Haywards Heath Primary School advice please!

[daisysunshine]

Hi all

I'm relocating to Sussex from Devon in a couple of weeks time - and would really appreciate a little advice on primary schools! I have one child in year 2 and one starting reception in September.

There are spaces in year 2 currently available at Warden Park (I've recently read that this school is improving, does anyone have any comments?), one space at Holy Trinity in Cuckfield (where we'll be renting until we buy a property, so we'll be in the catchment area) and one space at St Josephs (we're not Catholic so perhaps inappropriate). And no spaces in reception anywhere but I guess if I get the year 2 child sorted then I will hopefully be able to get the reception one in based on a sibling being there....

Any advice or comments would be most appreciated! Many thanks :-)

[MissWimpyDimple]

Warden Park is the re-incarnation of Hayworth School which was always the worst in the area. I know it has improved a fair bit but you will definitely want to consider the other options.

[daisysunshine]

Thanks for the advice ..... much appreciated :-)

[masy45]

Most of the popular primary schools are oversubscribed in HH. Warden Park Primary which used to be called Heyworth has a large percentage of children from a more deprived area of town. The school does a good job from a low starting point - check out Ofsted's data dashboard for KS1 stats. Typically the anxious middle class parents avoid it. St.Joseph's is very good but you're unlikely to get a sibling in unless you're Catholic - they had 73 catholic applicants for 60 reception places this year. Holy Trinity is a good medium sized primary and you wouldn't have the same sibling problem if you're in catchment.

[daisysunshine]

Thanks masy45. It's good to get an idea of the general demographics. Holy Trinity is looking like the best option. It's a pretty bad time for us to be moving considering primary school places have just been offered. I just hope there is some flexibility in the next few months so my youngest gets into the same school - different schools would be the ultimate disaster!

[masy45]

Sure. I've become a bit of an expert on primary school admissions in the last year ! We missed out on St.Josephs for reception hence I know the figures. Got Bolnore Village despite being out of catchment - same potential headache with number 2, as out of area siblings fall below in area children. When I spoke to the head of WP he said they had at least a third of children with some kind of special need. Of your options Holy Trinity sounds like the best.

[daisysunshine]

It certainly does sound like the best option! Thanks again for the advice, very much appreciated.