Secondary schools in Haringey

[T1na22]

Hello! Looking at secondary schools for daughter in Haringey. She is not as mature as other kids her age, and may have SEN needs, awaiting assessment. I want a school that looks after kids' wellbeing, not just focused on academics. And not too rough. I have Park View, Heartlands, Mulberry Woodside, Greig City, Hornsey around. Would appreciate insight and advice.

Heartlands or PV out of those. What assessment are they waiting for?

DS1 has recently finished his GCSEs at Park View and is very sad that they didn't have a sixth form that he could stay in, but he got offers from all 5 of the places that he applied to and was dithering between his preferred two until the first week of term. DS2 is now in year 10.

I like the fact that they have a relatively stable workforce compared to some other schools which treat staff badly and have a worrying turnover.

Is she year 6 or year 5 - open mornings and evenings at Haringey secondary schools are coming up and some of them will probably be this month, though PV isn't until mid October.

She shows symptoms of PDA, refusing to shower, brush hair, follow bedtime. Also resistant to change, wears same colours, clothes, shoes. She is more hands-on in learning, doesn't understand abstract concepts, so hates studying too. SENCO referred her for assessment, saying she may be just on the border or not. But she's on waiting list, will take months. So want to choose secondary school accordingly.

She started Year 6. Yes I will go to the open days. She goes to Belmont Junior now, which is fantastic.

In that case PV. Heartlands and the other schools will be so strict

In my experience, Hornsey isn't strict. It is however, lacking in leadership with a huge staff turnover, loads of supply staff with poorly implemented policies. The head and chair of governors are as thick as thieves, so don't assume any channels of accountability.

Greig is a very well run school with a stable staff team. They run a tight ship behaviour wise but a supportive one. Worth speaking to the SENco.

Hello fellow Belmont parent 👋

We weren't impressed with park view (just visited today actually) - staff seemed jaded, as did the building / classrooms. We're probably going to go for Hornsey as we like the idea of a smaller and calmer setting, although I didn't warm massively to the head.

The school that made the best impression on me was probably greig city, but i think it might be too big / overwhelming / not academic enough for my daughter. The tour was great though and one of the Belmont Y6 parents is the deputy head at GC: he was very reassuring about their pastoral care. Difficult decision!!!!!

Thanks for your input. Yes, it's a difficult decision. So far I've seen Hornsey, Heartlands and Greig City and they all seemed quite good. O guess I'll focus on pastoral care.