Secondary choices in N16 if you’re not sure about Stokey?

[Hellocomein]

What other options are there, realistically, if you’re not sure Stoke Newington school is the right fit for your kid? Girls seem to have other choices, but I can’t seem to find any realistic ones (catchment!) for boys.

Is it private or Stokey if you’re N16?

We’re considering a move out of area also (N16 has become far too expensive!), but wanted to explore secondary options in the area a bit more before we do.

Mossbourne? Ethos is a bit marmite, but the results are excellent. I know lots of people rate Haggerston. Or you could try for Latymer or QEB if your boy is academic.

Another shout out here for Haggerston. It's a bit further but an easy bus/train journey and my DS is very happy there in Y8.

And several children from near me are at Bridge Academy and happy there.

Also Highbury Grove has just got a good Ofsted after a few years in special measures and has great facilities, if you’re at the western end of N16.

There’s also Skinners up in Woodberry Down. TBH, we didn’t much like it when we looked around, but you might feel differently OP. What year is your son in? Have you looked around anywhere yet? Actually going for a visit is really important; I completely changed mind about a couple of places!

Year 4 and very bright but not tutored so the grammar is out. He’s also very artistic, quiet and introverted.

We are considering moving (not for schools, for space) so that’s an option.

We live very close to Stokey school - it’s practically on our doorstep! - but it has never quite felt right to me…

Ah, well you’re in a good position then, because you can go to open days this autumn, and still have time to move before he starts year 6 if that’s what you decide.

My DS is starting y7 next year so we’ve been through it all, and my main bit of advice would be visiting. In our case a school which I dismissed “on paper” ended up going in our top 3, and the one I originally thought would be our second choice I disliked so much it didn’t even make our top 6!

He could try for one of the selective (Governors’) places at St Mary Magdalene Academy, perhaps? If you get one of those then distance is irrelevant.

Would be really interested to hear parents’ views about Haggerston and Bridge Academy, either here or privately if you’d rather. DS is Year 5 so would be applying in October. Is there a good mix of pupils and temperaments/interests catered for? Worried about him finding his place as a sensitive child, dread him ending up somewhere too rough.

Which school did you go for in the end, if you don’t mind me asking?

But yes - you’re totally right about booking appointments early both here and the places we’re considering, that’s a great idea.

That’s interesting! I don’t know anything about those. I shall do some googling!

I hadn’t expected he’d get into Haggerston / Mossbourne as we’re so far away (we live right next to Stokey school) but I will definitely add these to the list to look! I’ve heard other parents talk about Mossbourne and it’s strictness, but also that it gets great results.

He’s actually going to Stokey, funnily enough! We liked the vibe when we visited, and they have great music provision and SN support, so it works for us, but if you feel it’s not right for your boy you’re definitely not too far from other schools. There’s a “choosing your secondary school” document on the Hackney website with the distances for furthest pupil admitted for all their schools (and Islington have same, as you’re near the border) which is really helpful. They probably won’t have updated to include the 2022 admissions yet but it’s a good rough guide. Do you know about the Hackney banding test?

My son is just finishing Yr8 at Haggerston. He is fairly sensitive, introverted, loves books. He is getting on very well there. He has definitely found a bunch of like-minded friends.

The school has tightened up their behaviour policies in the last few years I believe, so there's a very clear system that everyone understands. It's been a bit odd for his year because they've only really known the school during covid but they are starting to arrange school trips again now.

The messaging from the head in particular is really good - very positive about what they want to achieve for the students even when things were clearly very difficult with covid challenges.

It has a good emphasis on arts and creativity - art, tech, drama are all excellent - I think it's definitely one to think about. Not sure about what the catchment is at the moment but we're in north Stoke Newington (although I think they took additional pupils in DS's intake).

Happy to answer specific questions if you have them.

What is stokey like these days under the newish headteacher?

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Glad to hear that your son has found like-minded friends with his quiet temperament.

Encouraging that there is a method to their behaviour policy and that creativity is valued. May come back with more specific questions if I think of them, thanks.

What do you not like about it? I went there. Left 15ish years ago when it was under Mr Emerson/Ms Gammon. Some of my old friends now teach there and one has a much much younger sibling there now.
It's always been very cliquey. The rich kids stick to their group and the estate kids stick to theirs. There are a lot of parties which I loved and never felt unsafe as parents were often media types who'd be there smoking spliffs. I made some incredible friends that I still have now. The art department is incredible, as is music, DT and science. The amount of space they have is really great. Honestly you'd struggle to find a school with better facilities. We used to bunk by the squash courts but always got caught . There was a bunch of kids that left in y9 to go to the central London privates, or the pupil referral unit across the road. GCSE years were very stable and nurturing. Sixth form was tinnyyy when I went but I hear it's huge now.
My friends who teach there now say it's very similar to when we were there, but the cliques are money based as opposed to race based. The money divide was huge before, I can only imagine how big it is now.

