Southwark and Lambeth secondaries?

[Cinnamonandcoal]

Hello, any experiences or opinions on schools in and around these areas?
Unlikely to be able to afford to go private but income probably too high for bursaries.
A lot of the kids from the primary seem to go to the new Haberdashers in Borough but I think we will be outside the catchment as too far south. Is anywhere else good? We are not religious.

Thank you!

Where do you live? Are you looking to move? The Charter is the best truly non-selective secondary in the area but the catchment is tiny. Kingsdale is also very popular and operates via a lottery though a sports or music scholarship improves your odds.

There are also Sport and Maths scholarships available at Kingsdale as well.

The Maths and Art scholarships are open to students once they have joined Y7, only Music and Sport are used for entry purposes.

Yes, that's right. That's why I mentioned to first sports and music relating to improving admissions odds. And that should have read art and maths!

The various Harris Schools, Dunraven Chestnut Grove and Graveney in Wandsworth. If a boy London Nautical and a girl Greycoat

You have to live very close to Graveney to stand a chance, and an OP who is asking for Lambeth/Southwark schools is going to be far too far away. Though a selective place via the Wandsworth test might be a possibility (you don't have to live in Wandsworth to sit but it won't be done in schools other than those in the borough, so OP will have to register for it online, so check dates now so you don't miss deadlines.

I don't think you stand a chance of Greycoat, unless via the superselective language aptitude test (max 15 places)

Thanks everyone. We are around Kennington/Elephant area, really don't want to move.
No particular sports or music aptitude showing unfortunately although very strong on both maths and art.
Are there schools which are selective and take from a wider area but which aren't private?
I've also seen local kids go to ARK Globe Academy and Oasis Southbank Academy but I don't know anything about them.
And lots of Christian schools which I doubt we would get into, because we aren't.

The grammar schools are towards Kent so a stretch from where you are.

There are very selective specialist math six forms near you but before then I think it’s private or comps!

Chestnut Grove has selective Art places.

I'm a primary teacher in Southwark and parents like Ark All Saints, St Gabriel's and Charter, although hardly any of our kids live near enough to get into Charter. Less popular are the Harris Schools and Walworth Academy. Some parents like COLA and a few go for Greycoats or try for the Grammar schools in Kent.

Do you have boys or girls OP?
If girls, I recommend Burntwood. It's a Wandsworth test school (along with Graveney which is mixed) which makes the catchment irrelevant. And as PPs have said, Chestnut Grove Art Scholarships are worth looking into (be aware that the application deadline is quite early ... end of August I think).

We aren't far from you and just listed as follows:
Graveney, Burntwood, Chestnut Grove, Kingsdale, Elms Academy (formerly Lambeth Academy) and Harris Clapham (not a fan of Harris but wanted to fill the form!).

Also worth looking at Lilian Baylis and Pimlico Academy.

My recommendation would be to visit them and go with your gut. There are some excellent schools around here that suit a diverse cohort of children.

Thanks all, I have a couple of years to consider which is good.
First up is a boy who (paraphrasing his teacher) is extremely smart but lacks focus and often can't be bothered. I think he needs somewhere that is quite structured and with high standards which will push him rather than letting him get away with doing the minimum.
I have a girl too but a 4 year age gap so things may change by then.

Seem to be in a bit of a hole between the schools in Dulwich and those in Westminster/Pimlico, but hopefully some of the local options will work.

Is Ashcroft too tricky to get to? This partially selects on Technology, which might be of interest to a maths-y child. One maths-y child from my DC’s primary went here (I’m in Lambeth).

There are boys that travel in from those areas via London Bridge/Lewisham to the Bromley, Dartford and Bexley Grammar Schools. Your child would need high scores however in the various tests. Travel would also be an hour via tube then train.

Its worth visiting next year, especially if you are considering moving, the schools may want you to wait until year 6, but really that's too late. London schools are good though often above average results. I admit I fibbed to some schools to visit in year 5 without my child, but was very glad I did. My son really needed me to have a plan by the end of year 5.

How is Platanos College these days? It has an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted.

St Olaves grammar in Orpington doesn’t have a catchment area, after looked after children and up to 10 Pupil Premium boys (free school meals in past six years and ex forces), it takes in order of rank in the entrance exam. Trains from the Elephant to Orpington about every 10 minutes.

Oasis southbank is a brilliant school

Might be worth a look at Whitgift/Old Palace as they have pretty substantial scholarship and bursary funds - straight down the Northern Line to Balham and train to East/South Croydon. Usually a big gang getting the train so its quite good for socialising.

My son is at st thomas the apostle in se15 and we've been extremely pleased. My dh is on the slt of a local private school and he has been extremely impressed with stac. We also have two younger girls so will need to cast around elsewhere for them.

I should add that one of the lures of stac for us is the emphasis on discipline, which my ds really needs. The first few weeks were a huge shock to him in terms of discipline and expectations, but he is now very happy there.

My DD and I visited CoLA Southwark for their 6th form evening last month and were really impressed. Excellent talk from the Head, engaged students and teachers clearly passionate about their subjects. Appreciate this isn't Y7 but based on my experience I would have great confidence in sending my DD to the school

"St Olaves grammar in Orpington doesn’t have a catchment area, after looked after children and up to 10 Pupil Premium boys (free school meals in past six years and ex forces), it takes in order of rank in the entrance exam. Trains from the Elephant to Orpington about every 10 minutes."

It's the old Southwark Cathedral grammar school, and it's a well-funded C16 foundation in modern buildings with an indoor pool and other good facilities. (An old boy went on to found Harvard University!) We were very happy with it.

This is so helpful, thank you everyone.