Highgate Wood Secondary School

[Avala2019]

Anyone parents with views on this school? DD has been offered a place for year 7 in September. We are relatively new to the area and hearing that Fortismere and APS are a lot better and get much better results. Any views on how the three compare?

There's a recent thread on N London Schools you might find useful: North London secondary schools - faves please!

I think it’s a good local school. The grades aren’t quite as good as APS and Fortismere but it’s not a huge difference and I would say that HW is more representative of the local area while the other two (not dissing them, they are good schools) really serve small middle-class enclaves.

The children I know who are there or have left sixth form recently have done really well. A y9 I know is predicted 8s and 9s at GCSE. I think a good kid who wants to engage can really thrive there.

I would have been happy for DD to go (she’s the type of kid who has to march to the beat of her own drum kinda thing and wanted to go to Hornsey girls so is off there) but some lovely kids from her class are heading to HW.

I think if you have been allocated HW then you would be unlikely at this stage to get APS or Fortismere anyhow so it’s a bit of a moot point. Honestly I would feel positive about your choice and I hope your daughter has a great experience there.

I do not have a personal experience of this school but I attended the presentation last Autumn and liked its ethos. I have also been to Fortismere (a bit hectic) and APS (too ‘inner City’ vibe to my liking). I came away with the impression of HWS as a friendly and welcoming place, with the student guides cheerful and articulate.

You can look at the exam (GCSE) results on the government school portal and if you look at the average performance results for HWS are somehow lower than at Fortismere or APS. Accounting for prior attainment level nevertheless (high/medium/low attained based on SAT results), the results of top cohort (‘previous high attainers’) is very much the same across these three Haringey schools. The overal grade point average at HWS works out lower than at Fortismere or APS because they take in fewer of previous high attainers (in line with comments above).

It seems to me a decent school that relies perhaps less on parental pushing than Fortismere, for example.

It’s a lovely school, massive grounds and staff are really nice. It really is the local comp so the kids are much more mixed than in the other two but the catchment for lower years has been smaller and it’s becoming more and more middle class. My friends DD is in Y7 at the moment and she’s super shy and didn’t have friends the first term but she’s settled now and is really happy with a group of 3 girls. I think you will see the grades improving for the last couple of cohorts but in general I found it a much more loving and friendly school and less obsessed with grades and uniform but more on an all around experience. We would’ve gone with it for y7 this year but they don’t have a large SEN provision so our DD is going to Heartlands instead. The only downside I can say is the whole place looks a bit like a prison but not every school can be new.

I would love to have a chat with parents who's kids to go Highgate Wood school.

We are relocating back to London after a year in the US. Our 12 year old daughter finished primary school in Camden last year year, and was supposed to go to EGA. Most of her friends went there, and most of them already changed schools. And it's supposed to be Outstanding, with all the right values (on paper).

We also have a 10 year old son, who would need a high school next year, so we are ideally looking for a mixed not religions school.

Highgate Wood School seems to have a few good reviews on the net, and the location looks good, with green spaces not far. But we are worried about it being too rough.

Moreover, our kids are mixed-race, and I heard from a teacher that it can be a challenge in inner-London schools, especially for boys.

Another challenge is actually getting a place, as we will be arriving only in July.

Any experience or opinion would be appreciate.

Thank you

Hiya, sorry, as I said before I don’t have children at the school but at least I can give you a little bump and someone might come along with more personal experience. I don’t think it is rough but it is a London comp and will have some of the issues that entails and, and this is purely anecdotal and just referring to a couple of families I know, parents of mixed-race boys have sought different options for them but I really think the school is improving all the time and all the parents I know who have sent their kids are really happy with it.

So your daughter would be going into y8? I think places do come up just because it’s London and people are always moving etc but obviously the closer you are living to the school the better, Crouch End has plenty of good primary options for your boy too.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

.