to ask how important primary school is? Would it be okay to leave him at this school?

[AmberrrS]

DS is in Reception, we aren't in a particularly rich area... There's a variety of different houses, but we purchased a new one. It's lovely and the perfect house (BTW we hadn't even conceived DS at this point, so didn't even think of schools). However, there's 3 bloody prep schools! That are our closest schools. There is literally no schools in our catchment. We still put down all the good schools that were close by, even though they were out of catchment. We didn't get any instead they gave us the closest catchment and only catchment school - it's 8 miles away. It's awful. I thought I'd give it a go, just to see as I know not all schools are what OFSTED say. He doesn't like it... He comes home crying every single afternoon he refuses to let go of me. He sits hugging the TA all day, who is lovely, but has no issue telling me that that's the only thing he has done. She says it's okay because he was upset, which it's nice to know she cares, but I feel like it's feeding DS's sadness of you see what I mean? At breaktime he gets knocked over by older children (they don't have a separate playground) and has been pushed off the slide, but his class teacher said that it was because he has been told he isn't allowed on it, as only yr 1 + is allowed well why on earth let them be around it then! He's 4! He doesn't know that he can't go on it and if he does it's acceptable for older kids to push him

Sometimes the children get moved to the corridor to 'play' as their classroom needs to be used by a different class, so the children often wander off. DS had accidentally sat in a yr 1 lesson due to him not getting out the classroom quick enough before the yr 1 class went in.

It's a shambles. He only started on the 1st!

It's rated inadequate and I agree... Unfortunately we both work, we're not rich, we are both on national average wage, so doing okay and have an income of about £50,000 joined. I just don't know if it's worth looking at the preps... It seems like most of the children around us go to one of the 3. We wouldn't be able to go on holiday (which we do once a year) our mortgage is very high and we have a younger daughter so we need to think about the cost of her going too, so we would be very short of cash. Is it worth it?

Or would you leave him there for a bit longer and see how it goes? It's just quite far too and I literally feel like I'm dumping him at some kind of awful place.

How important is primary school?

I know the maps you mean - they aren't circular as you'd expect - but odd shaped splodges

Can you ring the school and check is there's space?

Can you think about a home tutor?

There maybe a teacher locally who's on maternity leave or retired - a few hours a day would be of benefit

Yes, I know. That's how the catchment works in my area too, as I was trying to describe earlier.

But it doesn't really sound like what the OP was talking about - if her official catchment school is 8 miles away, unless there are some strangely shaped catchments going on (which is, of course, possible). Also her description of "there is only one school in my catchment" sounds unusual - which made me think perhaps she was describing instead the actual areas of who was admitted to the schools in the previous year, which is a different (and sometimes very frustrating) situation, if you get some roads that just aren't quite close enough to anywhere to get in.

It is also a bit unusual to have a Junior school that apparently does have her street as catchment, and yet the infant school doesn't, particularly when this 8-miles away primary school does have them as catchment. But it could just be the strange way in operates in that area, as I know everywhere is different.

I was shocked at that too! I can show you a picture though? In case you think I have it wrong

Sounds awful
I'd move house or go for prep school. I think educating children is one of the most important things you do as a parent

No I'm sure you have it right, if that's what you meant - I was just hoping that perhaps you had the wrong term, as often people use catchment when they mean 'admittance area', and that if so, it might have helped with things like waiting list situations. Some places do indeed have really weirdly shaped catchments, or situations where the various catchments of different schools aren't centrally managed (in my area, for example, all streets are divided up and allocated to one particular school, and get priority in its admissions criteria; rather than each school choosing its own).

Oh, hang on... It is admission, I just double checked. For some schools it says catchment and others say admission

We didn't get into the infant school anyway

This is what it says. I guess it's because the infant school is oversubscribed?

I think that the site is telling you whether or not you'd have got into the school last year - not that the school has particular catchment priority areas (though hard to tell without seeing the actual criteria - they might have those too), but that in 2015, someone at your address wouldn't have got into the infant school but would have got into the juniors. It sounds more like you live in one of the really annoying black holes for admissions, where you aren't that close to enough schools to get in on distance criteria (and in fact, an area that probably would benefit from having formal catchments as a result).

It sounds like there is a chance that you could still get into the junior school in a couple of years' time, as you are close enough for that and because it's been undersubscribed in the past.

Probably worth making sure you are on all the waiting lists for the nearer schools in the meantime, as well as any that you didn't even apply to but that would be closer or as close as the one you do have.

Are you in Herts OP? I'm trying to envision how you can not be in any schools catchment if they operate on that basis. When it's purely distance I see applications where the schools applied for are all oversubscribed and have a cut off point of a shorter distance leaving black holes but even then we have schools within 2 miles for Reception places at transition.

We are actually not, we are in the South East, which is why it's odd. There are lots of schools! Just we live in such an awkward bit

Crochet is right. That is just telling you if you would have got in last year, not if you're in the catchment area.

It would be incredibly odd if you loved in an area where your actual catchment school was eight miles away. I live in one of the most rural counties not the UK and no child lives further away than four miles from their catchment school (and even then, it's only the odd farm etc)

I see! We still didn't get in any though

It would be incredibly odd if you loved in an area where your actual catchment school was eight miles away. I live in one of the most rural counties not the UK and no child lives further away than four miles from their catchment school (and even then, it's only the odd farm etc)

I grew up rurally and there were children who travelled 6 miles to primary school (we got bussed in) and then 9 miles to secondary school.
I expect there are much further distances for children who live in very rural areas.

I actually thought you lived in my catchment area because of the distances and only 1 primary school.

Definitely weird shaped catchment areas around here.
Couldn't even begin to count how many primary schools there are in our neighboring catchment area. Some under a mile away yet technically not in our postcodes catchment area

Have you asked prep school if they have any bursaries? I know most do.
I can't underestimate how important a good primary school is. I have taught a state & private primary schools & the difference is huge. The confidence gained & all the extra support from small classes is great. However, if you can't afford it, I would add your dc name to the list of your preferred school as this is better than struggling to pay school fees.

i know of secondary schools having a huge catchment.

my secondary school not only covered our town, but also two others 5 miles and 10 miles away respectively!

I would stick where he is and maybe go on some waiting lists. By the time a place comes up somewhere else he will probably be settled and have friends and not want to move. Moving him now may make him even more unsettled. Plus if the school is graded inadequate now a lot of resources will be going in and it will likely get a good on the next inspection.

I cannot recommend prep schools enough if you are able to manage it. It is worth sacrificing other things to get your child a good start and if there are grammar schools in your area then you stand a god chance of getting a place. All I would say is that be wary of starting at prep, thinking you will transfer back to state at Y3. You will go from probably a class of 18 to 30 and the general culture change for your child may be a great shock.

As a comparison, my DD started in Reception last week at the local prep school. The teacher came round to drop her off a 'we look forward to seeing you tomorrow' card and then once she had started the teacher emailed every parent at lunchtime to let then know how their child was getting on and sent them a little photo. We have the teacher's email and can email at any time with any questions or concerns. No way would I be transferring my child back to state at Y3 even if it meant working every night for the next 6 years!!