School recommendations in Orpington

[Garimum]

Hello everyone. I’m hoping to get some insights into Orpington schools. We are moving with our 7 year old son from India and will be starting school for him in september. I wanted to personally look at these schools - however, most of them are not entertaining visits at this time. We are also cognizant of the fact that we are a late admission and hence, we need to use our 6 preferences on the admission form well - most of the coveted schools will probably be full.
We are looking for a school that offers diversity, offers a nurturing, kind environment and balances academics with extracurriculars. This is what my current list is looking like:

1. Warren Road (though my worry is their website sounds very competitive and academic)
2. Tubbenden Primary
3. Darrick Wood
4. The highway
5. Farnborough
6. St Peter St Paul

I would have loved to add Crofton and Perry Hall to this, but my sense is they are really hard to get into and offer very small catchment areas. Orpington parents - would love your inputs and thoughts!

@pettswoodparadise I have been reading a lot of your posts and finding a lot of gold:) Would love some thoughts.

Catchment would be irrelevant for In Year placement. If a school has a vacant place for which you qualify then it has to be offered, but you usually have to take it up within a short period. When will you be resident? Some LA will not offer a place until you are.

Yeh do you get six slots to fill? The six slots are for applications to start school at age four. A 7yo is an in-year admission - if any school you prefer has a place, you take it.

But in general popular schools are likely to be full and you may have to take a less-popular school. I don’t know the schools concerned, sorry, but you can ring the LA and ask if any have spaces. Catchment is neither here nor there tbh. When will you have a UK address?

Very kind. Feel free to message me, or post publicly. I don’t hide anything.

@LIZS @clary oh I didn’t know that catchment areas didn’t matter for in-school admissions. We will have an Orpington address in the next 30 days. Would you recommend calling the borough to find out about the vacancies before filling out the admission form?

The system will vary across LAs tbh. You mention the six preferences so as I say, I wonder if you are looking at the form to apply for primary school at age 4 (the usual entry point). If so, the form is not relevant. I would ring the LA for advice anyway.

Ok I’ve checked online (can’t sleep!) and you need to give four preferences on a specific form. Might be worth a call tomorrow to see which schools do or may have spaces tbh. Most schools want to fill a space asap tho so it will be for now rather than September. Will you be living at the local address in 30 days time?

Thanks so much @clary . Sorry you’re awake so early your time :|
I will call up schools today for sure. My husband will be living at the address in 30 days. My son and I will move only in June (once his school year wraps up in India). Do you think that’ll be a problem?

Crofton school is massive, 6 form entry, so possible that there will be more movement and so more places available/opening up?
I have friends with dc at crofton, tubbenden and Darrick wood. All seem happy.
with regards to choosing, it will depend on where places come up, but might be worth (in terms of school and address) thinking ahead to secondary age. See if you can find out distances, for example, for Darrick Wood and maybe bullers wood if you’re working out where you might want to live in the general area.
there is St Olaves, a boys selective school, but it is very competitive.

Most schools like you to take up an in-year place as soon as possible – they will often only hold it for a matter of weeks. You can ask about this tho but I doubt they will hold a place from now until September, especially if popular.

I agree it’s a good idea to target bigger schools on your form.

Also – when is your DS eight? If it’s after 1 Sept this year, he will be going into Year 3 in Sept which means if any of those schools is an infant and junior school, they will have an admissions point at year 3 (first year of juniors). The deadline for that was end of January, but if you will have address in the next month then you might be able to make a late application and perhaps have a better chance? Ignore tho if he is year 4 from Sept.

It’s worth calling the schools themselves to see how things stand. For example my son’s primary (not Orpington) is full in most years but there are several spaces in two specific years because of an apparent birth rate glitch.

whatveer happens the borough will find a space but it may be a bit of a journey away. That doesn’t mean that you can’t move once a more suitable place comes up however.

in terms of where you’re moving to, assuming it’s long term, I’d consider the secondary catchment areas given the DCs age. You really don’t want to find that you’re just outside catchment for a great secondary (That said don’t think that area has catchments as such). If you’re renting rather than buying, then it won’t matter as much.

@clary @Clearinguptheclutter @Hiyawotcha so I did call the council today. They mentioned that they can’t do anything for a September admission right now. Can only process the application when the kid is ready to join right away Since my husband has already moved, I was hoping he could apply for admissions for the term starting September. But apparently not:( Seems painful to be twiddling my thumbs and not doing anything.
My husband has already moved, and my son and I move in June. So now I’m really confused about the timing. Does this mean I will not know till September what school he is going to? <the control freak in me will die>

@Garimum
if your son moves in June you will know in June. assuming you’re happy for him to start right away?

still worth calling individual schools to see if any have spaces or think they are likely to have spaces. The council won’t have that info.

Yeh he can start in June. Schools in England mostly don’t break up till end of July

Yes for in-year admissions your son has to be offered place but it may not be in one of your preferred schools, it may be wherever there is space and as soon as practical after you arrive. It is not limited to a particular number of schools like in the usual round of admissions where the limit is 6 but the council may put down some practicalities about order of preference or just telling you what has spaces and then you naming a few schools to go on waiting list for. You can then go on waiting lists for other schools but bear in mind waiting lists can go down as well as up. So if you are not close to Crofton and don't get allocated a place you may find you go down the list as others who move closer to the school jump up the list, it isn't about order of getting on the list, it is the school's over subscription criteria.

The only schools on your list I am not familiar with are The Highway and Farnborough.

This won't give you a feel for the nature of the schools but you can get some data:

https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables

Good luck with the move