AIBU to ask what you would do next year...secondary school nightmare admissions issue

[Postcardsfromstress]

Namechanged for this, for various reasons.

We've just learnt that 50 families a stone's throw from our two local schools didn't get secondary school places this year. The catchment is huge, not enough (good) schools. These two schools reneged on an extra bulge class, as they don't feel they have the communal facilities (toilets, corridors etc) to accommodate more children. They've said this is the case the coming academic year too - but hoping admission figures fall as of 23/24. Until then, there's every chance you'll be sent on a bus/es to not great schools quite far away.

This is going to affect us as we will apply to go for next September.

I feel like that's a lot of families locally who got affected, and there's every chance it could be us.

So, I need to be strategic and think about what we can do - if anything? Move? consider private? Sit back, let's see what's coming to us.

I guess my post is as much for thoughts about what other people would do...whilst I think on our strategy

I would visit all schools your DC might end up with and go in with an open mind

Where I live everyone is breathless and panicking about getting in the Ofsted “excellent “ school, which imo is just a school good at box ticking, but nowhere near as good as the other comp which has a totally different atmosphere.

You can get really caught up in the rat race and the collective panic. But I would just look at all options openmindedly

Also, taking a bus to secondary school is very normal and not terrible.

Golly, I read this, and I read about chest feeding and I think that much as I love it, I will never move to Brighton. What a nightmare. (Sorry not the point of the thread!)

Catchment colloquially means 2 different things

1. pre-defined priority admissions area (as in this case)
2. the area from which the school gets its pupils based on distance (eg in London?) (hence 'shrinking catchments') with no odd-shaped priority admissions area Don't muddle the two.

But surely if you look around the out of catchment schools and find one you like you put that one just below your preferred 2 on the preference list then at least if you dont get 1 of the local 2 schools youstand a chance of getting one you like?!

So OP lives in catchment in an area where places are essentially decided by lottery of catchment children. This year it looks like around 50 children didn't get a place (i.e. there's 50 children more in catchment wanting places than there are school places, broadly speaking). And presumably they got the dregs of the places left elsewhere as everyone else also got first dibs on their catchment school.

So options are

• accept lottery and that your DC might get a school you don't want
• move house to somewhere that doesn't run school lotteries
• go private.

I suspect what I would do would be

1. Cross fingers child gets catchment school plus have long hard look at best of out of catchment undersubscribed schools and getting them on the form as back stop.

If child doesn't get place

1. See how viable/acceptable offered place is
2. Appeal for local schools
3. Go private as last resort (so also need you to look at private schools now)

If they don't then

How far is "far away"? Presumably these families did not list any of the closer schools so were not considered in the allocation round until after those who did were placed.

LIZS The problem is the OP could live right next door to her preferred school and still not get in. Because they put all the kids applying who live in the pre-defined catchment area into a great big hat to pick the lucky winners. There are more kids in the hat than places.

@PrivateOrState

If it’s a lottery, I would move as I couldn’t handle the uncertainty.

You don’t seem sure though, and it sounds like an odd system. Have you looked at the admissions policy in the school website? It will all be laid out in black and white in the policy.

www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2020-06/Amended%20Admission%20Arrangements%202021-22_0.pdf

Here’s the admissions arrangements.

I’m guessing that you live in the catchment for Varndean and Dorothy Stringer as you said there were only 2 schools in your catchment? So you’re pretty central within the Borough? Surely that means your dc wont actually have far to travel whichever other school they are allocated? It’s pretty rubbish if you don’t get a place in your local school, but with the system in Brighton there’s not much you can do about it. Too many children for to few places.

I think that's probably a good idea - to accept that we will need to put other, under subscribed schools on the list so we get those, at least.

We paid privately. Luckily we could just about afford it and it was only five years for one child. With hindsight it was a good fit for him and he may not have done well at the far larger, if excellent state school we applied for.

What we DIDN’T do was plan for not getting a place so don’t be us.

In your situation, I would put my DC in for private school admission tests and, if accepted, put a deposit down on a private place. Then, if the school your child is allocated is really unacceptable to you, you have that option. That's actually what we've done here for primary school as there are lots of children and catchment areas are tiny. We need a school close by us to enable us both to commute into central London every day so being allocated a school miles away with poor transport links would be a logistical nightmare and probably mean one of us cutting our working hours. Hence, we're prepared to pay to make sure that doesn't happen.

