Opinions regarding The Charter school in North Dulwich / London

[Natasha985]

Hi

We are moving to Herne Hill in summer and we will need to apply for a secondary school place for our son to start year 7 in 2017; The Charter School in North Dulwich will be the closest school. Can anybody with children there give us your honest opinion; is this a good school ? Are there good extra curricular activities? Do they promote sport, arts, languages ? How is the discipline ? And how is it academically?

Thank you

Bumping

Two of my friends also have DC transferring 2017 and both live in Herne Hill but think they may have to move to get into charter....

The house we are moving to is 400 meters from The Charter; we are moving from another city so don't know the school much; any advice will be appreciated.

I don't have any first hand experience of a child attending but it has a very good reputation locally and we've used the sports facilities with our toddler which I was very impressed with. We sadly live outside catchment although Charter are building a new school in East Dulwich which we are very hopeful for in 7 years!

If you repost your questions in the Family Discussions section of the East Dulwich Forum then I am sure you'll get lots of responses from local parents whose children attend.

It is one of the most popular schools in the area and does very well (though the stats represent the intake). Everyone I know with kids there is v happy.

As a PP said, try the East Dulwich Forum, Family Room Discussion.

Though I am surprised more MNers have not spotted this thread: there is quite a S London showing here!

Thank you; will try the East Dulwich Forum; however if anybody with children there can give an opinion here that will be great

Bumping once more

???

If you are moving to within 400m of charter, your choice of secondaries will be Charter or a lottery place at nearby Kingsdale. You might also be in catchment for Harris Boys ED, and the new Charter school. You also have the option (I think) to apply for scholarship / lottery places at Harris CP.

Either way you will be able to visit during the Open Days in September and decide what order to put them in.

If you already have your house, and you don't need to submit your application until Oct 2016, what else are you considering at the moment?

Charter seems to be a top choice, academically successful school in East Dulwich and Herne Hill, so I can't see why anyone would be anxious about it. Especially with good local alternatives. Have you looked at the Ofsted parent survey thing?

I have a friend with a son there and she speaks very highly of it. People move to get into the catchment for the school so it must be doing something right :)

Most people in Herne Hill put Kingsdale down as first choice - admissions is on a lottery basis but if you get a sports or music bursery you are put in a higher category. It is one of the most oversubscribed schools in London though. So for that reason they put it first choice. If you live close enough to Charter to be sure of a place you may just want to put that down as first choice.

Visit both schools (and any others you are interested in) and put them on the list in the exact order you prefer them.

I would disagree that most people in H Hill put KD first, I think it is very much a matter of who prefers what. And where in H Hill, because not all wil be in Charter's catchment. Though Charter may spread further now because of the massive increase in numbers at KD and because of the new Charter school.

KD is wildly oversubscribed precisely because it does admit on lottery rather than distance and people apply from miles and miles around, if they are not happy with their local school, or they are interested in the music offer. (A music scholarship brings free music lessons etc).