We have yet to do our own research properly aside from reading online, but we are firmly in past catchments for both of these schools.

I am not from here. I don't know anyone who goes/went to these schools, we've not even been on the open days,yet. What we have is an 11+ pass and a son who is very eager to go to a school where academics are taken seriously. He is particularly interested and excels at Maths and Science and gets frustrated in his current primary that they're not moving faster in these subjects. When I ask him what he wants from a school, he just says that they must have a chess club! I think he's as clueless about what to look for as we are.

We will be doing the school visits and talking to as many people as we can find about how they have found them, but would love to ask here with the wealth of knowledge!

We've spent the past few weeks going to nearly every comprehensive we're anywhere near getting and we're dog tired!

We liked Beths when we visited for their year 5 open day in the summer, and the year 6 open evening last year. It's high on our list of repeat visits as it's the school DS is most likely to get in to! They had a chess club when we looked around, and maths and science are their specialities. (My DS's favourite subjects) We've got Chis and Sid booked for next week.

Both my boys are at Beths and both love it. DS2 just started in Year 7 and has settled in really well. He is a bit of a maths wiz and is loving it. You'll probably see him at the Open Evening!

We had the same dilemma. We did like C&S but when we went around Beths it just felt 'right '.

I've just realized we're not as far and the journey would be super easy for Bexley Grammar as well.
I'm seeing their catchment came out 2ish miles and we live just a touch over 3 away. (oh, and our house is for sale looking to move that wee bit closer for other reasons)
Is it worth going to visit? After all the summer horse trading goes on, I'm assuming they came out farther?
I don't want to waste my time or allow my son to fall in love with a school we're just too far to reach, but I know those lists can move quite a bit over the summer.

I believe change of address has to be notified by early December for Bromley - check the Bexley cut off date if you’d be apply via Bexley LA, any later move either won’t count or you’d be classed as a late applicant and probably jump further up the waiting list. How moving between LAs after CAF submission I haven’t a clue but I know people have done it. Kent like proof of having cut ties with previous house and a friend who moved IC for Kent from Orpington priced their house very keenly to get things moving very fast and had completed by the cut off date. I think they estimated that the cost to them was around £60k in pricing below market and then renting new property (due to speed needed to get new address and they couldn’t afford to be in a chain) rather for a year.

I believe the Bexley Booklet says the latest distances are as of June 2018 so does include some movement but not all. Judging by agonising posts on this forum I gather it didn’t move much more after that. They could then also be much smaller again next year, that seems to be the trend. Of course that is bulge classes and other deep dives into the birth and student data aside.

So, no answer for us 'barely Bromley' lot! Thank you for your reply. I've not allowed myself to look on the forums or the schools because I was worried about jinxing things. Now I have school viewing fatigue but I'm thinking I need to go see Bexley as I've got a little niggle in the back of my mind about it.
Yes, we had the house up in May, ready to close, had a property and all fell through at contract, got another buyer and fell through again... just bad luck, so we were rushing for this year's cut off and now not so frantic due to 11+ pass. Still very much need/want a bigger house though!

I have the same question, can’t make up my mind which school to put first!
We visited both. I was pleasantly surprised how nice Chis & Sid felt. I heard quite a few negative opinions about it, so didn’t expect much. The tour with the headteacher was very nice, I loved the atmosphere there. We will go back to Beths again next week. On paper Beths looks better. Progress 8 score etc. How important is that?
How do you know which one is best for your DS? Boys only vs cooed, what are the cons and pros? Would you choose a school that is closer to home, and easier to travel to, even if the results/ofsted are not as good as the other one? We are closer to Chislehurst & Sidcup. Can’t choose based on the ”feeling” alone... I like them both, but for different things.
Also, what happened at Beths when previous head left, I heard that it went a bit downhill. Is that true? Latest letter from ofsted mentions some serious allegations, what is that all about?

So here is what I have so far:
Results - Beths better than Chis&Sid
Location- Chis and Sid more convenient journey
Not sure - Boys only - is that good?

The only serious allegations I can find are leavers get together leaving trash in the park behind them. Not nice but can't believe that constitutes a serious allegation?!

When I visited in June, someone asked the head about the 'serious allegations'. It was to do with 6th formers as mentioned above. The day they finished a load of them went to the local park with bags full of booze and snacks and made a massive mess. The head talked sternly about how seriously they'd taken it but I just wanted to laugh. I certainly got up to a lot worse at that age
My DS has just started in year 7 at Beths. So far he's loving it and I've always thought the school has a very lovely and welcoming vibe.

Could you share why you chose Beths as opposed to Chis and Sid?
Thanks!