Fortismere, SMMA, Highgate wood - 2026 entry

[ByDenimNewt]

My DD is starting secondary this year, we currently have an offer at Highgate Wood (our closest school) but she is very high on the waiting list for Mary Mags and Fortismere (almost definitely will get offered a place at both soon). I'm very torn about what to do - she liked Fortismere but I'm worried that it's too big and also about the upcoming building work. I liked Mary Mags but she isn't keen on the journey or the uniform. I feel quite stuck and scared of making the wrong choice. Does anyone have any recent insight into any of these schools? Which would you choose?

Family who have taught and have friends teaching in north London say that Highgate is better in terms of behaviour management policies and support of SEND students. Fortismere is better in terms of exam result and extra curricular activities. Fortismere isn’t as good when it comes to dealing with behaviour issues and supporting SEND students.

Thanks, that's helpful! Highgate Wood is our local school, so part of me is thinking I should just go with that. It isn't clear to me that SMMA or fortismere would be miles better choices

Unless you have asked to go on the waiting list for the two schools as a change of preference or new applications, you did originally rank them above the school offered on your CAF. Looking back at why this was, does the offered achool still rank below them for those particular reasons? Things like 'gets better results' - is that even though the overall and spread of prior attainment for the cohort you are looking at is more or less identical for each school, or are there differences - if the 'best' school had the highest proportion of mid, and especially low, prior attainment than the other schools, all of them with a similar 'non-mobile population' at KS4, then yes, perhaps there is a difference in the quality of the teaching. But if the 'best' school has a weirdly high proportion of high prior attainment for a comprehensive school and hardly any low, then...

If the things which led you to rank the other achools higher do still apply, then it's reasonable to stay on the waiting lists, but if not, there is a big advantage to going to a decent school practically on the doorstep, rather than adding in an extra commute. Plus, better for your DD to go nto induction day etc with the mindset of This is my school, rather than, I'm only here until something better turns up?
(Caveat - I have no personal knowledge of any of the schools).

My daughter is at Fortismere and started in year 7 September 2025. For background she was always slightly on the quieter side but fairly academic / able to organise herself. We were new to the area so she didn’t know anyone. She has made a lot of friends and I’ve found it to be a very sociable school. This was important to me in balance with results, that she has fun and has creative options. She’s doing well academically but it’s hard for me to say how much that’s because of the school and how much she’s still cruising on her previous strengths at this stage. I’ve heard that kids who can organise themselves do well at Fortismere but if they struggle in that respect then it’s tough as the school does not brief the parents much so you’re not involved with reminding them etc. It is a big school but my daughter has adapted well after being at a very small primary. There is good pastoral support. Lots of clubs. The school has a PTA and does lots of events so the parents come together too e.g comedy night, summer fair. I’d say it’s a good balanced option. We also looked at Highgate Wood and I didn’t feel it was as warm, but that’s a lot down to personal feeling. EDIT: I should also add I was put off by the fact that at Highgate wood they make Religious Education a compulsory GCSE and you don’t get a choice on which language you take. Fortismere had a broader range of subjects at GCSE, language choice and their RE is Philosophy, Religion & Ethics which my daughter is loving.

This is a very helpful perspective - thank you! the reason we ranked Fortismere higher in the first place was because of the 'warmth' factor + seems to offer more extracurriculars, so good to know that this has played out in practice!

No experience of F or of HW but we are at SMMA and very happy with it so far. Their focus on MFL was a big draw for us. The atmosphere is good, energetic but not rowdy. I expected some behaviour issues in classrooms as part of moving to high school but it seems surprisingly little.

There is quite an emphasis on kindness and community - it is a CofE based school - it is not a Christian intake but there is an element of that which may not suit. E.g. Christmas service in the Church and a line from the Bible each week in the newsletter.

The school are good on comms. For whole school matters there are letters home via email and some of these are clearly stood up quickly e.g. letters same day about something during the day etc. Individual teachers are contactable and responsive - I have only emailed one this year but they called me the next day to discuss the matter, that was helpful.

I would say they do not do many school trips (at least in Y7), which may be important to you. They do though have activities week at year end which is really i suppose a week of school trips. And I know further up the school there are overseas language trips. And even in Y7 there have been mini-trips (e.g. Chinese New Year in China Town for Mandarin students). The building is quite new.

For sports, their top focus seems to be football, cricket and hockey. All Y7 students are provided with a violin and have weekly music lessons as a class and access to Saturday orchestra + Wednesday orchestra in school (no charge). In Y7 they also have weekly drama lessons with a dedicated drama teacher. Plenty of clubs before, during and after school. They have in the past been very active about partnering with local businesses, so for example they have strong links with the Almeida and a cohort of Y7 taking part in an Almeida workshops programme this year. There are a number of other programmes like that, e.g. another cohort of Y7 have taken part in a bookclub programme with authors coming into school each month to discuss their books with them.

Sorry this is maybe all just little details but in case that is useful to you.

To add - the catchment for SMMA is very small so I agree with your daughter about the journey as she would not have many friends doing it with her. Also, about the uniform, even when it is hot the children must have their blazers with them even when they have been told okay not to actually wear them because of the heat! So your daughter if she already is not happy about the idea of a uniform might find that very irritating. It sounds like the other two schools are really happy schools too, I hope your daughter will have a great experience wherever you choose.

Thanks very much for the detailed response! The language element is a big part of the draw for us too, so definitely worth thinking about.. Good point about the small catchment, i guess the % of children who get in via the test route is pretty small, and no guarantee that any of the others would live near us anyway. Would also be an awkward journey, and involve catching a bus from the side of Finsbury park station I usually try to avoid myself!