Islington secondaries

[Wonderberry]

I'm curious about word on the street regarding the Islington secondaries. Apart from SMMA, where do middle class parents, send their children?

Highbury Fields seems lovely, but I'm also perturbed by the bad reviews I found online. I'm surprised its not more popular given its excellent value added and outstanding Ofsted.

Opinions very welcome, via pm if you prefer.

Dame Alice Owen's?

DAO sounds great but only takes a handful of Islington children. I'm wondering about other options?

Other options (depending on location within the borough) include Latymer Grammer, Central Foundation, Parliament Hill, Acland Burghley.

Obviously none of these are in the borough of Islington - read into that what you will.

I’m afraid the reality is that lots of local people with a choice in the matter either vote with their feet (e.g. moving to Muswell Hill) or with their wallets for private options.

So for those who live in the borough and can't afford private, and have a child who does not pass the 11+ there aren't may options, is that right? What of the Islington secondaries?

Just to clarify - location in the borough isn’t a limiting factor for Latymer, but selectiveness is.

Others which might be on the list (also in other boroughs but may be obtainable):

Camden School for Girls
St Marylebone
Stoke Newington School

Cross-posted, sorry.

Honestly, SMMA and Highbury Fields would be at the top of my list if confimed to the borough.

Highbury Grove has had major ups and downs - great facilities but had a disastrous Ofsted and was taken over by the City of London Academies group. They’ve got quite a toe-hold in Islington now, having come to the rescue of several other failing schools and rebranded them. We didn’t look at any of them but people I know seem to get a strong gut-feel one way of another about their style of education.

People say Islington Arts & Media is on the up. It may or may not still be undersubscribed as it has been for many years.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson does well on Ofsted.

*confined to the borough

Thank you. A bit of a mixed bag I see. Highbury grove's reputation has preceded it, generally not for a good reason, for a long time.

Just remembered that I have local Catholic friends who send their sons to the Oratory. They say it is worth the journey!

Central Foundation is in the Borough of Islington!

Other options include the City of London Academy Shoreditch Park (Hackney borough) and Henrietta Barnet. EGA is popular.

From close second hand experience (DC of friends and neighbours), EGA and Central Foundation both perfectly fine. SMMA as well although of course very small catchment if applying under the Open criteria.

Hornsey school for girls in Crouch End is getting more and more popular among parents in my DC’s primary. It’s in Haringey but definitely accepts girls from Islington.

@primroseblue

Central Foundation is in the Borough of Islington!

Other options include the City of London Academy Shoreditch Park (Hackney borough) and Henrietta Barnet. EGA is popular.

Oops. Quite right. I had an idea that CF was in the City for some reason.

My DD is in year 8 at Highbury Fields & so far I can’t fault it. The uniform rules are irritating, but not as bad as most. The mental health care & SEN provision has been excellent & throughout lockdown it was apparent that they really care about the girls in the school. EGA was our first choice but I so far we’re very happy as is DD.
Parliament Hill is another excellent school but is increasingly difficult to get into out of borough.

I wouldn’t think if it by borough. I would think if it as schools closest to you and that could be other boroughs depending on your location. Options are definitely far more limited if you want a mixed school. All girls seem to be the most popular as well as SMMA.

I'm fairly central in the borough so unlikely to be in the catchment for any out of borough options. All the nearest schools are Islington ones.

Thank you for all the feedback.

As an ex-SMMA parent, the serious concerns we as parents had regarding some boys’ behaviour towards girls there do not appear to have been addressed. Each academic year seems to have the same issues and we have just heard once again of problems arising. They really need to take this more seriously.

another vote for CFBS!

That's interesting - can you elaborate? We are considering this for DD.

Not publicly, as we want to go through due process (after, frankly, screaming into a void). But I would not advise sending your DD there.

I'd really welcome advice on this as I have a Yr6 son looking at Islington secondary schools. We really liked CFSBs, but I'd prefer him to go to a mixed-sex school and SMMA is the nicest mixed school we've seen. He did the entrance test for SMMA and got a result in the 140s on the governors test (they apparently rank 1-200 for governors test results to indicate the child may have a chance of getting in, then everyone else gets '200 or below'). We're in the far south of the borough /City fringe so certainly won't get into SMMA on catchment area.

No idea whether to put SMMA first on our list, accepting that he's at the lower end of the group who may obtain a place, or put CFSB first as it's our nearest secondary. I'd be more than happy with Central Foundation and don't want to risk a potential offer by putting it as second choice as SMMA only just edges it into second place.

I'm not from London, and came from a small town where everyone just went to the local secondary school, so I'm finding the London application system quite daunting.

@WildishBambino you don’t risk anything by placing a school in second place, if it’s genuinely your second choice. It just means that if he qualifies for both SMMA and CFSB he’ll be offered SMMA (your first choice), and if he qualifies for CFSB and not SMMA then he’ll be offered CFSB (your second choice).

Put them in your genuine order of preference - that’s all that is needed.

To add to this thread now, in case anyone is looking for up to date experiences: my daughter has recently started in Highbury Fields school and it is excellent. I have been really impressed.

The school really cares about the pupils and has high expectations of them academically. Behaviour is excellent too, which is really important for me personally.

My daughter has really enjoyed her time there so far, and has a good friendship group. The school also go the extra mile organising special activities for the children too, for example a sleepover night with pizza at the school.

Thank you @HonorHiding for your comments.

I'm genuinely stuck between CFSB and SMMA. Son is quite sensitive and quirky (confirmed autism diagnosis), in a small primary school where he's thriving. He got a good mix of girl and boy friends, possibly more girls than boys.

CFSB looks really well organised and supportive, great academics and and with good SEN support - we've visited twice. They have a lot of female teachers, and I had a sneaky chat with a dinner lady who I asked about the boys' attitude - the female catering staff have no problems.

I think my problem is that I work with quite a few men who went to single-sex public schools and can display some very odd attitudes to women!

If CFSB was mixed sex it would be top of my list - I just wonder whether I'd be doing my son a disservice by sending him to a boys' school - but @noraclavicle has raised concerns about the treatment of girls at SMMA.

So difficult!

I have a girl and put SMMA first but I am now alarmed by boys' behaviour. I put Highbury Fields second, would it be a best fit? It looked very strict..