Waiting list for primary school

[boymuma]

Afternoon all, we got our second choice on primary school. I thought this might be the case but feeling a bit sad. Results for second choice are ok but not great. We are on a waiting list for first choice, I was just after some other people's experiences. Should I get my hopes up that we might get in ? or should I just get used to our second choice? I feel in limbo want to tell ds this is your school but don't want to confuse him if it changes. Aggghhh I know I'm being a pioneer but I feel really sad and disappointed!

Firstly, please remember that what your local authority was doing when it invited you to submit your CAF was allowing you your legal right to express preferences for three or more schools. Not make chpices. Yes, you had to make a choice as to which schools to put down and in what order, but what you are telling the LA is, t'his is my favourite school, but if I can't have that one, this one is my next favourite

(Oops...)...and so on. And if you don't come far enough up the admissions criteria for even your lowest ranked school, you get a sort of 'pot luck', i.e. your nearest school with a place for your child. But in your case, it didn't get anywhere near that, so if you feel you have to say anything at all to your ?4, ?3 year old just yet, try something like, 'Good news! You can go to a school that Mummy / you liked for these reasons...'. Because there must have bern reasons why you put it second rather than third / fourth/ ...?

In the meantime, ask where your DC is on the waiting list - you can also ask abput historic movement, but this may not be terribly useful, as situations chsnge from year to year. How does your DC rank against the admissions criteria for your first preference school?

We were given our 2nd choice and were number 42 on the waiting list for our 1st choice by the last week in August.

On the 1st Sept we reregistered for the waiting list with the school and got a place 2 weeks later when a couple of children failed to turn up. Meant two sets of uniform in a month, but well worth it.

Until the 31st August, anyone who had a school higher on their preferences than the one they are allocated will be on the waiting lists. You have to remember to re-register on the 1st September and the vast majority don't at that point if they are reasonably happy with their allocated school.

Quite a few will end up going down the private route, moving house over the summer or just never turn up.

Keep in touch with both the school and LA and you may get lucky.

Will add that we were after a very popular London primary in a big birth year (DD now Y5) so while it's hard to get lucky at allocation, there is a lot of movement compared with more rural locations.

Good luck.