Aibu to think parents need to be more sensible when applying for school places

[WorkingBling]

Obviously, applying is stressful ans there are lots of reasons to be genuinely concerned. But today i have been biting my tongue all day.

1. The whatsapp group of existing families at a school terrified their second child wont get in (we have a siblings policy and on average, 50-60% of new children are siblings).

2 the woman i got chatting to whose first, second ans third choice schools are ALL way outside of the all previous years' catchment zones. She is very very upset she got her 4th choice. But what did she think would happen?!

Dont get me wrong, i am sympathetic to the overall issue of worrying about school places. When applying for ds we were on edge of the catchment zone from previous years so i knew a few extra applications could easily mean we would not get a place at preferred school. But at least our choice was within accepted catchment area (around here primary school zones vary from about 0.4 miles to 1 mile). I just dont understand why people dont read the guidelines correctly, giving themselves so much unnecessary stress.

I was chatting to someone last year and the talk turned to children. I told him our eldest was in year 8 and doing OK at his secondary school, and he started to bombard me with questions about where we lived and how we'd managed to get him into this particular school.

I asked him how old his child was, and he said "Two".

YANBU. I go to a playgroup at the local school (not my children's school) and there was quite a lot of upset because 8 parents who put the school as their first choice didn't get in, and six of them have siblings in older years. Which sucks of course, but none of them are in catchment - most used to be and have since moved. Our LA prioritises catchment above siblings, I didn't really know what to say 😬

Shes keeping her dd at the private scbool where ahe attends nursery. So why apply?!

TBF we did this as the private school hadn't formally offered a place to DD by the time the School places were released so I applied just in case. The state School she got accepted to is oversubscribed so they were quite grateful when we turned it down a couple of days after the offer.

Starting to feel even happier I grew up on an Island with only 1 school system. Although I'm also in the US. I realize I have no idea how people pick schools or how they are allocated when there is more than one option (in US or UK.) Nothing much to add but I feel for y'all, this all seems super stress inducing; screw the CFs!

I only applied for one as it's closest to me and would have to bus to any others the intake for reception was stupid they took on 54 kids to go between 2 classes and no extra teachers

Is catchment only for faith and religiois schools??

No, they can be for any type of school and are set by the local authority (for LEA schools). Not all local authorities have catchment areas. Some do, some have priority admission areas, which are similar, some go by straight line distance only. If there is a catchment area, not everyone within it will necessarily get into the school. Some schools prioritise siblings over pupils in catchment.

One thing that doesn’t help is estate agents selling houses in X school
“catchment area”. Except our 2 local outstanding primaries don’t have catchments, they are distance based and furthest offers are usually between 250-300 metres. So you have a number of parents very upset that they paid 1m + for a property but it’s 500 metres away so no place.

Interested in this.

@Retrofair just remember that if you may be liable for the Autumn terms fees if you decline your place at the prep school after the start of the summer term.

the intake for reception was stupid they took on 54 kids to go between 2 classes and no extra teachers

That's small class sizes for the state system! Standard would be 30 kids per class, so 60 between the 2 classes.

The system in England (I’m guessing this is England since it’s yr xx discussions rather than P xx) confuses me. How can a child end up being sent to a school miles away? Is the system completely different to Scotland? Here we apply for our local primary, with 2 back up choices and you can put in a placing request for out of catchment (siblings attending or family living locally providing childcare).
But there doesn’t seem to be the stress that I see surrounding school places on here. It must be very difficult and worrying.

We were guilty of applying for a place for DS and declining it, however we wanted to be certain that keeping him at private school was the right thing and that we could definitely afford it.

I can really sympathise with people as it sounds so stressful and horrible these days - makes me wonder why too
.Somebody said to me the other day they see it as a conspiracy to stop people having children. doesnt sound as daft to me when i read threads like this.

It changed nationally to LA determined to stop people 'buying/bribing' kids into the best schools. But each LA has it's own criteria.

I agree that you should follow the instructions for your LA. Here if you don't get a place at any of your preferences you are allocated a space at your nearest school AFTER all places are allocated to those who made a preference. You could therefore be across town. Luckily because of this system most get one of there 3 preferences however I still know ppl who only put one choice down and don't understand that they could be sent anywhere in the district if they don't get their one preference.

We picked our 3 preferences even though our last wasn't one we really wanted because we knew we had a good chance of getting in and leaving a blank space is too risky. We thankfully got our first choice.

Even though we had been attending church to get into one of the two church primaries near us I still put alll six choices of schools we had a chance of getting into.

This is wrong! Don't pick and chose to be a certain religion so that you can get into the best school!

My bugbear are the people who put just one choice down because then they 'have to get it'. No that's not how it works! I have to bite my tongue so hard!

Saddest thing is there are so many shitty schools parents are desperate to avoid. There is nothing funny or laughable about that (DD (4) got her 1st choice but we are lucky enough to be surrounded by excellent primaries.

Yes, people wouldn’t be so stressed about it if all schools were up to scratch.
We’ve been allocated an awful school. Of course I was stressed about it. I knew we were unlikely to get our first choice as we’re out of catchment, but you can only hope.

I kinky out know choice for junior school. But it was my catchment school and we live next door!!! So I kind of hoped we’d be ok!

Which we were.

But others applied way way out of the catchment and still got in. I suppose it depends on a lot of factors.

Edenrose that was us last year! our allocated school was truly awful, you would only send your child there if you don't give a shit about education. Peopme who care either go private if they can afford it ( many like us just about!), convert to catholicism (2 excellent but cery, very catholuc schools around), homeschool or move.
the allocated state school waz almost 3 miles away (transport here is offered if itsmore than 3 miles), has attendance levels from hell and massive bullying problems (academic results are absolutely aweful as well, "expected" is classed as amazing there).

I'm worried about just one child! I need a school with after school club as a single working parent. My friends also a single working parent with 3 kids at 3 different schools. It's horrible, really gets her down and she now hates her life Monday to Friday.

Totally agree, the logic of some people with regards to this is bonkers. There was someone moaning yesterday because she hadn’t been offered her first or third place, but had been given her second choice. Not sure why she was moaning about not getting her third place when she’d been allocated a school she’d out as a higher priority - that’s just bonkers.

I have an Infant School near me that is unpopular (mainly because the feeder junior is dire but that's another thread). I have numerous parents wringing their hands at me (early years) because their child goes to the pre-school attached to the out of catchment primary. "I hope x gets into the primary. He won't know anyone if he goes to the infants"...well that would be your fault wouldn't it? I mean, the primary is always oversubscribed and you're out of catchment with a lot of new housing estates between you and the school!

Some people genuinely believe that enrolling in a pre-school gives you a place at the attached school and others seem to view it as some firm of good luck charm. Read the instructions. It's really not that complicated.

I didn't really want choice when I chose schools for my children I just wanted the nearest school to be great...the fact that isn't the case for many people is the real issue.

I didn't really want choice when I chose schools for my children I just wanted the nearest school to be great

Exactly. If we didn’t have any awful schools, people would be less bothered about which school they’re allocated. The only one we had a chance of getting into is dire. We’re trying to rejig finances to see if we can afford private but it’s unlikely.