Where is a strategic place to move to in south London for secondary options

[LDNmeetsSurrey]

We're currently in Purley (Croydon Borough) and will have outgrown our home in a couple of years; right about the time we'll be picking a secondary for our DD (our DS will be a couple of years behind).

We're trying to assess where is not completely bonkers financially yet is well placed for single sex (one for DD and DD) or coed options.

From our current location in Purley, we'd maybe (catchment has narrowed)) get into coed Riddlesdown Collegiate which seems fairly well respected, "outstanding" but is placed at 866 academically by Locrating and is quite a large school. Yet last year we would have been one street out so not certain by any means.

By comparison, Wallington girls (Sutton borough), is no. 192 and Wilsons (also Sutton borough) no.13 we could just about drive to (would be a pain of a commute though.)

We would still (I think) be included in the Sutton Grammar catchment from where we are, but I'm wondering is there somewhere else - Kingston perhaps - that would be more strategic to move to that would offer us some coed state options that are well regarded (Eg Grey Court School, up at no.335) as a back up but leaves the grammar option open, eg. Tiffin? The Croydon borough is also really struggling with a failed transformation of the town centre, a bankrupt council and crime that makes the headlines - so growth on a property here is smaller than almost everywhere in London meaning that gap will only widen if we delay moving for a few years.

Kingston is much pricier than Purley - but it's not as costly as missing out on a decent school and feeling compelled to go Independent (which it would be a real struggle to afford for two kids). Would that be a good location for multiple school options? Where else? Feel like I've scoured every league table and catchment map and now can't see the wood for the trees!

>atmosphere seems great and the kids I know who go there are happy, safe and thriving.

What about the bullying? How do they deal with bullying?
There is only one thing which I don't like in Turing and that is the fact that they don't offer wider range of languages. Only Spanish

For balance in the Kingston discussion, we are really happy with Teddington. After visiting the school and doing a LOT of research/speaking to locals with first hand experience, we decided to put TKA below Teddington, despite being in catchment for TKA. It’s interesting how some people can love a school and others not. We know a lot of people who loved TKA on paper but in reality were put off. Likewise we know others who were willing to move a few hundred metres to guarantee their place there. Open days are really helpful and might be worth going to later in the year to help with your choice. No school is perfect. We loved Grey court but were just out of catchment. They have just had an ofsted so that may help shed some light. But again, you need to be within 2.7km walking distance to get in there.

@LDNmeetsSurrey where did you go for in the end?

For Richmond schools the ultimate place is Strawberry Hill.

Is it?! I live in and love Strawberry Hill and i really don’t think so.

If you have a daughter, you need to study the Waldegrave catchment really carefully. We’re over by SH House and most years we would be outside their primary catchment (Area A). Boys and not-Waldegrave-girls are only in catchment for Turing House, which is a bus ride from Stanley Road unless Catholic enough for St RR. All but one of the 10 or so secondary-aged children on our street goes to Turing House.

Turing House is a good school but no where near Strawberry Hill. I think it’s very unfair that you are forced to send your child across the borough just because they couldn’t find a suitable site within the catchment area they were meant to be providing for

From Twickenham Green it's 17 minutes by public transport and 10 minutes by safe cycle route. That's closer than Teddington school, which is where Trafalgar children used to go under the linked primary school admissions system before it was dropped.

I didn’t know that about Trafalgar. My son went to infants there for a while before we moved and most of the kids went to Orleans Park from there but I guess the catchment has gotten smaller over the years.

The linked primary school system was dropped about 10-12 years ago. Before that, Trafalgar kids had an admission policy link to Teddington (which was considered better than Orleans Park back then). After it was dropped, more Trafalgar kids went to Orleans Park. But now, the Orleans Park catchment has shrunk so much, Trafalgar kids are mostly split between Turing House, Richmond upon Thames School, Twickenham School and Teddington School.

... and Waldegrave for girls of course.

I am afraid you are not correct. Here is screenshot of 2024 patterns of admissions. Nothern Strawberry Hill is in Orlean Park Catchment and Southern is in Waldergrave catchment.
Also you are in Teddington catchment.
And this is only the list from National Offer Day. Not yet including the results from waiting list. Waldergrave shows a lot of movement this year as already several kids from our class have got an offer as a result of waiting list.
Turing is simply a popular choice because they had the best GCSE results in the borough.

Forgot to attach it. Expand the image to see Waldergrave etc

@Turquoiseturtle3

We know a lot of people who loved TKA on paper but in reality were put off.

Why is that? Did they provide any specifics? TKA has certainly better GCSE results and is more cosy than a very large Teddington school. Teddington school has certainly good facilities but they come up with strange ideas at times e.g. only 15 min to go to toilet during the school day. 🤦🏼‍♀️This way they wanted to control the damage to the toilets.😄 Parents opposed and now it is back to normal 😀

Some of the points in general - Didn’t like the feel of the school. The head teacher was a complete ball buster - I’m sure she gets good results but we didn’t warm to her at all. Limited outside space ant breaks and poor sport facilities. Surrounded by concrete. The school itself is compact so they have corridors through classrooms which isn’t ideal. People believe it’s going to be a north Kingston bubble with well behaved “middle class” kids but in reality it isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great school but these are some of the smaller points when deciding between very good schools. We know parents of kids there and they love it. And equally we know lots of parents Teddington who also love it. We are lucky to have these schools close by.

If a child is a sporty type then definitely Teddington with its amazing sport facilities and extracircular clubs will be a much better choice. Also for the kids who love drama and music. They have theatre and music bands there. But for a typical nerd not into sports TKA may be a better choice.