About school applications for reception 2015...

[elfycat]

To remind you that you need to apply by Mid-January (15th seems to be the day).

And AIBU to bump this for the next few weeks?

You need to apply, even if you live next door to the school, even if your child is attending the preschool attached to the school, even if a sibling already goes. There are no automatic places at state schools.

There were quite a few shocked parents last year who got a random school that they didn't want their child to be at. If you do not apply for a place and someone else does - they will get it. Even if they are out of catchment and you are in the area they will get the place.

Most, if not all counties have on-line submissions. If you have time to read MN you have time to nip in and start the application, or start by just getting the log-in sorted. Do it now before you forget and get caught up in the frenzy of Christmas and the post-Xmas exhaustion.

[YvesJutteau]

I've had an email from DD2's council Special Needs Assessment caseworker confirming "that you do not need to complete any of the normal application forms for a place for DD2 in Reception, we will handle everything here in Special Needs." Phew. I just need to let them know our preferences (that'll be the one local school with specialist facilities, that's already named on her statement, then...). I'm glad I checked, though.

[SuburbanReindeer]

To answer a PP, our school knows how many of the applications already in are first preference, how many second, etc. because the LA sends us a list, which is regularly updated.

It doesn't matter to us whether it's first, second or third, but it does give us an indication that people like our school if there are lots of first preferences

[bearwithspecs]

That's interesting reindeer as I was always told they never knew ... Now I wonder

[MrsHathaway]

Reindeer do you mean you get an anonymised report saying eg "43 applications of which 32 first choice, 5 second choice and 6 third choice"?

[Karoleann]

We only put one choice down, but we were 200m away and had attended the church (which gave you preference ) for 18 months beforehand and had a private school as a back up (which we could afford).

[FloraPost]

Mumoftwoyoungkids, our LEA (outer London) says lower numbered flats in blocks get preference. I guess your front door is further from the school if it's higher off the ground.

Interesting, YvesJutteau, DS1 will have a substantial EHC plan but we have had to apply in the standard way in addition to going through the SEND team.

[ShellyF]

Mrs Hathaway; we get a list with children's names on whose parents have put us down as one of their three choices.We are not told whether they are first second or third. We are told NOT to assume that we will be allocated all of the children on our list.
Eastern England.

[YvesJutteau]

Flora, maybe it varies by borough? At any rate, the school (who go through this several times each year) think I don't need to apply in the standard manner, the application site says that I should check with the SN team, and having done that the SN team have told me not to apply through normal channels. So (a) DD should have a place, and (b) if not then we'll have a pretty solid appeal case. I don't know whether it makes a difference that she already has the statement (the final version signed in the closing days of August just in time to sneak in pre-EHC).

[Loopylala7]

This thread is enough to prove how ridiculous the whole system is. I live 400m from the school I want my DC to attend (it is the closest). We are not in catchment. The school we are in catchment for is over a mile away. HOWEVER my DBs DC is in catchment for said school. He lives 5 miles away. Its all to do with lines somebody drew on a map in the council offices, but didn't think about people who say live the closest.

To say I'm upset about the situation is beyond. It will be a huge upheaval with childcare to go to any other school. We will have to change nursery as the current nursery don't pick up for this other school, and my 70 year old DM who doesn't drive but does look after DC once a week will have to walk a whole extra mile every time to do the pick up, with a bad back.

[Theoretician]

I wonder if the system should change. Assuming a choice of six schools, maybe people should be presented with a preselected list of six closest schools, in order of how far they are from their home, with options to (a) reorder the list as they see fit and (b) replace any of the three furthest away schools with a different school of their choice. There would be no option to reduce the size of the list. That way everyone could still choose three schools purely on how much they like them, but would still always have their closest three schools somewhere on their list.

[CalleighDoodle]

My dd is in reception already. I did put three schools down but i knew we would get our first choice, an RC school, despite not being in the catchment area. The closest Church school, where we would also definitely have been given a place and is OFSTED Outstanding, is Church (baptism and attendance) before siblings!

[RustyBear]

The problem is often that schools aren't arranged neatly equidistant from each other - our borough has suggested many different ways -catchments, shared catchments, distance only, average distance, closest school - with several consultations in the 23 years we've lived here, but it's a long thin borough with the town itself rather further north than the middle and a big area in the south with no schools at all. In addition, there are two primary schools in the town about 300 yards apart on opposite sides of the same road, so any catchment areas are bound to be lopsided.

The situation got so bad a couple of years ago that anyone living in the south of the borough had no chance of getting in to their closest school, even if they were officially in its catchment, and would have to drive right through the town to a school in the north. Some parents have now set up a free school in the south of town which has helped but it's only in its second year, so only helps the youngest children.

