decision on 1st March? Anyone want to sit and sweat it out with me?

Pan-London website says emails will be sent out in the evening of 1st March and to not log-in until email is received.

Definition of evening please!!

2 years ago, our local authority sent them out at 8am... I've still got the email :)

IIRC emails were sent out at 6am last year. Will be checking at midnight tonight, though.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, that feels better.

This morning DS showed me what his celebration dance/scream will be when he gets his first choice.

He has already said he will be devastated if he doesn't get the one we have put down as first choice.

Arrgh, the nerves!

TiggyTape - the school knows? I'll be able to winkle it out of them - just by catching the head's eye...

MsInga - me too! Will stay up til midnight, but we're in London, not Kent - so maybe a waste of time (and cortisol)?
Fingernails? What fingernails? More like bloody stumps.
ThreeBeeOneGee - just double checked my login and password. WHEW.

Good luck to all those waiting. I was last year and it was horrible. Email came late afternoon iirc, if that helps anyone.

A word to the wise though. Our DS said he was fine about whichever school he got before the email came. He didn't get the school he wanted which was the one his friends got. We (parents) were very upset, but didn't show it. He said it was fine, he'd be ok, started talking about the new school etc. We bigged up the school he was allocated to, and set about appealing. We told him that we were appeaing, but in the same breath, told him there was little chance he would get his first choice school, so to assume he was going to the other one.

Fast forward several stressful months of being in pre-appeal limbo land. It is not fun btw (appealing, that is), get support on here if you do end up going down that route. We win the appeal. DS tells us that he had been really sad and stressed about not getting his first choice school. He hadn't told us because he didn't want us to be worried for him. I wish I had known though, because he went through months of uncertainty (as we did), but felt he couldn't talk to us about it. It must have been a horrid time for him - it felt bad enough for us!

Moral of the story - don't necessarily take what your child says at face value. Even at 11, your children might be trying to protect your feelings! Bless him, to this day I am still not sure why he did it. I thought we did such a good job of being blase and happy about the second choice school.

Anyhoo, good luck. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, you will at least know!

Mad scramble here for password and login (london). Up to this morning have not 'needed' this thread although knew it was here. 2nd choice school gives us all the heebies - new academy, feels really stressy and sterile. DD being quite chilled whatever will be, will be.

'School schmool.' Said a friend of mine. It's not everything but a school the whole family feels good about is a wonderful thing, innit?

I am gibbering.

More coffee.

Ignore work deadline.

More gibbering.

Possibly hoovering with Ipod on LOUD to DROWN OUT GIBBERING.

Yes. It must be awful to have to go through such anxiety in some parts of England. When I was living in Scotland, I never really understood what all the fuss was about school admissions every year in the news (as you just amble up to your catchment school in January and apply for a place/fill in the form at some point in P7 to transfer to your catchment secondary). It's a completely insane system.

Don't all come north though. Then things will be insane up here too.

Is it Friday yet? I have tried to find out when our LEA does the emails/ online thingy, but to no avail. Only news from other people from other years is 8am ish, which smacks of someone coming into the office, logging on and pressing a button to send emails!

Havign said that, I will be there at 00:01 checking on the sly! We are not in the catchment for first choice school, but it is a tiny area and we are on the outskirts. Second choice is not her choice as 97% of all her school will have applied to her first choice school. Both schools are good in a middle class northern area, but first choice is not good at dealing with the less able pupisl and the 2nd choice school is not good at dealing with the more able pupils.

I really feel for those of you in the London and outlying areas as it sounds a nightmare.

Offers virtual gin round to all those genuinely worried.

I hadn't even realised that the secondary school allocations came out on 1st March until I read this thread. I'd assumed it was the same as the primary admissions one (in April). Probably useful I found out or I might have forgotten to accept the place or something equally stupid.

From this you will deduce that I am not at all worried about it all. I think it's much less tense up here generally, partly because we have a feeder school system and partly because it just isn't as crazy and competitive as it sounds in London. DS1 will be going into Y9 at our local high school (3 tier system). There is absolutely no way that he won't get a place (well, unless the school burns down/blows up) due to the feeder system. Even without the feeder system, there is no way that there are 360 children who are siblings or live closer to the school than we do. I still put down 3 choices out of the 4 available, just in case.

I'm more interested in DS2's reception allocation, but not at all worried. It's unlikely that we won't get our 1st choice, and if we didn't choice 3 is always undersubscribed (and I'd be perfectly happy with it). All our choices are within walking distance (for a just turned 4 year old) of our house and they all feed into middle schools and then to the same high school.

It seems to me that even in London it usually works out that the DCs are allocated the schools that turn out to be the right ones for them. I cannot think of one member of DS's primary school class who is not happy with the secondary school they are now at, even though not all got their first choices.

Good Luck everyone for Friday (Fingers Crossed for all of you).
I was in this situation last year for DS1 and will be again in the same boat for DS2 next year

Stroppy, that's a really positive post. X fingers for your DD2.

We went through this 2 years ago and DD got 3rd 'choice' (a failing school in special measures at that point). I could've cried but we were positive on the outside and never let on that we were disappointed to her. We had managed her expectations from the point that we submitted the forms to the LEA and had prepared her for the likelihood that she'd end up there. As a result, she walked through the door on the first day with a positive attitude and is doing fantastically.

My message is; don't write anything off. Don't let your child know that you're disappointed or they'll start to believe that the school they're going to isn't good enough and you'll have lost them. If you're a parent who cares enough to push them and keep on their case (and the school's case), then they'll do well wherever they end up.

This Friday, I'm panicking in case her sister DOESN'T get in!!!!

Good luck everyone!

Ooh, getting nervous now after reading the thread.

DS1 and DS2 are in a really good, inclusive comp/academy with a great ethos but no sibling rule for DS3. And we are out of catchment. They have a fair banding test for admissions so put them into 7 bands and take equally from each band based on catchment, then location. DS1 must have been in a lucky band, and DS2 has a statement of SEN. Really want DS3 to go there too, to keep him with his brothers as their dad left last year for an OW and they need some stability. grounds for an appeal?

DS3 has passed the 11+ for the boys grammar in the next town, but it's just a back up, third choice. Second choice is another comp that we are out of catchment for, where all his friends will go but he wants to be with his brothers.

Our LA cocked up 2 years ago and sent letters out a day too early, so we all heard unexpectedly on the 28th. It was great, really reduced the angst, so I've no idea when emails will come through or when the admissions system will be updated.

Just to say DS1/2 have/are at the school.
I'm actually seeing the head this week.

We didn't tell DD the offer day on purpose. She is already worrying about SATS. We didn't want to pile the pressure on.

At school yesterday the teacher was asking all the children what schools they wanted to go to and then told them they would find out on Friday.

I found DD last night in the bath crying. She thinks it will be her fault if she doesn't get in. A girl in her class said she deserved a place more than DD.

So, I've sent DD into school today with coping ideas.

They are only little,ffs i never swear

I just hope she gets in.

Yes it was similar here. An off the cuff remark and suddenly tears and it all came out. They are little for the pressure I think. God knows what it would be like if we were actually telling him we wanted him to go to a particular school.

I think we get the results at midnight but I'm not telling him that.

Friday can't come quick enough can it?

Poor DS, he was so upset last night, he had not been selected for one of his team sports and was talking about that, which lead into school talk and then it all came out jumbled together. He spent an hour snuggled up to me on the sofa once he had calmed down. They are so young really still.