Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Secondary School Recommendations/Admissions
I know I'm beginning to think about this about a year ahead of when I need to but I'm beginning to ponder the options for secondary school for No. 1 son.....
We had a wretched time with the primary school admission process (had to wait 2.5 years for a school place within walking distance) so any recommendations around the quality of schools and the admissions process for secondary schools would be very useful.
We live on Umfreville Road so I am anticipating that we would end up being offered a place at Park View although Gladesmore would be easier to access by overground. Has anyone on the ladder managed to get a place there? Or does anyone have anything good or bad to say about Park View? Hornsey School for Girls is out (he won't go to school in a dress no matter how much I bribe him) and as a non-believer, I am not keen on religious schools.
Any information gratefully accepted.......
Tags for Forum Posts: schools
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Antoinette on
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So may I ask where you live and whether Park View was your first choice. I'm loathe to use the word "choice" after our primary school admission experience (of not getting into the school 4 streets away or any of our "choices"). Being able to express a preference is not the same as "choice". You get what you're given and there is bugger all you can do about it (rant over).
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Your right about it being a preferance.
We live on Woodlands park road, so park Veiw is our closest secondary.
When choosing preferance, as I said, we took our son to look at eight schools including Skinners, heartlands, Grieg city, Woodside, IAMs, Park Veiw and Gladesmore.
We didn't think we had a chance at Gladesmore but on the open evening I ended up talking to a teacher who, it turned out , was their admissions officer.
When I mentioned that I didn't think we had a slugs chance in a salt bath of going there he told me that, in that particular year there was a smaller than usual cohort of children so if we wanted to go there we had a very good chance. as I said earlier, we got our son to make and keep adjusting a league of the schools he preferred.
Park Veiw was the final school we looked at and he was sold on it. As we were.
In the end I think his top three were 1 Park View, 2 skinners and 3 IAMs all of which we were more than happy with.. So it was his choice in the end.
When it came to Miss H , she insisted that she should have the same chance of looking around and we did the same for her. Her first choice was Park Veiw with Hornsey a close second, so that's what we put on the preferance forms.
Both have been very happy and we never regretted letting them have their say.
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I forgot to say,
As you get closer to preferance time you'll find there will be some peer pressure from class mates. ' I'm going here - you should come as well!! '' Heartlands was the big thing at time my eldest changed school.
We found that visiting the schools really helped counter some of that, and opened his eyes to the possibilities .
Your going to be fine! And as Liz says below three months in and you'll wonder what the fuss was about.
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Thank you so much. And to everyone else for their contributions. Really good to hear people's experiences. I feel marginally less vexed!
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I checked the stats for Gladesmore. Their "last offered place" hasn't gone over a mile in years and we are 2 miles away. Also, there was apparently a population blip in my son's year, which is why the catchment area for South Harringay dropped to under 200 yards (and yes, I actually measured it!). That population blip may have levelled out a bit due to the fluid nature of the population in this area but won't have dropped off totally. I think we realistically have to write off both Gladesmore and Highgate Wood (3 miles away) on distance grounds. By the way, I loved your comment about the "slug's chance in a salt bath". Very funny - I've been using it ever since!
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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My daughter goes to PV and we are very happy with it. She is making good academic progress with teachers she likes and there is a wide range of extra-curricular activities. The music dept is brilliant. There are a fair few children from the Ladder going there now and it is also popular with Chestnuts kids. She has made some lovely friends and the pastoral care is strong.
Go have a look. In the end, you know your own child best and what will suit him. Make your choice based on that and ignore pretty much everything else! There is a lot of talk (panic) in year 6 but trust me after the first term in secondary school, you'll not remember what all the fuss was about!
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Thanks Liz. I'm genuinely rather concerned about taking my son to visit the schools as if he falls in love with one particular school, I can make him absolutely no promises that he will get the place he wants. If the "choice" isn't actually a real choice at all, perhaps it's kinder not to involve him directly and make an informed and well-researched choice for him. I feel so scarred by our primary school admission problems, I'm really not sure what is for the best.
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It's not necessary to take him in year 5 at all. Go round and get a feel for the schools. In year 6 she went to our top 3 choices: PV; Greig City and Hornsey on the Open Days - all schools she could have got a place in. I agree about raising unrealistic expectations. In the end, she got the place that was both a realistic choice and one we were all happy with but all the schools I've just named had their strong points - GC is v strong on STEM for example- and I would have been happy for her to attend any of them.
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Excuse my ignorance but what's STEM?
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