Feel miserable and need a good moan! DS having induction at the school we got - really don't like it.

This is the best school in the area. Attainment 8 up in the high 60s and a progress score of around 1.5.

They do but more rarely in the best school in the area. The decision on private is more frequent if they secured place in the worse school and they were on the waitlist for the better one but didn't get it by September. Then they will move to private leaving a space in Sept for a first person from the wait list to jump in.

But as I understand you are talking about best school in the area. The better school the less movement when it comes to the decision private vs state.

I’ve heard that they have people not turn up in September every year. Not sure if enough will do that though….

Either people won't be sending their kids private OR they are waiting until the last minute to give up their outstanding state space

@Rhayader ☝️This, the first part of the sentence, the second part yes but less likely, but maybe there will be somebody who wanted to mill two birds with one stone.
Simply the EHCP and all appeals, and "extraordinary circumstances" ars popping in before the waitlist.
But people do move out of the country etcand always within a first year you would be absorbed by the school if you are no 1 on the list

I'm in a similar position to you but if the school is the kind of school where parents might be opting for private I would say there is still some hope.

We applied late due to my husband being made redundant abroad which meant we lost our visa and had to return to the UK suddenly. We started on the waiting list as number 1 for first preference school on national offer day (we would have easily got in as an on-time applicant) but no places have come up at all.

I've since found out that they had been asked by the council to take on A LOT of extra kids with EHCPs and then a bunch of appeals were won by kids too a couple of weeks ago putting us at an effective 12th on the waiting list (although if I ask they say we are still no1).

Only 2 kids have withdrawn their places which - going by previous years is really, really low. People up to 15th on the list get offers normally before the induction day so there's something weird going on. Either people won't be sending their kids private OR they are waiting until the last minute to give up their outstanding state space. Given the whatsapp message that went viral about "spooking the state school system" this doesnt feel implausible.

At our second choice school which is very similar but we are slightly further from we were 25th then 15th then 9th and now 6th (but im not sure how many appeals were won), so this feels like it might happen before the second week of September. There is often a lot of movement when kids just dont show up in September so dont buy too many sets of uniform if hes still at that school then.

Our allocated school is about an hour away on busses and isnt a good school - particularly for my very academic DC. The 5 A*-C GCSE metric is HALF what it is at our first-choice school. Our first and second allocated schools are both within 15 minutes walk of us.

We didnt appeal either as 1st on the list felt like a garuntee! but now im wondering if we have a shot. My DC does a sport at a regional level and wont be able to make training with the extra travel time (in the opposite direction of the training place) with the allocated school.

I was so surprised to be told by one school: 'Call us every morning first thing. First parent to ring gets the place if someone drops out.' I'd have thought that was pestering but they said it was a 10 second call and saved them having to ring around and chase people

Unbelievable 🤦🏼‍♀️

I was so surprised to be told by one school: 'Call us every morning first thing. First parent to ring gets the place if someone drops out.' I'd have thought that was pestering but they said it was a 10 second call and saved them having to ring around and chase people

Legally, the school cannot do that for the the first term, during which time, a waiting list must be kept in oversubscription criteria order and available places offered accordingly.

After December 31st in the year of entry, the school does not have to keep a list at all, so yes, in that case, it would be able to offer the place to the first person to ask for it, even though if that person's dc and the DC of all the other people reliant on just getting lucky when they call for the nth time we're to be on a formal Continuing Interest list and ranked according to the oversubscription criteria, they wouldn't be the one to get it.

Personally, I have only come across one school which operated this system (and another which stated that they 'did not operate a waiting list', but may possibly have been being deliberately or otherwise literal, and did actually hold a CI list), and they gave it up for a formal CI process a few years ago.

Keep in touch with the first choice school. Ring the office and ask how they update their waiting list and how they prefer parents to contact them to express continued interest. I was so surprised to be told by one school: 'Call us every morning first thing. First parent to ring gets the place if someone drops out.' I'd have thought that was pestering but they said it was a 10 second call and saved them having to ring around and chase people. Different schools have different policies. Some call you or write to see if you are still interested.

Hold out for the right school. There will always be some movement in London families. And do chase on the first few days of term. I have heard of pupils never showing up, parents moving out of area or going private and not bothering to inform the school. There may be some movement in September.

Ps my son is at a very oversubscribed school in North London and everyone we know got a place there eventually, if they wanted one. Kids leave and spaces come up all the time.

I think it will be fine OP. IMO, there is a lot of movement in the first couple of weeks (and beyond) in London secondary schools, so your DS is likely to get a place in your preferred school quite quickly.

The phone and no cash rules are VERY sensible. Young boys are a big target for muggers, so it's better if he has nothing to hand over.

Just do what the rest of us do, itag on his keys to monitor his whereabouts and a kids pre-paid card e.g. Revolut or similar with a £20 emergency fund. That way if he does get mugged he can hand over the card, you can cancel it and the muggers only get £20.

OP what is your housing situation? Any chance you can move closer. We were on edge of catchment, in fact ended up being comfortably in at the necessary time. However we were also due to move and we considered really on the face of it unsuitable places (tiny flats on major dual carriage A roads) so we’d be as close to the school as possible in case of waiting list.

it seems, with the benefit of hindsight you were poorly advised that your new house would be in catchment. Any chance of moving again?

@Thegeneralone its the XPLORA GO
we got it in one of the Amazon sales. You don’t have to go for the subscription option and can just buy data for it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09XDR5SBT?ref=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_T4BPGBN9E468J82D0410&ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_T4BPGBN9E468J82D0410&social_share=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_T4BPGBN9E468J82D0410&language=en-GB&th=1&psc=1

11th in March is not bad but in July is not promising at all

I’d give him a cheap ‘burner phone’ to use to and from school and which he can stash in his bag out of sight. On that note though, teaching staff taking his phone and confiscating it for a term??? That would constitute theft in my book and I would be arguing that point strongly should that occasion arise.

I really feel for you op. Reading your op, I felt your pain and it's entirely understandable. You've done a brilliant thing not letting him see how affected you feel, that wouldn't help him at all.
Fingers crossed for a move soon just from a logistics pov that will be a big positive improvement, and meanwhile let's hope he does ok and has some positive experiences.

Which school is it? Lots of Hackney schools are rated outstanding, what is it's ofsted rating? Also lots of secondary schools have the no phone no money policy.

I don't think this would not have been the reason your friend didn't get any of their 'catchment' schools. The ranking on the application is the applicant's order of preference but putting a school first does not give you priority over others who put it lower down on their lists.

I think your chances are pretty good that a place will come up for your DS. There are always several places that come up after the first day as many people infuriatingly fail to decline the place (eg when they have chosen private school instead). But even before that there will still be lots of movement over the summer as well. As PPs have mentioned, London has a very transient population, so there will always be families moving out and places freeing up.

The uniform thing is annoying. I’d suggest waiting until just a week or two before to get the uniform in case things change, and even then, don’t take the tags off until the last minute so you can return if need be!

I live in East London and base it on the rating of the school and on the mix of kids attending.

So the others are all rated inadequate? That would be concerning, but can also mean they've got a spotlight on them and should be improving. It doesn't need to mean that the experience of all students will be awful and that some don't do well. It's still worth weighing up against the distance and issues you have with the allocated school to see if a waiting list place from a closer school is better. I wouldn't worry too much about the mix of kids - thousands of kids attend and your DC will find his people.

I think 11th place on waiting list for your preferred school is hopeful anyway so perhaps that will work out for you, but consider getting more lists and revisiting those options.

I'm struggling to understand how any school in Hackney is apparently so unconnected by bus routes? Or is it just an inconvenient route for him?