The Broxbourne school vs Goffs Academy/Goffs Churchgate vs Wren Enfield

[Tulip2277]

Hi all,
Does anyone have any first-hand experience with any of these schools?
According to league tables etc. The Broxbourne school is the front-runner. Wren Enfield is new so data limited. Any advice/experiences welcome.
Many thanks!

To be in front does not mean the best. Do not put a hope on the rank. If you need excellent grades, you will need extra tuition anyway.
Goffs has sets, Broxbourne does not. Although both schools are part -selective, The Broxbourne put more efforts in to MFL. You can have a place in a good form or have negative experience among of children who not interested in knowledge even in Broxbourne. Both schools have big PAN 240.

Heard only positive about Wren Finchley and nothing about Enfield.
Think about your child abilities, then decide.

Goffs or Broxbourne. Wouldn't chose the other 2 personally.

Also do agree that you should think about your child's abilities and strengths, E.g. are they sporty or artistic?

They are a reasonable distance apart. Are you intending to move closer to your chosen school as its unlikely you would be catchment for all 3.

What is PAN 240?

They have non-catchment criteria too

I am yet to visit these schools hence why I'm asking for anyone with personal experience (pros/cons etc) which would help give me further insight. I appreciate league tables/websites and visits are never enough. you

They do have aptitude but obviously very competitive with limited amount of places. I would certainly have a good back up plan.

Yes very limited aptitude spaces - I wouldn't be counting on that alone. Distance is the biggest deciding factor

In reply to your message, broxbourne has a fantastic new building and are very good for sports. It is a very popular school in its area, as is Goffs but like a PP has said, they are not close by to one another so it is difficult to compare.

It means Published Admission Number- or how many children will be accepted into year 7.
There is no Catchment Area. However, there is the distance criteria about 2000m.
10% of places (24) given through the Language attitude tests in Goff’s academy and Broxbourne. Number of application for the test 300+. Language tests possible to pass if your child strong in phonics, comprehension, Verbal and Non-Verbal reasonings. It does not matter if you child bilingual, just a technique and logic will help.
Both Goff’s schools belong to the same trust and have feeding primary schools.
My DC got a place in The Broxbourne through the test, although he attended the feeder school for Goff’s.
The Broxbourne is the most academic schools, 250th place in UK rating out of 4 thousands state schools. House prices and rent higher than around Goff’s. PAN was less before, 22-25 students kept in the each class. From this year 30 children in each class ( PAN240), new homes built around the school.
Goff’s Churchgate has PAN 120, there is a swimming pool and PE mandatory in it. Previously had a bad reputation but now significantly improved. Teachers the same in both schools.
Goff’s academy bigger but more relaxed than Broxbourne; mostly focused on GCSE grade 5, around 57% get this mark. School has LGBT community.
The Broxbourne school could have higher results ( 33% GCSE grade 7-9) but Wormley primary school with its poor results does not allow to be in top.

That's super useful info. Thanks alot! Did/does your DS attend Broxbourne then? Interesting they choose not to teach in sets considering the ofsted report refers to boys not progressing as well as girls e.g. in maths. Do they do single sex lessons?

Random qs but I've noticed some boys wear the red blazer and others the black? Is it a diff colour for each keystage? Which uniform shop do they use?

Also the aptitude sounds really interesting and highly competitive as has been mentioned. I read on website there's no preparation needed but is there anything you could suggest?
My DC is strong with phonics/literacy etc. but would be good to know if anything else could support this.

Really useful re Goffs too. Are you referring to Goffs having the LGBT community?

Lots to consider and looking forward to attending the open days too!

Thanks!

Broxbourne School decided to skip sets for year 7 &8 but in year 9 children will have.
Yes, my child in Broxbourne. Lessons mixed girls and boys . Also mixed on subjects with kids from other classes.
I do not trust Ofsted, this is why I started researches and visit school in the end of year4 and year 5. In year 6, I did not run but some of parents laughed on me.
Red blazer for year 7-8 only, from year 9 to year 11 is black.
Uniform shop based in Nazeing.

If your child did preparation for 11+ into grammar, it will not be difficult.
On every website of most wanted school written- do not need to prepare. In fact, tutored child has greater chance; because he has high CAT test result. In other words, your child at least 1-1.5 years ahead of his peers in primary ( unless he gifted).
Yes, Goff academy has LGBT community and after school club for children from LGBT parents. RE teacher from LGBT and I also heard the same about head teacher.

Thanks so much for this super useful info!! I am also starting to research early (DC has couple yrs before yr 6) and although things can change it's important to be prepared! Thanks again

Bump

Hey. My DC received their results for The Broxbourne School aptitude test and achieved 38. What are their chances of actually getting a place?

Judging by the last 5 years results I’d say good. My daughter got 39 which is an offer of a place according to the last 5 years’ results apart from 2020 which had the lowest mark of 41.

Thanks for the reply. I'm just hoping that the children with higher results are placed under the distance rule, leaving my daughter a higher opportunity of getting a place under aptitude.
This entire process is just so stressful!

Hi,

Do you know what the goffs minimum results was for 2022? The school only new last year 2023 - 55.

My son got 50 out of 70 just now on the test and I got the feeling that it won't be enough.

Hey

From the admissions staff today.....
Sorry I haven’t got this information available. I can give you last year however this was a different test with a higher amount of questions.

Last score admitted 55

I asked for the results for the last 5 years and that's the response I got

To be honest if you don’t live practically on top of the school you probably won’t get into goffs academy,goffs churchgate and Broxbourne.

i have children in goffs churchgate that only got their places through the sibling rule.

I think if you are applying under aptitude, distance does not matter unless it comes down to a tiebreaker

only 10% of children (24 out of 240) are accepted on the aptitude test so realistically distance is a factor. This is for broxbourne.

goffs academy is probably the same and goffs churchgate only admit 120 children so is massively oversubscribed every year

I've taken this from the broxbourne school website.......

The remaining 10% of places will be allocated for children who show an
aptitude for languages on the basis of an assessment of aptitude carried out
by the school (see note I). Priority will be given to those with the highest score
in this test. In the event of a tie-break being required under this criterion,
places will be allocated using criterion 5 (home-school distance using the
home-school measurement system used by Hertfordshire County Council as
outlined in the County’s admission arrangements and application literature –
see note V).

So I think it all depends on your score.
If you score high enough you could live on the moon and you would still get offered a place. Distance comes into play when applicants have the same score, hence the tiebreaker based on distance