Advice on outstanding State schools around Barnet , Finchley for my Daughter

[Suisan07]

Can anyone advice are there any state secondary school near barnet which are Outstanding for my Daughter.
All grammar school comes with catchment criteria, please advice if there are state schools which are around barnet, finchley, Mill hill areas.
Thanks in advance

@lookbook321 which stuff I mentioned in the thread you consider as "make up"

Everything I mentioned above is based on quoted sources and official statistics (Ofsted rating/FOI on school admission info/former students comment on reddit). Your accusation that I’m making things up is completely baseless.

What evidence you comment back up your view in this thread ? None

Also I disagree with your view that 'one could fairly say that one environment is more academic than another,' because that’s not how I define what makes a school academic. Any school that consistently selects students competitively at intake will find it hard not to get good exam results, i doubt you can find any exception.

However, this alone doesn't make it an academic environment. An academic school is defined not just by outcomes, but by a culture that values intellectual curiosity, depth of learning, high-quality teaching, and meaningful academic challenge. It actively nurtures students’ thinking -

Mediocre teaching and simply leaving students to study under pressure on their own doesn’t sound academic to me at all.

My kids are/have been at Archer which is excellent, but I don't think you'll get in from Mill Hill, we were lucky to get in from Finchley Central.
Mill Hill County was on list for our oldest, good for arts/music but have heard varied things about it
DH's niece and nephew are at Compton and seem to be doing very well there.

@PreplexJ - I think it’s false/made up to heavily imply that intake stats for a school suggest something negative about a school. Girls who get offers for HB will likely get offers from several schools as they’ll be super bright, and they’ll then make a choice at that stage as to where they go. That doesn’t SAY anything concrete about the actual education within the school - because those girls haven’t yet been educated there! They may decide they want co-ed or somewhere that offers particular sports or somewhere the commute is less - so many personal factors influence school choice at that age.

Equally, if a school consistently gets top results and dozens into Oxbridge each year - as HB does, there’s your ‘evidence’, look at the league tables! - one can safely call that school ‘academic’.

That doesn’t mean it’s a ‘better’ school or a nicer school or whatever - indeed results aren’t everything as I already said, and it’s well known that HB is academically pressured. It won’t be the right choice for some girls, but might well be the right choice for others. I’m sure the OP and her daughter can make an informed choice…

@lookbook321 false/made up to heavily imply that intake stats

I didn’t make any of this up — the intake statistics and Ofsted ratings ARE LATEST factual information.

I also mentioned that these families received offers, visited the schools, and likely spoke with teachers and students to make more informed decisions. These are all reasonable assumptions. One can certainly use this as a point of reference, reflecting how a group of parents consistently perceive the school year after year. Any sensible prospective parent would take that into account too.

I also acknowledged that for these families the decision to choose other schools can be influenced by many factors — possibly some of those you mentioned above, but by no means a minor proportion. However, at the very least, these parents weighed those factors and decided what seemed most suitable for their children, even we knew their children are academically strong. So to my initial response to someone comments on "could get more outstanding than HB" I think I gave enough counter points.

I don’t understand why you view such logical choices and factual information as negative or made up.

It won’t be the right choice for some girls, but might well be the right choice for others.

Well then I'm not sure what you defending against all along.

But @PreplexJ - I’m not saying your facts are false - I’m saying it’s a false assumption to suggest those intake stats mean anything about the school itself, when there are so many reasons why a child might choose one school over another. Think about it - my eldest just did his UCAS form - you put down 5 university choices there. His entire year just did the same. You might well find a uni among them that’s no-one’s first choice. Does it necessarily follow that particular uni is ‘worse’ than the other ones? Of course it doesn’t! It’s a silly argument!

Ofsted - personally I think it’s a blunt tool. I know schools get downgraded for various reasons which may or may not be relevant to pupils and parents. Again, it’s about interpreting things sensibly and making an informed judgement.

It seems you’re reacting to anyone who dares to presume that a highly competitive grammar that consistently gets among the best results in the UK probably is a pretty decent school. Like I’ve said, results aren’t everything, the school is known to be highly pressured, and it may or may not be the right environment for everyone. But to suggest it’s terrible based on who takes up places (or not), Reddit posts and a downgraded ofsted rating is really misguided and unhelpful for the OP imo.

Would you mind sharing what you heard about Mill Hill county high?

And has 3000 applicants for 90 places.

It was a while ago now, but I did hear some suggestions that behaviour could be an issue. That was 7 years ago though, so could have changed completely.

Thank you

I wouldn’t dismiss Henrietta on the basis of the Ofsted rating alone. It’s an excellent school, and when my daughter was offered a place we were absolutely over the moon. she’s now in Year 9 and thriving there.

Hello! Would be so grateful for any help. We have 2 children and looking potentially to relocate to N21/Lakers estate area.
lots of confusion about secondary school attachment! Can I ask, if kids don’t get into Southgate or winchmore, where does Enfield council allocate them?! Thanku sooooo much!!

*lakes rather

In any of the schools in the borough with spaces, possibly Laurel (formerly Broomfield)