)
Mossbourne in Hackney (also v tight catchment)
Acland Burghley in Tufnell Park
Stoke Newington School
Highgate Wood School

Some of those schools won't be to everyone's taste, and all are quite urban both in terms of location and intake. Also schools change v. quickly, so you can't always go on a school's current reputation or playground gossip. What school to kids from your dc's present primary school move on to?

Central Foundation near the City is very good, non-selective but better results than Acland, Stoke Newington or Highgate Wood. Quite cheap ex-council flats in the catchment area and close to Old Street tube.

Fortismere is the one to aim for round here but catchment is tiny - .28 of a mile or summat? don't quote me. but there are rumours that a lot of parents rent to get in. someone told me it's high in the list of top state schools in the country.

highgate wood geting better - and catchment shrinking as it does so.

that's the opinion around us - N8. hth.

Hmm, the only thing I know about Central Foundation is that all the people I know in schools that could have fed into CF sent their boys elsewhere. The comps that I listed above have a nice buzzy mix of very middle class families with kids off the local council estates. League tables can be a bit red-herring, I think, as some schools bump them up by doing GNVQs and other less-challenging exams that count as several GCSEs (no idea whether CFS do this, but some schools certainly do.

The other boys' school that people do jump through hoops to get their boys into is London Nautical School, but I don't know much about it. There are far more good options for girls than for boys in central London, sadly. Some of the other new academies in Hackney are worth considering (Petchey and Bridge, which are both trying to replicate the Mossbourne success story) and also St Mary Magdalene in Islington. Haggerston is now co-ed and shares a principal with Mossbourne (or something).

I'd be happy with any of those schools, really, and know lots of other people who would be too. But I suspect parents who are also considering private schools would run a mile from any of them. Horses for courses.

Our boy is at Central Foundation and is thriving there. He's on course to do 11 GCSEs, but there is the option of vocational courses for those in the bottom sets. I like the multi-cultural feel but I know that some local parents chose not to send their boys there basically because 'there are too many black boys from the local estates' .

Sounds familiar, notevergoing. I can think of at least one other islington boys school which is good (used to be atrocious but definitely not the case any more) but parents send their sons elsewhere stating the same thing.

On the other hand, I've heard parents use the intake at the best boys school in London (QE Boys) as a reason not to apply. But that could be seen as an excuse simply to hide the fact that their sons wouldnt get in anyway .

Surely it is impossible to ask strangers about the best place to send your child to school as the ethos of any secondary school is so subjective to different parents/carers.
Mossbourne has been cited above as a good school with other schools in the area endeavouring to 'copy' its success.
I personally wouldn't let my dtr step through its front door. She doesn't need to be brought into line with a bootcamp mentality to succeed. Friends I know with children at the school think it is fantastic, other friends with children at Stoke Newington think that their school is fantastic also - both schools are wildly different.

I think what defines a 'good' school is what is important to you and what your children are like.

It depends whereabouts in central London you are - which borough? We used to live close to Victoria but made the decision to move out, mostly due to lack of affordable properties that were bigger than a shoe box. Friends who still live there are looking at the grammar schools in Kent - if you think that some central London kids have to travel across London by tube/bus then a 30min train ride out of London to a kent secondary seems fairly do-able.

Stoke Newington School is definitely worth considering, and the new OFSTED which just came out this month agrees:

www.sns.hackney.sch.uk/

We are moving from Rome where our son (ten years old in November 2011) goes to international school. We are American and need some advice about good state secondary schools and private schools in the Fulham or Chelsea area. We have heard Chelsea Academy is good. We are willing to move to wherever we need to be within this area. Our DS is bright but not studious, plays the violin and speaks three languages. He is more arty than sporty. We'd like a school where he will feel included and confident. We are also wondering about how to manage the 11+ exams. He is in grade four not grade five in Rome and we'd like to put him in year five this coming September so he has some time to get settled and then get ready for exams. We would appreciate any help. Thank you!

MMommy, Chelsea Academy is a state comprehensive school and you do not do the 11 plus exam. Admission depends on whether you are Church of England and regularly attend church or if you live very close and attend a primary school in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. In this area of London there are no selective state schools but each school has their own admissions criteria. The Fulham area comes under Hammersmith and Fulham council. If you google both area councils you can find the schools' admissions information and criteria for admission for the past year. Applications are normally made for state secondary schools for September admission by 31 October the preceding year via your local council - you can apply for up to 6 state schools anywhere. In general parents in the area who are affluent, do not use the state schools althought there are exceptions!

The private schools run their own admissions and many are academically selective and do an 11 plus exam. The admissions period is roughly the same as the state schools. I don't know of many co-ed or boys' schools in the area as I have girls, but you might want to look at Latymer Upper School, a co-ed in Hammersmith - I know a couple of boys who go there and they are very happy with it. I also know boys at Emanuel in Battersea near Clapham Junction fairly close to Fulham, which is also co-ed, they are quite musical and arty and they seem to enjoy it. I am sure other parents will post with suggestions.

Forgot to mention that if he is 11 in November 2012 he will be in year 6 not 5. I don't think there is any advantage to joining a primary school in a younger age group and from what I can gather secondary schools do not like accepting students in the "wrong" age group unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Thanks very much kensingtonia, that was very helpful. I am trying to get my head around the system. DS is in an excellent private IB school now so not sure how it would work if he goes ahead one year - a bit worried about that.
We will definitely check out those two private schools as well but are both working for the UN so not affluent. However we do want an international atmosphere and would sacrifice for that. What about the international schools like Southbank? We'd like to keep up the languages if possible. Most of all, we don't want to have to travel far and we want him to be happy and like going to school. He is very um, determined and won't do well if pushed too hard.