North London/North West Secondary Schools

[Singlemamatoone]

Hi all,

I am a mama to a boy in year 5. Im so lost as to what secondary schools to consider as we seem to be outside of the catchment areas. USC looks very good, my son is coming from a state primary school.

We live in the NW London area. So Brent schools are a complete no no.

Any suggestions? Is it even worth applying to schools when you're outside of the catchment area?

All advice is welcome!

**UCS

I think it depends on where you live.

Yes it’s worth applying to schools you wouldn’t necessarily have got into on previous years as lists move. What you should also do is make sure at least one and preferably two of your six choices are certainties. They can be numbers 5& 6 but make sure they are on the list.

What borough are you in and are you near another borough? So camden/Islington, camden/Westminster...?

We're in the borough of Brent. 5 mins awsy from Brent Cross which would mean its easy to get to North London areas by car. Ive spent the past two weeks reading admissions policy and im just worried we wont be able to get DS into a good school all because of being outside catchment areas

Are you looking at state or private?

I’m afraid that’s out of my area.

Are you looking at state schools? State schools where you where you could get a place and live a drive away are probably not sought after schools or they have something other than distance as an admissions criteria, church attendance for example.

Crest Academy? Neighbouring Barnet schools (you are very close to Barnet at Brent X) like St Mary's & St John's in Hendon (if applicable?). Depending on which direction from BX you are, might you be close enough for Hampstead (Camden)?

In terms of private, I hear good things about the Lycee Winston Churchill at Wembley.

Try the London Schools Atlas as a (very) rough guide to where kids in your postcode go to school.

If your son is in Y5 have you been to look at any schools yet? If not, the open days are in September at the start of Y6 so you should visit as many as you can, ideally on open mornings rather than evenings to get a sense of what the schools are like on a normal day.

SMSJ in Hendon is due it's first GCSE results this Summer so will be interesting to see what they are and if you are near Brent Cross you are likely in the catchment for both church and non church places. Agree Hampstead School is good, what about Mill Hill county? Maybe too far? QE Boys grammar? Then there's the Michaela school in Wembley which has a good reputation, headteacher often on TV and in the press - I think has a lottery system for places and I think Brent Cross is part of the catchment. There is also Finchley not far from you. I think Christ College Finchley is a much improving school - good with outstanding features and has a fairly wide catchment.

Dont mind either as long as we find one thats suitable for DS

Ive heard nothing but negative things about Crest. Will look into Hampstead and Barnet schools.

Lycee doesnt appeal to us.
Michaela seems to get a negative rep too? Especially for having a tough policy on really making kids more disciplined and monitoring their every move.

Thanks for the replies! Really appreciate it.

I know families with kids in lower secondary years at SMSJ and they are very happy with it. I don't know much about Crest admittedly but the progress scores are fantastic. The Ark at Wembley perhaps? It sounds like you need to look around as many as you can in September to get a feel for how they compare and which might best suit your son.

I wouldn't go anywhere by car in north London in rush hour!