Views on Latymer and comparison vs St Michael

[Lunamum]

Dear all,

I have been looking at the forum for the last few months and it has helped me immensely to understand the 11+ process and help my daughter prepare for the exams etc.

I am now posting for the first time to get your views and advice on our situation, which we are blessed to be in (as we have options) but also feels very stressful.

We are from Spain and live in central London - near Tower/London bridge. We were planned to move to the Muswell Hill area and were buying a house there (primarily for school reasons given we have two - girl and boy, and not a lot of options where we are). Unfortunately the house has now fallen through in the last month and a half and so we will not be able to buy it anymore.

My daughter has been fortunate enough to secure a place at Latymer and St Michael’s (didn’t make HBS). We are now in the situation where if we want to go for Latymer we would need to rent and move quickly as we are out of catchment from our current address.

Latymer was our favourite overall because it is coed and also it sounded less rigid or strict than st Michael’s where the head seemed to highlight the strictness every time we have been to it. The biggest drawback of Latymer was the commute did feel a bit long for someone used to walk to school in Spain (where the concept of selective state schools doesn’t exist). On the other hand girls at St Michael’s were extremely kind to us when we visited, although for some reason the one who showed us around seemed a bit sad. I also read really good things here about St Michael’s.

Our dilemma is whether it is worth to quickly move to a rented property in Bethnal Green area (to be close to current primary for my son) and be like that for a few years until we see where my son ends up - this would make my daughters commute 40-45 mins by overground (although for the live of me I cannot picture her going to school on her own in less than 1 year!). Our other option is to stay in our place (which we love!) and move only once we are clear about where my son ends. Commute to St Michael’s would be 60-65 mins by northern line, but my husband works in north London and so he could take her or at least do the first part (during rush hour!) with her in the tube which feels more resssuring to me at least to begin with.

If we end up moving to Muswell Hill, her commute to Latymer would not get much better as the 102 seems to take an awful lot of time too (around 45 mins) whereas St Michael would be better (25 mins).

As mentioned, on paper we favour Latymer given the coed aspect, less rigid environment and extracurricular activities (my daughter is very musical). But the commute seems too daunting and moving at short notice quite stressful. it sounds like st Michael is lovely too, just a bit more strict to what I would like maybe?

Given I don’t know anyone at either school, I would love to hear from parents there.

Thank you for your help and advice in advance!

[kenyancowgirl]

Welcome! I am sure the South East experts will be along soon. Sorry to hear the house fell through - if it had not, I am assuming you would have selected Latymer, despite the commute of around 45 minutes (which if it is on one bus, may not be as awful as it appears on paper - commuting in London by road is slow....!)? So the issue is now whether you can move in time for Latymer's deadline for catchment moves (which I do not know off the top of my head).

You need to get your CAF form in today asap. Is St Michael's a private school? An hour commute still sounds a long way so I am wondering, if it is not private, are you sure that you would get a place? I cannot really help but wish you luck and remind you that you do need to get your CAF in on time today otherwise all this will be a moot point.

[loobylou]

I don't have a child at either school although have friends with children at both (not sufficient to be able to answer your question about the schools though I have never heard anyone say that St Michael's is too strict. Hopefully parents from both will be along to advise).
It sounds as though you are definitely going to move regardless of which school your dd ends up in. So moving temporarily for Latymer, whilst stressful, isn't necessarily hugely more stressful than what you were already planning.
Muswell Hill is gorgeous but you are definitely paying a premium for being in catchment of Fortismere and/or Alexandra Palace school. I have no idea what the admissions criteria are for either school but it might be that you need to be living in catchment for a certain length of time prior to applying there - so waiting to see where your son goes might be a dangerous game (it might not but it's worth checking). If you're set on Muswell Hill then St Michaels is certainly an easier journey but unfortunately an hour on a bus is a fairly standard commute in London. I certainly know people who travel for 45-60 minutes for one of their nearest comprehensives.
If you're more flexible about where you move to, you could look at Finchley which is cheaper and would give you the choices of Finchley Catholic, Compton etc for your son should he need a non selective option. The commute to Latymer is done by lots of children from there. Barnet is another option which would make the commutes easier and - depending on where you live- there are some excellent non-selective options there too.
Good luck making your decision and I hope someone with more knowledge of the schools comes along soon!

