Can anyone help choose a primary in Harrogate please?

[iminvestedinthis]

Just about to do an in year admission form. We are moving into Harrogate and will be on the south side. We don't know it very well and can't visit the schools. I know we might not get what we pick anyway but we have to name 5 schools. Can anyone advise us please?

We go to Church regularly but don't mind whether it's a church school or not. Our son is in Foundation 2 currently.

Bump

Not sure what you mean by foundation 2? How old is your DC? Most primaries on the south side of town are excellent. Being church goers will also stand you in good stead for St Aidens (C of E) or St John Fisher (Catholic) at secondary. The problem will be whether you get much if a choice for your in year admission.

@Changemyname18
He's 4 and in reception.
I'm not sure we will get much/any choice but need to name 5 schools.

As you say, midyear it might end up being a bit of a lottery.

Amongst the Harrogate state primaries people normally just go their nearest one, with the kids typically walking to school alone from about the age of 9 [?ish?].

If you're serious about church, you might want to include St Peter's, it's in the town centre & generally thought of as 'good'.

If you're on the kind of West/SouthWest side of town, Western [traditionally very popular] and Rosset Acre would both be seen as 'good'.

Pannal would be very good if it's your nearest, or near enough nearest, school, but not so good as to e.g. justify a longer drive.

Really Harrogate is overall a very prosperous, pleasant, place, all of the primary schools are totally fine. Even the less traditionally 'des res' areas [there are a few mixed areas in, crudely, the North & I guess East sides of town] are totally fine.

I wouldn't be super eager to send my kids to say Grove Road or Starbeck, but I'm not sure there are any others that I'd put in that category. Like I said, Harrogate is in the main a really prosperous, pleasant, place.

There aren’t any really bad schools in Harrogate, some in more mixed areas are helped by having large amounts of pupil premium.

We moved from Stoke Newington to Harrogate some time ago and our daughter went to Woodfield School. If Woodfield was picked up and moved to SN, parents would fight to get their kids in.

@MrsPnut

There aren’t any really bad schools in Harrogate, some in more mixed areas are helped by having large amounts of pupil premium.

We moved from Stoke Newington to Harrogate some time ago and our daughter went to Woodfield School. If Woodfield was picked up and moved to SN, parents would fight to get their kids in.

Exactly right if comparing Harrogate to a big city.

Many years ago I attended Saltergate primary school Jennyfields [supposedly a 'bad area', admittedly the school was built in part to serve the kids from a council estate but really the catchment is very mixed, especially now]. From my primary year two kids ended up, after secondary school, going to Oxbridge. Harrogate is another world.

For in-year admissions you don't usually have to name a list of schools - the LEA should be able to tell you which schools have places. That's my understanding anyway but perhaps it's changed or varies by area.

I would definitely try to speak to the admissions officer at the council to find out where there are spaces, as the there's no point you naming schools a mile away from your new address with a waiting list for example.

This is different to the in year application I’ve done - maybe the LA approach varies. But I would start off by ringing the LA and finding out which schools have places, then see if you’re happy with one of those.

May I ask if anyone knows about primary schools and catchments? I’m looking at a house but I think I’d prefer the primary school nearer to the house though we wouldn’t officially be in that catchment, just outside the catchment border. In any bodies experience, do children often get a choice outside their catchment if it is nearer in distance? Many thanks for any help.

HGEJ2 - Are you thinking of Harrogate or somewhere else? You need to check the oversubscription criteria of each school. Some schools have formal catchment areas, so you're either in or out. Depending on the oversubscription criteria, being outside catchment is likely to put you low on the list. Some (although not many) schools have an oversubscription criterion where it being your nearest school puts you in a higher category, but in my experience those tend to be schools which use distance from home to school, rather than catchment or not catchment, as their main means of allocating places.

I should add that being outside catchment might not prevent you from getting a place, if the school is not massively oversubscribed and doesn't fill all its places from higher priority, in-catchment categories.

Thank you. It is very kind of you to reply. I’ll check the criteria .

If I was you I'd choose you the 5 schools closest to you.

Thank you.

Any you particularly recommend? They all look pretty good!