Views on Harris Bromley pls (Girls)?

[baggyjeansnow]

It’s our local school, but we’ve heard mixed reviews. Our daughter is quite shy and academic. We loved Harris Beckenham but we maybe out of its tiny catchment!

The issue you've got is "fair banding" makes it almost impossible to work out if your child would get in or not (both schools) so you need a credible 2nd option.

I liked it at open evening but decided neither Harris could be first choice or second due to fair banding.

Lucky I didn't as DD was band 8 of 9!

Rachel Reeves went there i believe. Before it became an academy though. Make of that what you will!

DD is in year 9 there and enjoying it. I have no idea where she was the banding test - but we had 2nd and 3rd choices we would have been happy with if she hadn't got in. She has made good friends and likes most of her teachers. There was a point last year when she was struggling with maths and we felt they weren't supporting her enough so we started doing more with her at home (their online homework system has the option for doing extra non-compulsory lessons). That's not enough of a negative to regret our choice though. She's doing ok again now tho and still doing the extra (in preparation for putting extra effort in GCSE years).

Their uniform policy was a big plus for me - the only compulsory logo items are the blazer, PE t-shirt and jumper, non of which are particularly expensive. There is a jumper which can only be bought in one shop, but wearing it is not compulsory. Everything else can be bought from supermarkets or high street shops. Shirts are short sleeve and flat collar with no ties so alot comfier than some other schools.

They have good extra curricular clubs, go on good class trips etc. Overall, DD is happy which is a huge part of the battle with teens.

I thought admission it was pretty much random? Am I reading it wrong?

No it's not random.

They all sit an 11+ style test and are then "banded" according to the scores (on a bell curve supposedly, although some kids will be familiar with that kind of test and some won't). Then the admissions distances vary by which band you're in: wider for middle bands.

Ah - it seems to have changed since we applied in 2023 and to now be random within the bands.

So no chance at all of figuring out if your child would get in!

Although presumably the distances work out to be somewhat similar to Harris Beckenham.