Curmudgeon says all the obviously useful points but I can add some info. For many years Goodrich was well-attended and therefore properly funded, while Heber was a failing sink school - 20 per cent turnover of staff and pupils every year. When Southwark Education was briefly in the hands of a private facilities company they did not do a good job with Heber and it suffered even more (I believe they kept on too many staff for the number of pupils). When Tim Mamak was parachuted in he had an incredibly hard job to turn the school round and, by and large, he has done it. The reputation of the school among the local community has been transformed and, for the first time ever, the school has a waiting list. I chose Heber because a) it was closer, b) we could get in and c) it was improving rather than complacent. As well as open days I would suggest going to events held at the schools too - jumble sales or christmas fairs or whatever. You'll get an idea of the parent community at each school, and your children will be playing with their children. You need to like at least some of them!
