Thinking of moving near Highlands

[littletinkers]

Hello does anyone have a child at Highlands Enfield? Just wondering what it's really like (as good as it looks?!) - and is the catchment area hideously small? Looks like a v interesting school.

I thought this thread might be about moving to Plockton or Achiltibuie.

I wish!

MrsJAP -so did I!

Gonna bump this, as I'd like to know the same

I'm a teacher in Enfield and know several people who teach/have taught at Highlands, or whose children attend the school. General consensus is that it's good and continues to be on the up - after a ropey first few years, results are improving rapidly, they've tightened up on behaviour and there's lots of sport/drama etc. Seems to have become the school of choice for many in the Winchmore Hill/Grange Park/Western Enfield area but catchment isn't ridiculously small (yet) - certainly not comparable to somewhere like Dame Alice Owen's in Potters Bar. Quite a few children from the school I used to teach at in Western Enfield got places there.

I was just coming on to reminsce about wonderful holidays in Achiltibuie too!

Me too. Had some great fish n chips seating on the wall at Plockton.

sitting !

What is the ethos at Highlands? I had a very positive vibe and they seemed to really want to invest in the kids. Many schools present their thinking in monotone. I had sense that at Highlands they meant it. Keen to hear your views good people.

Sceptical: Sceptical

Wow, that was worth the bump! Thanks LiteraryMermaid for your views. TheRover, did you visit the school, then? Do tell. I know nothing about the area.

Yes, as a school it seems quite dynamic, and very ambitious and welll organised leadership-wise. Lots of parents were slightly dubious about it for the first few years, but it now seems to be the school of choice in Enfield, unless you're going private or have your heart set on somewhere more selective. A close friend, who is Oxbridge-educated, is seriously considering it for her DD, and there are lots of teachers' kids there are well. Many of the feeder primary schools are great (I used to work at one of them) so they have a pretty solid intake, and I think they've been underachieving in the past.

Subject-wise I think they're gradually shifting from a more vocational approach to a more academic one - in the past, lots of the more 'middle class' children would do GCSEs there and then move on to a more academic sixth-form such as Latymer or Woodhouse in Barnet, but this gradually seems to be becoming less of a trend.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, yes.

Two children at Highlands. Both joined aged 11.

The eldest a hard working girl is just about to turn 18. She got 14 GCSE's and is forecast to get AAB at A level. She hopes to do Law at Surrey.
She struggled at Maths but the school got her to an A eventually.

My youngest, a not as hard working boy is just about to turn 16. He has already got 4 GCSE's including A* in Maths. He is already fast tracked into AS level. He has always struggled with English we await his GCSE result out next week with trepidation.

I have no regrets sending my two to the school.

Hi everyone - I'm resurrecting this thread in the hope a veteran parent of a Highlands alumni sees this. I used to live in Enfield and now thinking of moving back. Viewed a few houses but not sure if it falls within the 'catchment' area for Highlands. It's about 0.5m straight line on Google but from various websites the roads I've viewed houses on are flagging as within the zone but less likely zone. Any help on what the average distance from house to schools are would be helpful. I've tried School Opinion and School Uni Guide - not sure which is more reliable?

Furthest distance offered last year on offer day was 0.781 miles. Furthest distance previous year (2023 entry) was 0.851 miles. 2021 and 2022 are also on Enfield's website.
These will likely both move further out by September.

thank you - I've just found the PDF explaining this. I wonder why they are expanding their furtherest distance offered each year?