QQ - Junior school admissions

[flibbertywidget]

Just a QQ. My DD is currently in Reception at our 3rd choice primary for which we are out of catchment. My DS will go to School in 2013 and we are working with the council to get the admissions policy adjusted so that all siblings of children sent to a lower rank preference school or non choice school will be classed as in catchment siblings.

This is to ensure we don't have children going to two different locations for school.

The Primary school is next door to a Junior school, which is not linked, but has same name and takes in same/similar catchment.

Will our DC's (first children) get into this Junior School, or will we potentially have another problem on our hands where the first DC's will not get into the Junior school and have to go somewhere else, but 2nd Sibs will be at the primary school they moved from?

sorry for complex post, I will phone council tomorrow, but thought I would ask in case anyone has any experience of it

[getitsorted]

Yes you could have a problem. What is their admission criteria?

My DCs attend separate junior and infant schools which our LA terms 'associated', meaning that either schools counts as sibling priority for admissions.

There have been instances where children applied for the Infant school and got in during low subscription years, to find that upon applying for the Junior School, places go to people higher up the priority lists. Our Junior School is willing to accommodate and takes in larger class sizes.

Out of catchment sibling priority comes after all catchment children have places.

[flibbertywidget]

Thanks Getitsorted. I will call the council tomorrow and speak to them.

[admission]

Best of luck trying to get the council to change the admission criteria but I think you will not get it changed because it will not be too complicated to be workable and secondly it will almost for sure disadvantage some other group of pupils and therefore will be illegal.

When it comes to primary / infant / junior schools, I am afraid the answer has to be that you could well find that your children may well end up in different schools. It depends on each cohort of children, the admission criteria, the distance they live from the school and it will vary from year to year as to which children get into which school.