To wish fil would stop asking every single time?

[CaterpillarInTheGarden]

Every time fil is here (approximately every month) he asks the same question - when are we signing dc up for a school. Dc is 20 months old. We tell him that the schools in our catchment area are mediocre rated by ofsted and are under subscribed looking at previous years, and we can't afford a house in a better catchment area yet. Yet he always asks every time! Do you put your dc's name down at 20 months? Is that even how it works?

CaterpillarInTheGarden, if you search on your council website under school admissions it will tell you how and when to apply. But usually you apply online to the council. I think it around the January before the child is due to start and you find out which school they have got into before Easter. The selection criteria will be on the website you can usually put down 3 schools. The criteria will be something like 1. Child has a SEN and school is named on their Plan, 2, child is in care, 3.child is in catchment and has siblings in the school, 4, child is in catchement 5. Child out of catchement but has siblings in the school 6, other children who have applied.

There's no putting a child's name down for state school.

For private nursery ...yes...but not school.

Next time tell him the system has changed and it doesn't work like that anymore..That you will apply when DC isoft age via the online pan admissions system used by LEAs in the UK.

That should stop him asking again.

Not all councils have catchments though. Ours allocates based in similar criteria 1 and 2, then siblings regardless of address, then fills remaining places in order of straight-line distance (in any direction) from the school. Sometimes that cuts off at less than 300m!

Tell FiL he is down for Eton and you are keeping fingers crossed he gets a scholarship/lotto win.

Ask him if he’s signed up for his care home yet.

It doesn’t work like that. I remember my DM handing me school forms when my first DC turned one and I just looked at her like . You can only apply the academic year before they would start school. Think I had to apply by January the same year they would start school iykwim.

Just checking wanting to check are voluntary aided faith schools state schools that you also apply for through the council when applications open?

Does he mean preschool you still have to sign up round here for some of them

Just tell him the truth, you have or you haven't. What is the issue?

Caterpillar,

Yes. All state primary schools have the same, co-ordinated, admissions system so that each child gets 1 (and only 1) offer of a school place.

Some schools might require additional evidence (for example baptismal certificates) to make sure that you are placed in the same admissions category, but all of this is provided at the same time as you make the main school application.

It looks as if both you and he could benefit from having a good read of your local area's primary admissions booklet, which you should be able to find on the council website.

I would agree with Quartz that you do need to sign up for pre-schools (ie setting before Reception - nursery, pre-school, kindergarten, nursery class within a school ... it goes by many names), even if they are part of a school. So if you are looking to take advantage of the free hours etc then this is genuinely something that you should be doing as many take from 2.5 and there are fewer places than for schools.

@TriciaH87 - it very much depends on which country you are in and whether is is state or primary, and sometimes its a little different for specific church schools.

Certainly in our area of England, there is no 'putting a name down' for any local state school. You simply apply in the winter before they are due to start, via a common application form on the LEA website (or a paper equivalent.)

With our local private schools you can put their name down, with a smallest holding fee. However, this isn't a waiting list as such and you still have to apply at the right time, and it is still subject to their in-house assessment criteria.

The council website will explain it all! You can’t get generic advice on here as each council does things subtly differently. Please just read the website, for the love of God!

Certainly in our area of England, there is no 'putting a name down' for any local state school.

This is not just in your area - this is the law in all areas of England and, i believe, Wales.

Councils may have very slightly different procedures, and schools may have different oversubscription criteria (which come into play if there are more applicants than places, to determine who gets a place - often looked after children, children with SEN, siblings, others by distance, but can be by specific catchment or have a faith component).

However, no council, and no state school, has 'putting name down early' as a process or an oversubscription criterion, and all state applications are handled in a single co-ordinated process with fixed dates.

Most state primaries use their local Council for admissions and there is one round for the following year. No chance to put anything down in advance for that - nurseries and pre-schools yes, but not infants and juniors in the state sector.

Yes aided schools are state schools. I'm England you get church of England schools and then non regilious schools. Generally in september and October the schools will have open days for perspective parents to go look around. Keep an eye out for these the year before he is due to start. Applications then open in November till January. There is no benefit to getting it in first as all applications received before date will be considered. Different schools have different criteria. Usually siblings of pupils then children in catchment done on distance if over subscribed. Faith schools people who attend the associated church often get priority too.

You apply for all the schools in one form (online), via the council.

Some schools, often including faith schools, ask you to submit an additional form - a SIF or Supplementary Information Form - to the school.

Admission to the school can only be according to that school's published admissions criteria. Most primaries, for example, admit according to distance - how far you live from the school. Some faith schools admit according to attendance at church or mass. They will also have other priority categories: SEN / children in Care / siblings.

The LA sends your application to all the schools you apply to, and those schools assess your application against their admissions criteria. They tell the LA whether or not they can offer you a place. If more than one school on your list says 'yes' the LA will offer you whichever of those schools is highest up your list of preferences. You only get one offer - the LA will turn down your lower choice places and they will go back into the computer to be offered to others who applied.

January 15th is the national deadline for applications. So in the summer or autumn before lookout for Open Days at the schools near you. Look on their websites or in the LA Booklet about school admissions to check the school's admissions criteria.

Check MN for discussion about admissions before you put in your application, especially to understand the system and make sure you choose a school that you do have a good chance of getting into.

Finfintytint
Ask him if he’s signed up for his care home yet.
.........
That made me laugh :-).

Caterpillar, just tell him to calm down about the subject and that the constant questioning on same subject gets on your nerves. As others have said, you don't have to put a child's name down for a state school at such a young age.

"You can’t get generic advice on here as each council does things subtly differently"

The dates and the system is the same nationwide: schools admissions is statutory and governed by the Schools Admissions Code www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code--2

But yes, read your LA website, and make sure you understand the system.

Oh, and you don't have to apply to schools only in your borough or county: a school is not allowed to favour residents of one borough or county over another simply down to which LA you live in. This can be important if you live close to a boundary.

ReasonedCamper thank you, that was helpful information

Tell him you're planning to home ed.

That'll cause a bit more interesting conversation

Sorry one last question. Does attendance at nursery school or a nursery school associated with a primary school affect you getting into a primary school of your choice. Mil seems to think that certain nursery schools are a feeder into certain primary schools

No. Nursery and school admissions are separate.

A friend of mine, with a son an academic year younger, put her son's name down for the school before I applied for my son's school place. I was very confused and rang the council to clarify. Apparently the school was acknowledging these emails and telling people their children's name was 'on the list'. The school wasn't/isn't over-subscribed so everyone 'on the list' would always get in. The woman in the council said that schools still like to feel important even though it's literally nothing to do with them.

Nope - Nursery and Primary are separate applications and one does not influence the other.

Ds has just got into the Primary his Nursery class is within - he had to go through the same admissions process as everyone and it's not counted that he went to Nursery there.

Look at the admissions criteria for your area (closer to the time because FIL is nuts!). Our is:-

1. Looked after children in catchment
2. Looked after children outside catchment
3. Children in catchment with sibling at school
4. Children in catchment no sibling link
5. Children outside catchment with sibling link
6. Children outside catchment with no sibling link.

Caterpillar,

Very, very rarely - and if so, it will specifically be listed in the over-subscription criteria. I remember some time ago someone on MN finding 1 school somewhere where there was still a link, but I am not certain whether it has now been ruled to be against the admissions code?

Whenever my MIL asks me the same question I say we've already had this convo.