Hertford Secondary Schools

[KatyBusby]

Booze and a bit of weed aren't nearly as concerning as the stuff that the 'nice' kids around here take! It genuinely makes my blood run cold! Fortunately I'm not in the catchment anyway but there's a very popular school a couple of miles from me that parents move close to in order to get their child a place, and almost all of them have tried class A drugs. It's like an epidemic.

[Donostia]

Lets not beat around the bush , we all know what you mean , unfortunately it seems Cocaine has become socially acceptable these days , there seems to be no stigma involved like there was in the past and has become somehow 'glamorous' .

If this is your sole reason for leaving London I fear you could be moving every couple of years as this is a UK wide problem and not just a London thing .

[Golden]

There is a lot more around these days than cocaine and a lot cheaper so unfortunately kids are experimenting with a lot more and there was an unfortunate incident at Hartham recently that led to the death of a young man who appeared to be easily led by his so called 'friends'. Having said that alcohol abuse is just as bad and as you've said earlier of course they will experiment.

Getting back to the original post and secondary schools - I would endorse what many have said about the quality of schools in the area and your house choice shouldn't rely on the school location. All the kids in Hertford seem to know each other these days due to social media and there is a good interaction between them all - much better than in my day.

[Donostia]

. All the kids in Hertford seem to know each other these days due to social media and there is a good interaction between them all - much better than in my day.

Spot on , something that is very noticeable .

Primary school friends keep in touch when moving to different secondary schools these days because of social media , thus diffusing the old tensions you used to get between different schools before the Internet kept them all in touch .

[Hugh]

My two sons went to Richard Hale and both have done extremely well in their chosen professions, from a good solid sound education to start with.

[KatyBusby]

Lets not beat around the bush , we all know what you mean , unfortunately it seems Cocaine has become socially acceptable these days , there seems to be no stigma involved like there was in the past and has become somehow 'glamorous' .

If this is your sole reason for leaving London I fear you could be moving every couple of years as this is a UK wide problem and not just a London thing .

Also MDMA and ketamine, which honestly worry me even more than cocaine. Cocaine has been popular in London for years and years, as have all the other drugs, but I've never known them to be quite so popular among 13-14 year olds before. In addition, the number of raves that are letting young teens in is deeply concerning. A friend's son recently watched a fellow 14 year old die in front of him. He's still going to them though.

It's definitely not my sole reason though. It is a driving factor, yes, but mainly I just feel that London has deteriorated hugely over the last few years. I'm very fortunate as I live in a lovely community, but this is becoming increasingly rare in London (it always was, but it's just gone beyond that now it seems) but even in my lovely neighbourhood there has been a huge increase in broken glass on the green, litter, undesirables hanging around at the end of streets, vomit and human faeces in the alleys. London just isn't an enjoyable place to live any more unless you have the money to enjoy it, and it seems that the rise in the cost of living means that the majority of people here don't.

I'm continuing my property search!

[Darcy Sarto]

Sarto minor and minimus have both recently completed their school careers at Richard Hale and, to echo one of the earlier comments, don't be too set on sending all siblings to the same school. I have to confess that one of them responded and did very well at RH but the other (with hindsight) might have fared better at either of the other "choices".

Neither do they appear to have been lastingly affected by the reportedly "rife" drug culture(s) described above.

If you end up in Bengeo (to be recommended) there is hardly any difference in the logistics (walking distance) to 3 of the 4 schools previously mentioned (don't know about catchments though). For reasons also mentioned earlier there really does not appear to be any of the animosities between pupils at the different schools that I recall as typical "in our day" (not that I was in posh Hertford then).

[Kateg28]

My son walks through the Sele 'catchment' area on his route to Richard Hale and does not have any issues. He did have a bout of name calling once but ignored them and they got bored and gave up. He is in a band and there are members from different schools in it and his facebook friends (when I stalk him ) are from all schools.

I think we can summarise the thread by:

Schools in Hertford (and Ware) are fantastic
Choose based on the individual child, splitting schools are not an issue, lots of people do it.
There are drugs in Hertford but not a real problem when you compare to other places.
The teenagers basically get on and the only real school rivalry is confined to the sports pitch (then the blood is up).
We have access to some amazing sports and leisure amenities.
Hertford is a lovely place to live.

And we have a Castle.

[codek2]

+1 on the Castle

[KatyBusby]

Thanks everyone. I can't wait! And yay at the castle too. Here we have a Flavas Chicken & Chips.

And indeed I have been looking in Bengeo. And just about everywhere in Hertford as well. My bathroom is literally being ripped out today so I can get maximum equity out of this... 'ramshackle' (to put it nicely) house.

You'll all be coming to my housewarming, right? Gem, Kate?