Page 6 | Urgent Help - Year 9 school places for six children required asap

2010louises · 2024-10-12T12:03:50+00:00

I'm posting on behalf of a friend who would prefer to remain anonymous, could any one help or offer her advice please ? "Do any parents whose children are in Year 9 know of any local schools whose classes have room for 1 child (or up to 6 kids) ? My son is being forced to change schools at short notice , he is one of six kids in his year who are in the same situation, all the parents are now scrambling for a school that has spaces available. I have contacted my Local Authority (Bromley) and been told despite classes being full , not to worry as by law the local authority have to find him / them a place, so in the meantime we have to join the waiting lists "

ThatCalmHelper · 13/10/2024 09:40

Arran2024 · 13/10/2024 09:39

They only have 11 terms left. At £450 per term that's £5k. Couldn't some of these 6 take out a loan? I can see that the vat increase is a huge issue if you have multiple / young children in private education, but I would have thought by year 9 you were pretty committed.

Edited

I think the OP said per month

Arran2024 · 13/10/2024 09:39

They only have 11 terms left. At £450 per term that's £5k. Couldn't some of these 6 take out a loan? I can see that the vat increase is a huge issue if you have multiple / young children in private education, but I would have thought by year 9 you were pretty committed.

TickingAlongNicely · 13/10/2024 09:34

There is no application round at beginning of Yr 10 @premierleague. They ate best being on waiting lists ASAP so if a place does become available they have a chance.

premierleague · 13/10/2024 09:32

Araminta1003 · 13/10/2024 08:59

@premierleague - why would these boys want to stay until the end of year 9? The council itself advises to move asap before GCSEs. In addition, the triple science syllabus is often started by several schools in year 9 because there is so much material to get through.

Because they'd then be applying in the usual September application and less likely to be out of school for a period of time

CommanderHaysPaperKnife · 13/10/2024 09:30

2010louises · 13/10/2024 09:11

Thankyou x I believe my friend is now on the waiting list for Ravenswood , as well as several other schools across the borough , but most are very long waiting lists so it’s pretty stressful both for her and her son ☹️

Show quote history

she should maybe ask Ravensbourne if she can go and look around. It used to have a bad rep but the school has turned around. I know of a few children who attend (different temperaments too- some confident, some shy) and have heard great things about it in terms of discipline and resources (e.g. there's a recording/film studio, and an allotment).

Last year they got their highest GCSE results ever.

So if there are spaces, I would check it out.

ThatCalmHelper · 13/10/2024 09:24

2010louises · 13/10/2024 09:16

100% vat is being applied from Jan 2025 😔

Show quote history

...we think!, I work in an independent school bursary, and as yet, we, like many can't even register to charge the VAT.

Its a bit of a mess, the inside view (at least that I'm hearing) is it probably won't be able to happen in Jan and will be deferred at the last minute to September, of course that doesn't help with notice etc.

We are not expecting to loose any pupils thankfully, but have said we will be flexible with notice, if it gets put back the pupils (if any were leaving) will be welcome to stay on and roll that notice forward.

CommanderHaysPaperKnife · 13/10/2024 09:21

Araminta1003 · 13/10/2024 08:44

https://www.bromley.gov.uk/downloads/file/9/in-year-secondary-school-admission-guidance-and-form

Here it is - Harris schools are separate. Proof of notice to leave the private school needs to be given to the Council.

Ok, I opened this doc. It just says that MATs have their own admissions policy.

It doesn't say that Harris prioritises high achieving schools for waiting list places. Harris schools are not selective. They use banding to allocate places (they claim to ensure a spread of abilities- whether they do or not is another matter)... but this if for y7. If they have spare spaces in year, are you saying they only allocate these according to banding? I find that hard to believe. They get funding per pupil, a space opens, they want to fill it. They're not going to say "sorry, you're in the wrong banding, we'll wait in case someone from this band to turn up."

Would like to hear what you meant though, as you weren't at all clear.

prh47bridge · 13/10/2024 09:18

Araminta1003 · 13/10/2024 08:38

Academy Trusts are there own admissions authority and groups of high achieving kids will be scooped up if there is space.

Academies have to comply with the same rules as all other schools. They cannot prioritise children for admission just because they are high achieving (and, as other another poster has said, being at an independent school doesn't necessarily mean they are high achieving). The only question for in-year admissions is whether the school has places available.

Original poster

2010louises · 13/10/2024 09:16

Moonshine5 · 13/10/2024 08:00

OP The VAT is not being added in January so they don't need to leave immediately.

100% vat is being applied from Jan 2025 😔

OP posts:

Original poster

2010louises · 13/10/2024 09:14

Lifestooshort71 · 13/10/2024 07:55

A unique situation perhaps but many children will be affected. As predicted, there will be a lot of scrabbling for state school vacancies and I tend to agree with pp upthread who suggested this hunt should have begun as soon as the VAT change was mentioned. Yes, parents would have had to pay a term's fees by default but to have your child settled in a decent local secondary may have been worth it.

