Help on Bousfield admission

[user1492556816]

We live 30 meters away from the school and were uber confident we would get in but we did not! Hugely disappointed and wondering why, could it be that only siblings and children in care got through this year? Anybody could comment on acceptance success/failure this year? And what is the chance of getting in through waiting list or appeal? We didn't even have plan B how confident we were of getting in living next door.. thank you for any advice and detail sharing x

[Mamabear12]

It looks like a very popular school and it could just be you were very unlucky w many siblings this year and other people living closer. Last year distance was .1 of a mile. That being said I would call the borough admission team to find out if they made a mistake as you live so close. And nothing is a sure thing so always have a plan B. Ask how the spots were allocated this year and find out what was furtherst distance or child admitted. If they made a mistake you can apeal for sure. Keep us updated.

[Mamabear12]

Also find out what number you are on waiting list.

[EduCated]

Find out which criteria it were considered under and check that it is what you were expecting. If it was under distance, check that it is correct, although bear in mind that they measure to a specific point, which could be the middle of the school rather than the front gate, which could make it different to what you expect. That said, if they've got you down as a couple of miles away that would be a clear mistake!

Also check that you are on the waiting list, and what position you are on it.

[PatriciaHolm]

I would definitely double check the distance they have used for you. Whilst Bousfield is indeed a school much in demand, it's admissions area went out to around 300 metres (0.192 of a mile) last year so if you do live 30 metres (in a straight line) away that seems a large swing; do you know if the school has had bulge years in the past? Sometimes they can skew results by providing significantly more siblings a couple of years later and if the PAN has gone down again this can mean a year being very sibling heavy.

[user1492556816]

Thank you for your words of advice lovely ladies! Clearly my measuring skills were way off the scale. Official distance from us is 0.129 miles and furthest offer is 0.128, quite extraordinary considering 5-year historical average is at about 1.92.. lots of learning today thanks to you and the LA. Waiting list is a hope. Just curious if going through appeal is worth it.. we are closer by walking distance than redcliffe square friends who got accepted because we are all measured by crow flight rather than walking, how inconvenient having to fly to school!! Will appealing upset lovely LA to struck us off the waiting list? X

[EduCated]

The LA can't strike you off the waiting list others know far more than me, but if the intake is 30 (or a multiple thereof) then Infant Class Size rules make it almost impossible - essentially infant classes cannot go over 30, and an appeal for such a class will only be successful if a mistake has been made in admissions.

If you are only just over the last admitted distance then you should be high on the waiting list.

[unfortunateevents]

You don't seem to have any grounds to appeal though? What would you be planning on saying in your appeal document? The fact that you are closer by walking distance than some other people who got accepted is irrelevant as that is not how this school measure distance and all applicants have been measured using the same criteria so no mistake has been made. You do seem to have just missed the cut off though so must be very high on the waiting list. Do you have any sense of whether most people accept their place or is it an area where some people may have applied as a back-up but will ultimately be accepting a private school place?

[Lalalandfill]

You will get a place, lots of families will go private and are just holding on to Bousfield for the sake of it. Annoying for you, though

[sanam2010]

you will be fine, you should get a place by the summer as many kids in that area go private. I know many who turned down Bousfield for a private school. The waiting list moves and it sounds like you are just behind the cut off.

[talullahmac]

Hi. I think you will get a place - if you still want it. I've had kids there for six years and the school is great - we have looked at various private schools over the years and nothing has persuaded us to move - until now. The reason (I think) that the catchment has shrunk so much is that the French contingent seem to be completely taking over. My Y5 child had 2 French children in her class who left to go to the lycee after 4 or 5 years. Diversity reigns. My Y2 child has only three non-French speaking girls... and nearly the whole nursery class that year was French. A lot of it seems to come from the neighbouring mansion block where they all rent flats and then move on (or not). What is particularly maddening is that there is therefore a shrinking school community - the French parents have reached such a critical mass that they don't even switch out of French and only talk to each other (with some lovely exceptions). Also a real bummer is that the mothers typically don't work and so disappear with all their kids (taxis waiting at the entrance the day school breaks up) as they only really live here for school term time and hedge fund papa follows to france when he can. More than language the problem is the socio-economic group that most of these French expats inhabit and there is an increasing feeling of us and them - the PTA is mostly French now (working parents obviously having less time to get involved get short shrift) and 100% of the recently appointed governors are French non-working women (voted in by their non-working compatriots who were able to vote in the election because they weren't at work!). Clearly as a big group they need to be heard but it is increasingly less diverse and unattractive for it.
The other issue is that a lot of them use it as a waiting room for the lycee - one girl in my kid's class lasted THREE DAYS!!!! Which of course means that places come up a lot - so it might suit you to hang on and change your kid(s) in in due course. as for moving schools - the kids who've come in are in my experience easily welcomed and don't have any difficulty settling. They stay in the same class throughout the school so will find their niche.

[user1492556816]

Thank you for a most interesting read!
Thank you to all other lovely people who commented earlier, very kind of you to share your experiences.
This certainly made me think about plan b and c.. however I first would like to understand if all flats in the mansion block you mention qualify for school.. there are some 200 flats there but only 40 from entrances at the street where school is so all other flats in other entrances are actually further than we are, unless of course the measuring point is their centre of garden, which would not be fair or accurate. Very unlikely 30 4-year olds live in 40 flats that do qualify - so where else would children be coming from hmm.. but interesting point you make on loss of diversity and whether it should make the school as appealing as before to hard working non-hedge fund non- French mama.. something to ponder on 🤔

[talullahmac]

Hi. My kids got into Bousfield from the other side of that mansion block but that was some time ago (sibling policy also). If they do a straight line from the address then I guess they would go through the garden? But I gather some people stay on the waiting list even though they've made other plans so when they do get offered a place they've often moved away, so you may find that you move up the list quite fast. My Y5 child only has 27 in the class and I think that's not uncommon at the top of the school (people reluctant to move them so late in primary?) Apparently a few French left last year post-Brexit and that trend might accelerate so it may move back towards more balance in due course? I gather places were filled by kids who were in Park Walk Primary and of course a number do transfer in from private too.

[PatriciaHolm]

Distance from the school for admissions purposes is measured as the crow flies, from the childs home "address point" (normally somewhere in the centre of the property) to a fixed point in the school. So where the front door of a property may be is not relevant.

[Indi1983]

Hi there, interested to know how the original poster got on with admissions? We are considering moving in to the area as our current flat is too small for two little ones, so I've started looking for places with good schools close by. I'm keen on Bousfield, but worried that i'll end up just out of the catchment if we choose the wrong side of Coleherne Court.. any advice?

[Yolande7]

There has recently been a revolt about the French, because they started to behave as if Bousfield was a French school and not a British one. I think it has given them food for thought.

To be fair, they are the ones doing the work. They show up at the PTA meetings and stand for governor elections. Bousfield is still very diverse. We have about 6 French children in our class, but most of them are half-French/half something else and/or have never lived in France. So the actual number can be a bit misleading.