Hi I am in the process of looking at secondary school options for my eldest. As I have never been through this process before, I wondered if there are any pieces of advice / viewpoints from those of you with secondary age children? Especially those with children in local schools.
(Please I would really prefer this not to turn into a debate about grammar schools if that’s ok!)
Many thanks, from a secondary school newbie…!
Go and see them is number one for me. We did this last year and one of the highly regarded ones really didnt impress. Also, take negativity with a pinch of salt. What one person may hate another may like. A school we were dead set against a few years ago now teaches our eldest who started there last week.
We went to lots of open days. Lots and lots. The thing that swung it for me was really heart over head, but my heart was right. I went for a formerly failing school that was improving but still not high on the league tables. It was the last school I visited and I was immediately drawn to the atmosphere in the school - warm, inviting and calm, even when classes were changing over and the corridors were swarming with teenagers.
The clincher for me was the head teacher. He had a burning passion for the school. Had been there himself as a kid, taught there in his early days as a teacher, came back as head. Lived locally. He loved the school. He cared passionately about the kids. But he was also incredibly ambitious for the school - for the sake of the kids. He had a plan. He understood the strategies that could give the kids and the schools the best chance of succeeding in a complex system. His staff adored him. So did the kids, even when he was driving them mad.
That was seven years ago. It is now in the top ten of all secondary schools in England. Outstanding according to Ofsted. Latest GCSEs were the top in the borough. 100% pass rate this year at A-level in a sixth-form that didn’t even exist six years ago.
I took a big risk. My kids are very academically able. I could have sent them to a selective school. I chose a school which looked dodgy on the league tables, where the buildings are literally falling down, in a dodgy area of SW London. It was the best decision I ever made.
Yes I am doing the visits but there is so much to take in! I am not sure how much choice you really get anyway but I want to make sure that every school I have put down I have actually visited!
I recall feeling exactly the same when I was visiting secondary schools back in the day, for my own choosing. Worked out the same way for me. Just felt at home when I walked into the right one. All the others felt “wrong” even the private ones.
I agree on the choice issue. Unless your child displays a real star quality in sport, arts, music etc I dont think it makes a difference. We were told by one school that they looked at all music students on a level playing field then asked them in to do a one hour test. My daughter had had a sum total of 4 lessons by that stage. Level playing field, Not!
That said, we were offered two of the top three schools on our list. All were close to us!!
However, we are very lucky to live in an area with some very very good secondary schools.
You don’t get a ‘choice’. You get to express a preference. All the talk of parental choice is misleading.
Yes, but that’s the way it’s presented to parents. At the talk I heard today, it was all about ‘we are the best school, make the right choice for your child by choosing us’. But in reality, you don’t get a choice, it’s down to luck (especially when schools have different entry criteria!).
That said I have heard lots of good things about the main secondaries here. I think it’s just the single-sex aspect which puts people off as many people prefer co-ed.
Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. We’re told we are choosing, with all the stress of needing to make the best decision. But much of it is out of our hands.
For what it’s worth, we live opposite Forest Hill Boys school and they are very well behaved coming in and out of the school and in the playground at break
I heard St Dunstans got their best ever GCSE results this year
http://www.stdunstans.org.uk/media/news/article/1691/SDC-secure-their-BEST-EVER-GCSE-results-
Worth looking at 
Hmm maybe if I won the lottery…
You can’t judge a SELECTIVE school against non-selective by GCSE headline figures. Maybe it just means they selected an exceptionally bright cohort this time.
I’ve one daughter who thrived at a Brockley school after a terrible experience elsewhere. Now doing visits again with youngest daughter who will have a sibling place but we visiting in case she prefers elsewhere.
We definitely don’t chose as parents but we are surrounded by good schools here.
Would you mind me asking which schools you refer to as very good?
We’re thinking of moving from west dulwich, where we have been fortunate to get into a brilliant primary school to Forest Hill where some of our friends live (with their young families). When exploring Forest Hill there seems to be really good selection of Primary schools but I’m really confused about secondary schools in the area.
Hope you don’t mind me asking. Thanks.
The thing to remember about secondary schools is that you don’t have to stay local and not all operate their admission policy according to catchment areas. So the process is quite different to getting into a primary school. You’ll be casting your net wider than just the local area. When we applied for my kids, we applied to some in central London, others in Greenwich, Crystal Palace, New Cross, Ladywell, Purley…
Having said that, we do have two good secondary schools in the area, one for boys and one for girls and I’m sure some members with experience of those schools will be along to share their experiences.
Truthfully all of the secondary schools are good. We were very happy with Sydenham girls (daughter was as well ). She was also offered Kingsdale but we went for Sydenham primarily as it was a lot easier to get to. I was very impressed when going to all the schools with the exception of Haberdashers New Cross, and that was just a gut feel.
I think many of us can recognise that visit you describe very precisely. I think be careful of schools that parade their straight A students and expect new year 7 kids who don’t know any different to say “this is the best school ever”. In fact most of the kids at secondary schools haven’t been to another one but are expected (pushed?) to say that the school that they are at is the best. This is clearly a load of rubbish. They can say “the transition was well managed” or “I feel happy here” but comparators when those being asked to say don’t have any other experience are to be taken with a sack of salt IMHO. Having said that sometimes you do have to see past the headteacher/tour rhetoric.
When I was visiting secondary schools I wanted to know how children at all ability levels did. I wanted to meet children that weren’t just those who were selected to show parents round and to say that they are the best students. I wanted a rounded picture.
They are different but I think we went round looking at where we and importantly our son were most comfortable with. One of the schools we went to my son said “please don’t send me there, its just not me” so that was fine.
Good luck!
The next question you have to think about is whether you are happy to put more Schools on your application form even through it means your child will probably have to take tests at schools they will never go to…
Another thing to look out for - most schools offer opening evenings or weekend visits. The one we eventually went for also had tours during the school day. I got to really feel the atmosphere in the school and see kids in real lessons. That made a huge difference.
Thank you all so much jumping in the conversation. One of the things that was most important for me when choosing primary was to get a feel of the parents; that they were diverse, not too pushy and overal good people who will raise ‘good’ kids.
Lots of work ahead but I’m relying quite confident. much appreciated!