It's funny the different things that people pick up from a visit. I felt that Stokey was chaotic, and cramped. So small that there is no space for kids to have lunch.
Also too much reliance on it having a good percentage of affluent and engaged parents rather than adding value itself.
But lots of kids and parents seem to love it.

That’s very interesting to hear @Meadowbreeze! It sounds very much like the comprehensive I attended in the midlands in the 1990s. I wonder if that’s why I like it?

@Noonado haha, maybe. My friends do say the amount of really snobby rich kids has got to an annoying level though.
@shamoola I can't comment on what it's like now, but I was one of the poor kids and they completely failed me and my 3 siblings. We all had a lot of fun at school, but I just remember my friends parents paying for tutors and giving them extra work. The friends I lost to private school were mostly those parents.
Mr Emerson really tried to change that but there was huge amounts of backlash from the rich parents.
They 100% relied on the rich kids to bring up grades. It reminds me a lot of Fortismere in many many ways.

Was there a banding test in your day @Meadowbreeze ? I’d been - perhaps naïvely - commending Hackney for ensuring a more even spread at intake.

@Noonado There was no banding test when I was at Stokey. Me and my sister were in top sets, my brother in middle and my other sister was constantly in L block as she had severe dyslexia so I have a pretty equal view of the school I think. The best years were by far GCSE. The naughty kids had all been managed out and it was bliss. The teachers really tried their best, but it's very difficult to compete with house parties and drugs. This was a problem for both the rich and the poor. At this point hackney was voted the worst place to live and people called it Crackney. I don't think people had Stokey end of Hackney in mind when voting but the art department made those I love hackney bags that are so popular now. I remember printing them for the fayre.
There was also not much help for poor kids. All the help was race based which fuelled division even more. All the Carribbean boys got free laptops for example, even the rich ones.
I hear the divide is very monied now and there's even less funding available. In my day you could learn any instrument you wanted for free, 1:1.
I don't think its a bad school, but there are a lot of parents there that don't realise they're really messing up education for kids that can't afford to top up with tutors. My friend is a drama teacher there currently and the wealth and demands of some parents are insane.

Really interesting perspectives! I must admit, I haven’t done a tour. But I have lived very close to the school for 17 years (god that feels like a loooong time when I write it down!).

It seems very divided between the kids that hang out on Albion Parade and the kids who walk down Church St for their lunch. I had imagined the money divide would be huge from seeing the kids. Add to that how much Stoke Newington and it’s demographic has changed while I’ve lived here (well, where hasn’t changed in London in 17 years?! Ha). There aren’t as many smoking spliff type media parents as there were before, lots of city workers now. And if the primary DS is at is anything to go by, these parents are very academically ambitious for their children. Nothing wrong with that - but lots of private tutoring and maybe a further divide?

I’ve also seen a lot of fights, young kids being teased, etc, which has coloured my perspective.

I say this as a former secondary school teacher who loves the energy of teens! But I suppose it looks a little chaotic and not so nurturing and maybe not well balanced enough? - but that is all from just watching the kids come in and out of school, making me wonder how a shy and introverted person would do there.

Looks great for confident kids though?

I am definitely going to book in to see. Haggerston sounds great - I’m really keen on that. I asked Ds and he says he wants to go wherever his best friend goes (which I understand) but will probably be Stokey!

Although we are considering a move to all the well-trodden paths for more space anyway: Leyton, Walthamstow, Wanstead.

They 100% relied on the rich kids to bring up grades. It reminds me a lot of Fortismere in many many ways.

So interesting that you say that! I know some local parents who are considering moving for this school!

I don’t love the tutoring thing. I get why people do it. But equally, I don’t love private schools although I also get why people do it. But neither are great for society and both create massive inequality.

@Hellocomein you would've probably seen me and my friends sneaking a fag in the alley lol. No one really had money for lunch, and I was friends with some loaded kids. We just went to people's houses and hopped the fence if we didn't have a lunch pass. You had to leg it to the end of the playground before the SLT got there.
It sounds like Haggerston is more like the stokey I experienced.
It definitely had a massive influence on me. Thanks to those parents I did A Levels and have a great job now. My best friend's dad who is a well known journalist taught me about networking over a spliff at her 16th. This happened in other instances too. My experience was like this because I was white and fell into that group. There wasn't many white poor kids, I was the Eastern European before the EU flood gates opened so at that point white= money minus a few anomalies. I would've had a very different experience now/if I had looked different/been in a different year group. My sister was in the year above and fell into the estate group and ended up spending a few years in the PRU. It depends so much on the kid, not just the school.
There are ALOT of stokey people in Walthamstow. It's so expensive now!