Fortismere vs alexandra park vs archer academy

[vixen82]

Hi, so my ex lives in muswell hill right next to fortismere but in catchment for the archer academy and alexandra park schools also.
I live on islington but dont like any of the schools, so have been advised by admissions to put his dads address down.
I like all three schools equally and I'm stuck!
I like fortismere the most, but it's also the largest and I worry my rather shy son may get lost, also as they are non uniform I worry about keeping up with the trends and expensive clothes, so I think a uniform could be better.
My sons into tennis and grey good at it, he competes but other than that he doesnt have other talents. I'd like a school strong in sports but also maybe art and drama to encourage him to be creative and come out f himself.
Whichever school he goes to he wont know anybody as his school is in islington, so ideally a school that is welcoming and he will make friends as he is painfully shy!
DESCISIONS DESCISIONS I KUST DONT KNOW!!!
I have to decide by the end of the month, and apart from watching videos online because of covid haven't been able to get a feel physically for any schools so help please!?

You might find this thread helpful
London scondaries www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/4039556-North-London-scondaries

APS is very very tight in regards to catchment are you sure you're in catchment for both?
I prefer APS but they're both very different so the choice is normally quite easy to make.

Haringey offers on distance rather than catchments (I believe Barnet does too). If your son's dad is near to Fortismere he's probably be too far from APS to get in there as the last couple of years the APS distance cut offs have been quite a lot less than half a mile. Not sure about Archer.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't put them all down in whatever order you decide, but I'd think Fortismere is the most likely outcome, at least on offer day.

You're very unlikely to be within offering distance for two of those, let alone all three. Fortunately they're all good schools. IME kids all make new friends in Y7 even if lots of their primary school classmates are with them so don't worry about that.

Worth bearing in mind that your son must spend the majority of his week with his dad if you use that address for admissions. If he actually spends more time at yours, using his father's address would be fraudulent. But as you have spoken to (Islington?) admissions already then they have presumably explained that.

In a 50/50 split it should be the address of the parent that receives the child benefit.

If your DS spends more time with you in Islington than he does at his dad's then his place will be fraudulently obtained. Believe me, the schools will withdraw a place once they know it has been obtained by deception.
Whereabouts in Islington are you? Highbury Grove is good.

Archer admissions policy gives priority for people living within N2, N3 and NW11. If your ex has a N2 postcode, he won’t be in catchment for APS.

I was going to say your ex would need to provide evidence your DS lives there. Depending on where you are on Islington, are any of the Camden schools an option?
I know someone with a DC at AMSI who is thriving. Yes, on paper it's not great but I looked around and it's a decent school and the younger years seem to have more "middle class" kids. I preferred it to the COLA schools!

If your ex lives next to Fortismere your DS definitely won’t get into the Archer on distance and depending on where he is exactly probably not APS either.

You can check the furthest admissions distance on the Haringey website for APS & Fortismere.

Have you considered and rejected every secondary school in Islington? E.g. (depending on exactly where you live):

Central Foundation
St Mary Magdalene

Or accessible Camden ones?

Acland Burghley
William Ellis
Haverstock (the 393 bus stops right outside the door!)

I would echo the advice about ensuring that you are using the legally correct address for your ds.

It's his main residence, where child benefit is paid.

Also echo the advice to look at schools in neighbouring boroughs and not write off schools that have a reputation of being 'undesirable'.

I also know people with children at AMSI who are doing well and benefit from it being considerably smaller than most secondaries.