[Daogroupie]

You have until January to move for Latymer.

I would stick with Latymer as both of your dcs can go there and if you managed to get your dd into the top 192 then you have a good chance of being able to do the same with your ds unless he is a very different student.

I just did a year with my dds at two different secondary schools and I found it very hard with constant clashes of concerts and other events.

I also did a year with one in secondary and one in primary but the year with two in different secondary schools was much much harder because of all the events they were involved in.

If your dd loves music then there will be lots of events that she will be involved in at Latymer. Is your ds also interested?

My dds are both very strong in music and are involved in a lot of events where there are students from Latymer but I have not ever heard them mention a student from St Ms so I think your dd would benefit more from the music at Latymer. Did she get a music place at Latymer?

Also St Ms students come from all over the place but you know that Latymer friends will be from the catchment which will make it very easy to socialise and it would be great for you to meet the parents at events like the quiz nights. I have been to a highly enjoyable quiz night at Latymer with friends who are parents there and I have also been to excellent concerts.

Latymer all the way. DG

[gulat]

Hi

A slightly different perspective:

St M
Pros
- It is a catholic school and catholicity plays a very important part in the life of the school. Weekly masses etc.
- Small school, I believe there are 96 children
- Girls appear relaxed and make friends as they come from different primary schools.
- There is visible competition between the girls. Ranks and marks are not shared between girls
- Children are generally well behaved and discipline taken seriously.
Cons
- Building work until 2020
- Like all selective secondary schools is financially constrained and request voluntary parent contribution
- If you take only one MFL in GCSE it has to be French.
- Uniform expensive

I dont have personal experience of Latymer but understand it is a much larger school (PAN 180) but understand from other forumites that they have a fantastic pastoral care.

Did you see both schools during open evening? Only you will be best placed to decide depending on your DD , house move and future planning for your DS.

[CestMoi]

St Michael's parent here.. We had offers at Latymer and DAO, but we picked St Michael's.

For me, the reasons were hard to define but about the "feel" of the school. It's a local school with most coming from the North/North West/North East London world. It is also very ethnically diverse - no single group dominates but there is fantastic representation from all ethnic backgrounds that reflects the Catholic world (Europe, South America, Africa, Asia). I was at the DAO open day last year and it was largely white. Diversity is important to this family.

gulat - the weekly mass is optional!!! There is a class rota and unless your DD's class is organising, they don't have to go! Mine certainly don't..

On the MFL side, the choice is French, Spanish and Italian because as of this year, German has been dropped. It is still possible to do Latin.

But these are all great schools and not as high pressure as QEB (which I won't consider for my sons) or HBS. I find that St M do everything in their power to dampen down the competition side (no streaming in the early years at all) and are largely successful. I am sure Latymer does this as well.

As I said, you can't go wrong either way.

[Amber]

Small school, I believe there are 96 children

That is in a school year, rather than in total, I gather.

[CestMoi]

St Michael's parent here.. We had offers at Latymer and DAO, but we picked St Michael's.

Correction - they weren't offers of course as that's impossible. They had a rank/banding such that they would have gotten a place, had we put the school as our #1
An academic point but I don't want to mislead!

[CestMoi]

Small school, I believe there are 96 children

That is in a school year, rather than in total, I gather.

Correct - 96 per year until Y11

[ToadMum]

Small school, I believe there are 96 children

That is in a school year, rather than in total, I gather.

Correct - 96 per year until Y11

Presumably you mean, the school had a different PAN in the year that the current year 11 entered year 7? Schools fall over themselves not to admit students into year 11 itself and 'managing out' students who are likely not to show a school in the light it desires part way through their GCSE course is, quite rightly, getting schools a lot of flak these days.