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Help - we need your "getting your child into the school of your choice" anecdotes please

53 replies

CarrieMumsnet · 08/10/2007 17:46

Hi all

We've been asked to pull together some anecdotes on the lengths parents will go to to get their child into the school of their choice. This could be prepping for private school entry or working the system to get to the local (or not so local) state school. We're hoping not to get into a debate about whether parents should or shouldn't do this (there's plenty of that debate raging most days in the education topic) but going for the more ridiculous and hopefully fun tales from the school front line.
So if you jumped through hoops to get into the school gates of your choice, please tell us about it here.

Thanks

MNHQ

OP posts:

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janeiteofthelivingdead · 08/10/2007 18:08

We moved house. We needed to move anyway, as needed a bigger place but we made sure that we moved to within the catchment area of a good secondary school. Best thing we ever did; and I speak as somebody who teaches in a "not so good" secondary school and din't think I'd ever consider "judging" schools - but hey ho, I'm obviously a hypocrite. I can live with that, as dd is clearly really happy.

tiredemma · 08/10/2007 18:14

We moved house. only to find out afterwards that they had a low application number that year and so the catchment area had been extended.

We would have got a place at the school anyway, without having to move.

hifi · 08/10/2007 18:21

one very self rightious mum had subsidence in her house, for the year it took to fix it they rented a horrid flat above a shop to get dd in most sought after school in area.if any one else had done that she would have been appaled, now moved back into house 3 miles away.

ParanoidSurreyHousewife · 08/10/2007 18:45

Due to a historical oddity although we live in London we are over a mile from the nearest state primary school (or at least the nearest that would have us). Despite living in an area full of good state schools we fall out of the catchment area for all of them so end up in the nearest undersubscribed school unless we play a very tactical game.

I went to the council offices and got them to produce the applications and schools offered for my area for the previous 5 years, as well as getting all the nusery application details for ds1's nursery year (to get an idea of whether high birth year and geographical spread of children that year). We're probably talking about several feet of paperwork, but I was at least armed with info on where all the 4yos were living, and which nurseries they had applied to!
We visited 9 schools, most of which we say twice, and at least one we went to 3 times. And when we had to move out of our house due to fixing dry rot we did check the catchment area of our rented accommodation (and changed the electoral roll details accordingly). Our move out was neatly timed for 2 January as the applciations for the CofE school had to be in by 31 December (and it was closer to our home) whereas for the other the deadline was mid-January and that was closer to the rented accom. We also had back-up applications at 3 private schools.

Ds1 got through his selection process for our first choice private school in January. Of course our second choice private school had offered a place 2 weeks earlier (so we lost our £200 deposit for that one). We found out that he got into his first choice state school in April, but by that stage we had settled on the private school anyway!

OliviaMumsnet · 08/10/2007 20:49

Bumping

CappuScreamO · 08/10/2007 20:52

OliviaMumsnet · 08/10/2007 23:15

C'mon cappucino - now you're on the spelling lists you know you want to share....
Bumping.

AitchyBabesHugz2AllUHunnis · 08/10/2007 23:17

is this for one of those utterly wanky tv progs? wasn't one of you actually on one? abby, was it? very pretty, blonde hair, either enormously fat or pregnant?

edam · 08/10/2007 23:19

We paid shedloads of money for a tiny, ugly house in a very desirable area with fab schools and a fast commute.

Tortington · 08/10/2007 23:21

i lied about where my son lived.

edam · 08/10/2007 23:23

(And it's a lovely place to live, generally, but our house is hideous. The sort of house we'd be able to afford anywhere else is double the price, here, and the sort of house I'd like - Edwardian semi - is £1.5m.)

AbbyMumsnet · 09/10/2007 10:52

bump

CappuScreamO · 09/10/2007 10:55

ha ha Olivia

you spelt it wrong

there is an extra c

back to school for you

obv your parents didn't try hard enough to get you into a good school

AbbyMumsnet · 09/10/2007 11:09

Aitch - I don't do being in front of the camera, so wasn't me. Behind the camera, yes, but not in front!

PoshCod · 09/10/2007 11:10

when i came here there was a grammar cahtment area
but it was a SECRET

so no one knew WHERE to buy

very odd

OliviaMumsnet · 09/10/2007 11:24

cappuccino

2. cappuccino
3. cappuccino
4. cappuccino
5. cappuccino
6. cappuccino
7. cappuccino
8. cappuccino
9. cappuccino
10. cappuccino

There. I have written it out ten times.

UnquietDad · 09/10/2007 11:27

ooh look, it's that time of year again

The tone of this is quite amusing.

'the adeptly ambiguous: "The new head is really turning it around", which means, most of the kids are starting to leave their guns at home these days.'

UnquietDad · 09/10/2007 11:29

Who's got the story about the parents who converted to catholicism, put in all the pew-time and still didn't get Tabitha in? That was a hilarious one. It was mentioned recently.

Porpoise · 09/10/2007 11:30

Blimey don't ask me - am totally foxed.

It is a lottery that is pretending not to be a lottery.

Secret bonus points for church-going, house-moving, tutoring and hothousing a musical genius (last two secondary only).

If you are not religious, not loaded and not musical, your only resort is a blindfold and drawing pin.

Bitter, moi?

AitchyBabesHugz2AllUHunnis · 09/10/2007 12:11

who was it then, was it Olivia? do you not know what she looks like? are you all figments of each others' imaginations? i have sometimes suspected that this was the case.

LadyMuck · 09/10/2007 12:11

Twas Carrie wasn't it?

AitchyBabesHugz2AllUHunnis · 09/10/2007 12:13

ah yes, that's the one. she was a shining star in an otherwise dreadful programme.

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TheQueenOfQuotes · 09/10/2007 12:15

We moved house (we planning to anyhow as lived in a horrible area). Looked all over the town, and then a house (slightly above our budget) came onto the market next door (2 of our garden walls are also the school walls - and I can see the school hall windows from my chair up here on the computer). We looked around and fell in love with the house (regardless of the fact it was next door to chosen school) and here we are

foofi · 09/10/2007 12:19

hifi - I know 2 families who did that - moved out of their homes and rented homes next door to the school, then moved back into original house once place was secure.

OliviaMumsnet · 09/10/2007 14:44

It sometimes feels like that,Aitch but no, twas Carrie and not me!

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