Dame Alice Owens School

[Harry7]

Hello

I am new on this platform. My boy is in year 3 and we are planning to buy a house within the catchment area of Dame Alice Owen School in Potters bar. as it will be closer to my work swell. So we have to sale of current property and buy a house near to the catchment area which is under 200 meters. Now my questions and concerns are

1. How kids who gets admission under catchment area ( not giving entrance exams) cope up with the other students who got the admission by giving entrance exams?
2. Do catchment area kids normal struggle with the competition with other kids? Do they get bullied?
3. is it a good idea to get admission under catchment area criteria? As we won't know the caliber of my boy?
4. How can we make sure my boy is at the same level with other students?
5. Is it worth moving the area, buy a house and get admission under catchment criteria, obviously property prices are high near DAO.

Many thanks

The 'calibre' of your boy?! Is this real?!

You need to check how many get into the school from catchment area. Back in my day it was virtually unheard of. Catchment is bottom of the list after all the other criteria.

English clearly not the first language here. Be kind

I think the oversubscription criteria now have a small number of the nearest applicants as a high priority, with another 'distance' criterion at or near the end. However, if a poster on another forum is to be believed, the school often goes over PAN 'in order to accommodate all siblings', when the 'up to 65 academic places' is a lower criterion, so in reality it would be to ensure that all 65 of those are admitted, as 1. siblings can't sit the test and 2. the cut-off should be wherever PAN is reached.

BTW, check the requirements for having your address considered under one of the 'locality' criteria, wrt how far you will be moving to be near the school and long you will need to have lived at your new address.

Also be aware that schools can change their policies - the one for admission in September 2025 will be published at the end of February 2024 and will have to have been consulted on publicly for 6 weeks between (off the top of my head) October 2023 and Jan 2024, if there are to be any changes, so keep a look out for notices on the school website.

damealiceowens.herts.sch.uk/download/test/

thanks

Thanks

On the Eleven Plus Forum there’s someone called DAOGroupie who is very knowledgable.
check how close you’ll need to be
tutor for Maths from y5
he will survive but it’ll be easier if he’s bright

That's great advice. Thanks

As far as I could see, even though less than 40% are selected by ability, most of the others are bright siblings of those selected by ability, so about 85% of the kids are of the kind of ability usually found in grammar schools.

DAO suits bright / musical kids very well, But no school is a good fit for every child. If your kid is of average ability and not particularly musical, then they'll likely be in the bottom sets (in which case, would they really be any better off than in your nearest comprehensive?).

The current head is far less impressive than the previous one, and there has been discontent over handling of racist incidents during her tenure. Some Posters on this thread said the head's introductory speech to prospective parents was ableist and said kids with special needs or SpLD would not be welcome. That is very, very poor.

There are a lot of children there who are less-bright siblings of kids who have got in on ability. There are also children of staff who have no test to pass. There are also some who choose it on the basis is of their medical or social priority (eg those with an EHCP or looked after children). So although the common denominator is perhaps higher than average, it is a mixed bag of kids.

Houses genuinely within the tiny catchment area come into the market very rarely and at a great premium.

The school is very strict about checking addresses and will withdraw a place even after the child has started if they have reason to believe that the address applied from is not a permanent address (beware those renting to gain a place).

Mine left a while ago but although I was overall very happy, SN provision was non-existent. Some catchment children did better ... medical school and the like ... than mine who got in on exam.

It is an open secret in the community that DAOS does not favour those who do not push up their grades. They are forced by the council to accept 22 local children, otherwise they cannot be considered a "state school". If there are a lot of siblings, that catchment can be reduced to less than 200 metres from the school gates. If your child is of average ability, they will be left to their own devices, will be put into the low sets, will be encouraged to seek alternative provision before GCSE and may be singled out for minor infractions of the rules which the academic kids will be immune from. They may even be mildly bullied by teachers. Basically, the "exam" kids can get away with murder, but the "non-exam" kids will be called out for every little thing. As for special needs; again if your child is academic and exam-focussed, you will get help. If not, you'll get nothing. The rules have been getting more and more draconian since the new headmistress started (new behaviour and uniform codes are "skirts must be up to the first crease of the knee"), but even with that, they don't seem to be too bothered about the general racism and homophobia; nor about mental health. Its reputation is not deserved; it selects the brightest and caretakes them up to exams. If it was not a state school, it would be held up against the grammars; and would lose on results. I would really carefully consider sending your child there if he is not academic, because the school cares not for your child, they care about their reputation.

Both of my children were good at school and bright, but not overachievers or outstanding; they were both at the top of their year academically in primary school (both got 5s and 6s in SATS), both struggled terribly at DAOS and their grades and mental health suffered as a result. My eldest went on to do A levels elsewhere- could not wait to leave. My youngest is still there, but the same ruthlessness and cull has started at the end of year 9, so I don't know whether she will stay either.

Also, it might be worth a mention that, as the amount of people applying to do exams at DAO has increased a lot (because of reputation and also because fewer can afford private school), the selection criteria for both the exam and music test entry have also got stricter; meaning that the academic level of the pupils entering each year is rising. I would make sure that if you are still considering Owens, that your child has sporting, musical and/or academic talents. If you are worried, make sure that he is tutored in at least Maths and English and let him try the entry exam papers, you can get them from the school- they sell exam packs. The entry requirement means that you have to have moved at least two years before entry to the school (including your child being registered at the local doctor and you being able to provide paperwork to prove your residence), and yes house prices are much more expensive in the catchment area; a small three-bedroom semi is around £700,000 at the moment.

It is my understanding that the catchment area in practical terms is the single house opposite the school gates. I had friends who lived on the same road as the school, only a few houses along and their child couldn't get in. That house is bought and sold frequently and is very expensive.

Just looked it up. It is the most expensive house in the post code at 752K. It is tiny.