Show quote history

I totally agree … but government moved the goalposts , they initially said would be from Sept 2025 .. and then just a couple months ago changed it to Jan 2025 😳 she thought she could see out this last academic year before having to plan ahead and move him next Sept , not this rush panic

OP posts:

CommanderHaysPaperKnife · 13/10/2024 09:11

Araminta1003 · 13/10/2024 08:57

@CommanderHaysPaperKnife - read the document! Harris has its own admissions deal.

Or, rather than plough though a doc written by a MAT my kids have no intention of attending a school at, I could ask the person posting what they mean since they were the ones making that point.

Original poster

2010louises · 13/10/2024 09:11

Araminta1003 · 13/10/2024 07:24

No idea if they have space, but look at Ravens Wood School, all boys, loads of clubs, have heard Science and Maths is good and it’s a big school. I would contact the head somehow. It’s a unique situation,

Thankyou x I believe my friend is now on the waiting list for Ravenswood , as well as several other schools across the borough , but most are very long waiting lists so it’s pretty stressful both for her and her son ☹️

OP posts:

Summertimer · 13/10/2024 09:07

Re different curriculum - I’m guessing that this could mean IGCSE as all the independent schools here do those. I don’t live in Kent though

Original poster

2010louises · 13/10/2024 09:07

Dinnerplease · 13/10/2024 07:00

Bromley is a big Borough. You should also look at schools in neighbouring Boroughs (or possibly Kent) depending on which end of the Borough you're in.

State schools don't 'follow a totally different curriculum'. A GCSE from a private school isn't a special one. If you move in year 9 you're in plenty of time to pick up different exam boards.

The parents need to speak to admissions in Bromley and any other borough. Bromley has lots of really good schools, like most of South London.

Thx for explaining , it was my misunderstanding of the situation by incorrectly saying different curriculum , I now realise it’s potentially a different exam board 🤦‍♀️

OP posts:

Spinet · 13/10/2024 09:00

No excuse for this last minute panic if real. This has been on the cards for at least the one academic year you could find a school space in.

redwinechocolateandsnacks · 13/10/2024 08:59

Everyone back together to complain about VAT..extra points for creativity OP

Araminta1003 · 13/10/2024 08:59

@premierleague - why would these boys want to stay until the end of year 9? The council itself advises to move asap before GCSEs. In addition, the triple science syllabus is often started by several schools in year 9 because there is so much material to get through.

Blushingm · 13/10/2024 08:58

@listsandbudgets it's not a surprise about the vat though and comparing a school to car insurance isn't a fair comparison.

Araminta1003 · 13/10/2024 08:57

@CommanderHaysPaperKnife - read the document! Harris has its own admissions deal.

Araminta1003 · 13/10/2024 08:56

It’s very strange a local authority council advises people not to move children in years 10&11 very specifically in a public document, yet here we have a Central Government policy forcing parents to do just that potentially! It’s completely absurd.

Original poster

2010louises · 13/10/2024 08:55

JeremiahBullfrog · 12/10/2024 16:10

Funny that you would have enough money to send your kids to private school but not be financially prudent enough to have the savings to cover the VAT for a term or two while looking for an alternative.

That’s a harsh view , my friend is a NHS nurse , her husband is an electrician , they scrimp and scrape as it is to pay the fees , they simply dont earn enough to have the extra circa £450 month to pay for the vat .. and this has come at very short notice , no one expected Labour to do this bang in the middle of the academic year , before being elected they indicated it would be in Sept 2025 , not January 2025

OP posts:

premierleague · 13/10/2024 08:52

Have they approached the school about paying the next two terms in arrears so they could stay til the end of the academic year?

Tiredalwaystired · 13/10/2024 08:50

Araminta1003 · 13/10/2024 08:46

@Tiredalwaystired - take it up with Harris, not me.

I’m taking it up with you because you’re the one that assumed they were high achieving because their parents paid for education.

That a you prejudice.

CommanderHaysPaperKnife · 13/10/2024 08:50

Araminta1003 · 13/10/2024 08:38

Academy Trusts are there own admissions authority and groups of high achieving kids will be scooped up if there is space.

who said they were high achieving?
how would the MAT scoop them? there's only one selective sch for boys in Bromley and it's w super selective

DancefloorAcrobatics · 13/10/2024 08:49

Lifestooshort71 · 13/10/2024 07:55

A unique situation perhaps but many children will be affected. As predicted, there will be a lot of scrabbling for state school vacancies and I tend to agree with pp upthread who suggested this hunt should have begun as soon as the VAT change was mentioned. Yes, parents would have had to pay a term's fees by default but to have your child settled in a decent local secondary may have been worth it.

Show quote history

I agree.

It's not that this came out of the blue.

Plus remember all the crazy threads telling private school parents to apply for a state school place. Obviously it was out of malice, but it would have also given DC a head start for a school place.