But... and this is a big but...we can afford private fees for one child without beggaring ourselves. Please don't end up getting into debt and sacrificing all treats and holidays to fund seven years of private education... it's not worth it. Your child will do fine so long as you support their education.

It really depends how bad it could be. Of all of the possible options, are there any you really wouldn't want your children to attend?

@Postcardsfromstress

I think that's probably a good idea - to accept that we will need to put other, under subscribed schools on the list so we get those, at least.

Yes that is absolutely what you do. Put preferred schools first then a local banker if there is such a thing in the last spot - so at least you don't get a random school miles away. Everyone is advised to do that tbh - this would often avoid those annual threads of "my DC git offered a school 10 miles away" then it turns out they didn't list the local school! Not saying you are doing that op.

The lottery sounds like a nightmare. What percentage of children miss out each year?

Yes, I would take the lottery and plan for your number not coming up. Explain the system to your dc and encourage them to be prepared for all options, give them agency in the third choice and it will be easier for them to navigate this stressful system.

@clary - what's a local banker?

A 'banker' wrt admissions is a school you will pretty much definitely get in to. Normally your nearest school, but in Brighton I guess it would be a traditionally undersubscribed school.

Better a not so good school that you choose, than a not so good school you just get allocated.

I would wait and see what happens this year - they might end up having to put in extra classes in the oversubscribed schools.

I'd also visit all of the undersubscribed out of catchment schools and put your least worst option as your 3rd choice.

Have you looked at houses in other areas to get an idea where you would move which is in budget, commutable to work, and has a school that you like?

Could you wait and see whether you got a place before you made the final decision? Although I understand that isn't ideal either, depending on how long it takes to move house that might entail having to send your child to the non preferred school for a while, or homeschool, and apply late for the new school. It just seems quite drastic to move house when the odds are in favour of getting into the preferred school.

@TeenMinusTests

A 'banker' wrt admissions is a school you will pretty much definitely get in to. Normally your nearest school, but in Brighton I guess it would be a traditionally undersubscribed school.

Better a not so good school that you choose, than a not so good school you just get allocated.

That was what I was suggesting that the 50 families had not done.

I take it you are after a place at either varndean or Dorothy stringer?
And the faith school is cardinal Newman.
All three of these schools have been oversubscribed for years. The catchment areas both varndean and DS are massive with a lottery system of who gets a place after the usual set criteria looked after children etc.
Cardinal Newman again has a massive catchment taking children from as far away as lancing but they met the faith criteria which is pretty tight. You need to be more than a occasional church goer and your priest needs to sign to confirm regular church attendance. So I wouldn’t use it as a back up plan.
Hove park and blatchintonmill are worth looking at as I know several families who have been happy with these.
But a fact of Brighton is that the schools are oversubscribed and even the backups won’t have a guaranteed place.

Do you know how the waiting list operates for your favoured school - is that also a lottery, or based on distance? If the latter, and you live very close to the school, then you would probably not have to wait long.

@ConnieDobbs - true, unless even half of those 65 families also live nearby (which they do), in which case it's very unlikely

@Proudboomer - you say that about Blatch Mill but this year they had 400 first preference admissions and accepted 284. Those odds are as rubbish as Dorothy Stringer etc

I think there are very city specific issues with Brighton because of catchments- there is a huge amount of social stratification. All the MC schools oversubscribed- all the WC academies undersubscribed. There aren't any 'bankers' in Brighton. It is peculiar and council not really willing to take on middle class wrath in tackling it.

But as i said as everyone shuffles round a bit over next few months, there will be fewer displaced kids come Sept.

Only way round it, without going private would be move out of Brighton or possibly next to one of Hove schools.

Nb - no preference for teacher kids I think thats a private school wheeze. You could get a job at Brighton College.

I know I'm lucky we got in in the extra class year.

Our local school definitely has a staff child criteria.

1- medical needs/looked after
2- ehcp
3- sibling
4- staff
5- distance

Due to a lot of siblings this year plus a reduced pan from 300 to 210 (no-one knows why) an awful lot of very local children didn't get in. There has been mild uproar.

I'd start with research and when possible visits to the alternatives, which I read you are going to do.

@Doodledoop - as I said, moving to Hove doesn't pay more dividends. 400 first preference admissions to Blatch Mill and only 284 accepted.

I don't like the MC/WC comments - that isn't how I see it - I think the catchment areas need to be big to prevent ghettorisation of the city - but equally, I don't want to go to an underperforming school