Greenwich/Bromley Secondary school

[EllyGi]

My daughter is in Y5 and I started looking at local schools. We are in Greenwich Borough and am also looking at Bromley/Bexley as they are close enough, although all schools in Bromley seem oversubscribed, so unlikely to make it there.

All schools I look at have horrible reviews - bullying, constant issues etc. Is there any good school or can someone calm me down that is no all gloom?

My daughter is super shy, not academic, quite sporty. I'm scared she won't fit in anywhere. :(

Any words of advice?

What schools have you looked at or do you think you have a chance of getting in? It's definitely not all gloom, I've heard good things about Eltham Hill, Harris girls in Bromley, Townley if 11+ is an option.

Leigh Academy Blackheath also has a good reputation. When you say you're 'looking at reviews' who are you speaking to or where are you seeing these 'reviews'? It's human nature for people to give reviews when they're unhappy (or very happy) so a handful of people can give quite a skewed perception.

I know many people with DC at Greenwich secondary schools who are quite happy with their choices. Their DC are thriving and most prefer secondary to primary. There are so many after school clubs to join (lots have very good sports facilities).

It can be an anxious time, transferring to secondary school but honestly, most children are absolutely fine. In September/October you and your DD will be able to start visiting them and you will be able to see for yourself.

Thank you.

I am doing mainly Google searches and across mumsnet. :)

So after some digging the closest schools would be Eltham Hill, Crown Woods and then in Bromley Chislehurst school for girls and Coopers. Possibly Harris Academy Greenwich but I'm unable to find more than 1 year catchment so I'm not sure. I'm about 1.6-1.8 miles from all these schools :(

I'm anxious as it seems all schools have tiny catchment and the ones with larger catchment obviously are not popular for a reason.

My DD hates the idea of girls school as well but the reality is the closest schools within catchment seem to be exactly girl schools.

We can't really move I don't want to move because of a school but can't believe just now it hit me that schools are so overly subscribed and it seems we are in the middle of nowhere.

Oh my ... :(

I am fairly local to you, and have heard excellent things about Eltham Hill. In fact it was our first preference, but we live a little too far away. Go and visit it! Also, Chislehurst Girls blew me away on open evening. Was our 3rd choice... if we lived closer it would be our number 1.

PS Chislehurst Girls catchment is not massive, was 2.5-ish in 2023, Eltham Hill is smaller, I think around 1.5miles but you could put them down and get a waiting list place potentially.
Our school of choice, Bullers, was out of catchment and we just got offered a waiting list place and are over the moon.

Bullers is 1.6 miles so think we are way out of catchment. :(

How does it work with the waiting list? If you for example get your number 3 on your list you go to waiting list in 1 and 2 and if a place becomes available they let you know?

Also how many schools is normal to visit. My list is more than 5 so feel like this will be too overwhelming.

I know people who visited a lot, so it really varies with how many times visit. You could visit some yourself to get a feel for them and then go back with your child if they've got a few open days on. I know our primary Head used to beg parents not to take their kids out on endless visits. You do get six choices in London so I think visiting at least six isn't unreasonable. Especially if you're in an area where you don't have a clear choice of school.

Keep an open mind on schools. There are always bad reviews and schools often struggle to shake off out dated views on how good they are. Go and visit with an open mind, make your own decisions about what you like and don't like.

With waiting lists, if you get offered any choice below you're first you should be automatically put on the waiting list for any higher choices. Then if a place becomes available they let you know and you can choose to accept or not. My DD got a waiting list place in the summer holidays so it can take a while but there is movement.

I'd say the most important thing is to have one school on your list that you will definitely get a place at, even if you don't love it. It's better to get the nearby school that you don't love than be given a place at a school the other side of the borough that you don't love.

@TeenScreenQueen thank you! This helps a lot!

I live in the area and have a DS starting in Sept. We did 11+ so he's going to a Bexley Grammar school but we toured a lot of schools in Sept/Oct:
Harris Falconwood
Crown Woods
Harris Greenwich
Bexley Grammar
Beth's (all boys)
Chis and Sid

I've also heard great things about Eltham Hill locally also interestingly there's been a massive decrease in the girls going there this year from DS' primary. Usually a lot go there. Crown Woods is definitely where most kids are heading in Sept - boys and girls. Quite a few have older siblings who loved it there and declined grammar school 6th form places to stay there.

Harris Falconwood also really well regarded locally. Greenwich reviews seem a bit more mixed.

Honestly go to all the open mornings (not the open evening which are useless) and just get a sense of them.

@DanceTheDevilBackIntoHisHole thank you! Ya Crown woods is the school of choice for her primary as well but we are 1.8 miles from there. Also they do banding so I'm lost with how to judge her chances to get in.

Harris Falconwood is not on my list actually so thank you will have a look.

Does anyone know anything about Coopers? Seems to have very mixed reputation.

The Greenwich council website shows the distances in each Crown Woods band on a map. It's usually bigger than that but certain bands are outliers (typically at each end of the spectrum).

Ya I saw the distances they are between 2 and 3 km which doesn't help as it's such a huge range. Also so annoying they measure in km. :D

Ah. Hadn't twigged that your post was in miles 😄

I also know that one of the bands shrank massively for 2024 intake so you'll need to get the updated info. But also I think numbers begin to fall from this year. It's all so unpredictable!

Well we shall see :) worst case scenario she will go to girls school and hate me forever. 😅🤣

Greenwich Free School? Too strict for my kids, but if you have a compliant child they won't get into trouble themselves, and won't have lessons disrupted by poor behaviour either

Catchment is 1.5 km. We live about 4 km away so no point even putting it on the form. :)

maybe worth a waiting list place? There is a high turn over - it isn't for everybody and chatty or disruptive pupils quite often move on

She is a very quiet girl and can't focus or work when it's noisy so sounds perfect for her. I will add it to our list. Thank you :)

I'm approx 1.6miles away from Bullers... like 1.65 or something.
So we had the following as top 3...

1. Eltham Hill
2. Chislehurst Girls
3. Bullers.

We got offered Chis Girls but my daughter changed her mind about Bullers as her classmates are going. So after offers day (when we were offered Chis Girls) I emailed admissions and asked to go on Bullers waiting list.
I got emailed this week offering her a place at Bullers!

We have no chance at getting into Eltham Hill as we're over 2 miles away. We're no 58 in the waiting list.

Feel free to pm me if you want to chat about the schools or admissions process.

Other schools we considered:
Bromley Harris Girls
Kingsdale (no catchment criteria, is a lottery system with scholarships)

I've heard good things about Ravensbourne lately but I've not seen it myself.

Wow! What a cool feel good story!!!

I am glad I posted here. I learnt so much so thank you all for the invaluable info!

I'm from abroad so have 0 clue on the school system so it's a huge learning curve for me. :)

Prendergast girls have 10% intake based on musical ability, if your daughter is musical. Great school and depending where in Greenwich you are could be accessible.

Oh lord, your ears will bleed this how bad she is singing lollll thanks though :)