The secondary situation is just as bad, if not worse, compounded by the fact that two of the secondaries are single sex, with the girls' school in the town and the boys' school in the next village to the north. There's another secondary very close to the girls' school which is on a site has a tendency to flood with anything more than moderate rain - the council has proposed moving the school to the south of town (where half its catchment is) but that's never been agreed.

I don't actually think there's a fair way of doing it at all with the current locations of schools -the borough really needs a new primary and secondary school in the area to the south of the town, but they've been talking about it for years and its not happening yet...

[MrsHathaway]

That sounds logical, Shelly. I was wanting to make sure Reindeer didn't find out which preference any individual family had put down, which is sort of a separate issue.

[MrsCakesPrecognition]

I went to an information evening at a local grammar school last term, aimed at families whose DDs had already passed their 11+ with good enough marks to be in with a real chance of a place.
The HT answered questions about admissions and I was shocked at how many patents had no idea how it worked, were intending to put their local comp ahead of the grammar in the preferences (even though they really want their DD to go to the grammar) and who didn't know they had to fill in their local LEA's application form.
The HT explained the same things repeatedly and patents just kept asking the same questions. They clearly weren't listening, didn't understand or didn't like the answers they were getting.
And these were mostly bright, interested parents who had managed to successfully negotiate the 11+ system only to fuck it up at the last hurdle.

[MrsCakesPrecognition]

Parents not patents. Sorry for the autocorrects.

[EbwyIsUpTheDuff]

I only put one school on my eldest's application, as it was the only one we're in catchment area for, and also the only one I could actually get him to! Had he been allocated anywhere else, I'd have had to homeschool him, which wouldn't have been good for him! (I can easily handle the academic side, but he's a very shy child who NEEDS to be with lots of children all day to learn how to socialise with them.)

I will be doing the same with his brother in 2 years time, and (presumably) the one I'm carrying when she's born - unless something unforseen happens like us moving or I have a sudden, unexpected improvement!

"Fortunately" the school has a bad reputation locally so there wasn't a problem - but it does have a new head teacher this year so may improve a lot.

[AuditAngel]

Thank you for the reminder. This was on my "To fo over the Christmas holidays" list, but it is now done. I have completed the Supplemental Information forms for the two Catholic schools, included a CofE school which doesn't require a SIF and added 2 community schools. We can make 6 choices, but realistically, as practising Catholics with a Baptised child, with an older sibling at school, we should get one of the 60 places at our first place school.

I did hear that in 2014 5 siblings dos NOT get places, but I believe they were non-Catholic siblings so lower down the criteria than practising Catholics.

[AuditAngel]

I actually still need to submit the SIF's, but both need my original council tax bill so will take the SIF into existing school on first day, ask them to photocopy it and add the (signed as copy of original) copy into their pack, so the original can then go, recorded delivery to school number 2.

[mummytime]

There is no one "system" for the whole of England. In my lA in almost all cases, except some faith schools, the school you are most likely to get is the one you are closest to. However if that is full before they get to you, or you are in one of a very small number of places where there is a catchment, then you might be out of luck.

Of course my LA is threatening that there will just not be enough school places for every pupil this year, and there is no money to provide more places. It will be interesting to see what happens as the general election approaches.

I'm very pleased I don't have children starting this year.

[ShadowSuperNova]

Don't LEAs have a legal obligation to offer a school place to every child living in their area who wants a place?

Even if it's in a school the parents hate or it means the LEA have to force some schools to have bulge classes.

[mummytime]

Yes. But at least one LA is saying they don't have the money to expand more, so may default on their legal obligation. It will be interesting to see what happens then. Especially as it is a Tory LA.

[Lara2]

Just to let anyone in Hampshire know - the online application has to be done on a PC. The system doesn't support tablets or mobile phones.

[YvesJutteau]

"That way everyone could still choose three schools purely on how much they like them, but would still always have their closest three schools somewhere on their list."

Mmm, but in our case as we stand no chance whatsoever of getting into two of our three nearest schools that would basically be wasting a third of our options (as it happens, not relevant, DD2 is going to school on her statement which is miles away, but hypothetically if she had no SEN your system would be wasting two of our options).

[mamababa]

Also with regard to the deadline day. That's a joke too. Assuming you put school A as preferred choice, but don't get in. However yu are number 1 on waiting list.

If between deadline day and the school start date someone decides to apply and they meet the criteria more than you, then they take 'top spot' on the wait list even though they applied late

[mummytime]

mamababa - that isn't what deadline day is about.
If you apply before deadline day you are considered with all those who also apply by deadline day. If someone "forgets" or moves in closer, their application isn't even considered until after Offer day. So if you are 30th on the list according to the offer criteria, you get offered a place. Even if someone has moved in closer to the school.