Is 'too young to walk that far' a reason to appeal to the LEA?

[bloss]

Message withdrawn

[Blandmum]

When you appeal, you have to say why the school you want is more suitable, and why the school they have been allocated doesn't meet their needs.

Most kids in the UK don't walk to school at 6 and 8 (not being judgmental, most kids don't these days)

Most people round me use a pre school /post school childminder for this sort of problem.

Thankfully the school mine goes to has a pre school club

sympathy for your situation, it is a devil!

[MrsBadger]

you need childacre - eithe a chilxdminder or the school's 'breakfast club' (ie you can drop them early)
however close the school is 6yos don't walk by themselves - imagine trusting them to lock the house if they are the last ones to leave.

no way

[ghandi]

It makes me laugh really, kids of 4,5,6+ play out unsupervised after school and hols for ages without parents batting an eye, yet not allowed to walk to school were there are tons of people around. Same parents are the ones who would say its bad to let them go to school alone.

my dd 6.8 is not allowed out to play, my choice.

sorry for highjack, just needed to say

[Celery]

Unfortunately most of the primary schools in winchester are very over-subscribed. Which one did you get into, if you don't mind me asking? I know people who are in the catchment for their chosen school, or have siblings at the school, and they still haven't got in, so I don't think an appeal would work in your case. Unfortunately that's just how it is in Winchester at the moment. Agree, a chilminder that does school drop-offs, or see if the school has a breakfast club.

[bloss]

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[sunnydelight]

It is totally different bloss. My first few weeks in Sydney I was constantly amazed at the size of the kids I saw walking to school or to/from the bus stop as it's just not done in a lot of places in the UK. You also need to be aware that generally the school playgrounds are not supervised until fifteen minutes or so before the bell goes, not "when the first bus comes in"; our last school in England was constantly sending home notes to tell us that kids mustn't arrive at school before that time. You might also find at the end of the day that the school will not let your younger child out of the classroom unless collected by an adult - none of the three primaries my kids attended in East Sussex would let K-2 kids out without a parent or another pre-notified adult. All the expats I know here are horrified at their little kids being let out of school en masse.

If you ask at the school office they would probably know the local childminders who drop off/pick up from the school. Alternatively you could contact the council; most of them run some kind of childcare informatioin service that would have details of breakfast and after school clubs as well as childminders who have vacancies. At least you'll have longer holidays than the kids so you won't have to stress about that! Good luck.

[bloss]

Message withdrawn

[sunnydelight]

Also try www.childcarelink.gov.uk and the number for Hampshire CIS is 0845 603 5620