moving to south london

[barb12]

hi im moving to south london this summer and need to find secondary places for my sons who will be going into years 7 and 10. the eldest is on the gifted and talented register, the youngest has mild dyspraxia. lambeth education authority has told me i will not be able to apply for school places until the start of the new academic year, any schools that look good have been massively oversubscribed......i dont think my 14yr old would cope in a "rough" school (hes very quiet and small for his age, and im worried also about the youngest falling into the wrong crowd. ive been told they may face a long wait, so im considering home schooling for a while at least.....has anyone got info on schools around the se27 area (or further, they can travel)like which to avoid like the plague, or are there any groups where home schooled children and parents get together to support each other/ share the cost of tutoring etc.
ill be grateful for all replies...it feels like this move is going to be very stressfull already!

Kingsdale, but oversubscribed. Deptford Green in New Cross is good and may have spaces.

Also Forest Hill Boys

Firstly, I would try not to believe the hype. Lambeth has plenty of good secondary schools. You'll be quite near Elm Green School - a new school set up by a group of parents near Tulse Hill and also Norwood school, which was a girls school but is now co-ed. My son goes to Lambeth Academy in Clapham, which has very good pastoral support; that's a bit further away from where you will be, so perhaps not so convenient. Down in Croydon there are loads of good schools, as far as I can make out. You need to go to the Ofsted website and get a list of schools which are within commuting distance from your new home and go and visit them/ read the reports, etc., try to phone the head/deputy head. The biggest problem in Lambeth is that the LEA are not always super-efficient, so always try and contact the schools directly as well as putting in an application to the LA.

Contact independent schools and see if they can offer a bursary/scholarship package for your older boy. If he is very bright it might be a possibility. Dulwich College and Whitgift School both have a lot of bursary funding, although at this point of the year it might all have been allocated for next year - still, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Good luck.

Forgot to say that in SE27 as well as Kingsdale you're not that far from the Charter School which is also pretty good. Try Harris Boys in Nunhead too.