DS didn’t get any of secondary school choices :-(

[IAmMum85]

My DS was unfortunately not offered any of school places we listed. As a result, they gave us the nearest school to our home with a place.

it was my worst nightmare to be offered this school- though, it is mainly based on the way in which we see the children behave after school. It also has a ‘Good’ ofsted rating which, for me is not great considering all the hard work my DS put in over year (sadly he didn’t meet the private school threshold after taking 11+)

is anyone else going through this? Any advice on next steps. He is position 28 for our first choice.

i also only applied for one school in Lambeth which is the borough we live in, simply because I am not keen on any of schools local to us- hence why we probably landed in this predicament in the first place!

You can now go on the waiting list for every school you would consider whether you applied in the first place or not.

And presumably you are on waiting lists for all the schools on your list of preferences?

Being 28th isn’t without hope in London.

But also yes, unfortunately distances are tight for the favoured Lambeth schools.

Did you only apply to schools with selectivve / aptitude / religious admissions criteria?

What is the issue with a school being ‘good’? Have you visited the school you have been offered? You might be surprised!

And… private school pupils on the P13 have been known to behave extremely badly too!

What area of Lambeth , roughly, are you in and which school have you been offered?

Oh, and accept the place! It won’t disadvantage you on waiting lists or at appeal.

I don't know anything about the Lambeth schools, but I can tell you that my DC's school, which has been consistently excellent for them for the past 8 years, is only rated Good by Ofsted. I wouldn't let that alone put you off unless there are other issues.

Some parents think that by putting down only aspirational schools they will force the hand of the local authority to give them a better school and forget that they need to have a safety option of a 'good enough' school in the catchment area. However it does sound like this was a decent enough option if it's an ofsted rated good school? Teenagers behave badly at all schools.

You need to accept the school, failure to do so may take your child out of education entirely. Your alternatives would then be a fee paying school or home educating.

The school offered, why is it your worst nightmare? Have you been to look around or are you working on the ofsted report report only.

DD didn't get in any of our choices many years ago, I remember crying myself to sleep the first night.
It was a girl school, "good" and the police was there EVRY day there. DD had the best time, because she was keen they looked after her so well! She did an instrument for peanuts, she went to see Hamilton and the teachers couldn't do enough for her. She did say the school had some rough patch but she kept her head down and never had any issues. What I mean is, if your child wants to learn he will learn. DD is in her second year of uni (Russell group) and has an summer internship in Westminster.
DS is in an outstanding secondary now and I don't find the school particularly good or better, in fact until he started 6th form there, he came home miserable almost everyday, the reason he did so well in GCSE is because he "gets" things fast. Sixth form is kicking his butt tho😂 and yet he is much happier 🙄.

Yes, I intend to contact some schools be added to waiting list

fingers crossed we get our first place- but 28 seems so close, yet so far :-(

yes, most of the schools chosen barring one, were all selective- to be fair, I actually didn’t do it on purpose lol…just really liked the feel of the schools

Very true…I appreciate that I don’t know enough about the school we were offered (City Heights E-ACT Academy) and may not be all that bad- I guess I just had high hopes!
My son is a very bright child but easily distracted- so my main fear is City Heights being strict enough, though I did read that the general consensus from parents, was that the kids are quite well behaved

We live in the Tulse Hill/Streatham hill catchment area

I will accept offer…appreciate the advice x

I agree with others. My advice is:

• Accept the offered school – as PPs say, if you don’t you may not be offered another
• Go and see it – your main objections are that it is good (?why is this an issue) and that students behave badly on leaving (not uncommon and not IMO a reason to reject if otherwise fine)
• Make sure you are on WLs of all schools you would prefer, yes including any better ones you did not apply for. There is a lot of movement in London
• Appeal if you want for the schools you applied for – as many as you want. What sort of grounds do you have? Things like subjects offered that DC can show interest in, extra-curricular ditto (eg they play flute and there's an orchestra).Lots of threads on here to help.

All the best to your DC.

Very true…thank you for this, it is quite reassuring to know

For me, discipline and sports is a big deal. My daughter got her 5th choice and it has turned out to be a blessing…but she’d generally thrive where ever because she enjoys learning

This isn’t really the case for my son, so I really did a ‘tour’ in every borough (literally!) praying he’d get one!

Anyway, he is a good lad…I’ll just have to play the cards I’ve been dealt with!

Go and see it. You might be pleasantly surprised. Also get on all the waiting lists. And since it sounds like you can afford it maybe revisit private school as an option but this time for less selective schools or consider a prep for Y7/8 then try again for Y9 entry into the selective schools.

Funny enough…I have been looking into fee paying schools, so not really an issue but I will still accept the offer

academically the school offered are not doing as well as the schools of my preference, plus general behaviour- though kids will be kids, so not really valid reason to not like school!

sighs lol

Was it a Lambeth school too? Or outside the borough?

Yes, also my worry that I do all this ground work, he gets into first choice and hates it!

You just can’t win!

Much appreciated!

Very much sound advice and I will follow all the suggested steps from you all.

The school offered have an open morning coming up, so I’ll have a look.
I guess I also went off word of mouth- the general thoughts were that school was ok, but something missing- I sort of get it, without even visiting, but that’s just my personal bias because of the standards of school I’ve visited

thanks again though x

I live in Lambeth. In my experience, parents tend to hate their nearest school, yet those living further away choose it as a preference. I’ve seen it time and time again. Accept the school. It’s likely to be completely fine.

I'm confused by what you mean by this OP - when you say all the schools barring one are "selective". Selective in what way? Are we talking about private schools here?

lol…I guess we are lucky bunch!

Thanks- yes I will accept it and hope for best

Ok- I just mean by way of banding test and faith based place (apologies for confusion)

He did also sit 11+ for private, but sadly didn’t meet threshold.

Could be a sign- who knows!

Yep, that’s also the plan re private school…my brain is working over time!

It will all work out in the end though

Thank you!

My dc are in a comprehensive with horrendous behaviours around them but I’ve come to learn it’s small pockets. They really have taken on the values we’ve instilled and found similar friends so they just watch the drama from the side lines. Most of the dc are really well behaved, it’s the small pockets that terrify me as a parent. Continue to be present and encouraging through your son’s secondary and he will be fine anywhere.

It’s very true that people are put off by their local school because they see the kids ‘in the wild’ immediately after school finish. We live near a much coveted grammar school in SW London and some of the behaviour is terrible.

Is private actually an option for you financially @IAmMum85 ? You mentioned in your op that DS didn't make the grade for private but that would only be an issue if you were only considering the highly selective private schools that restrict their intake to the very brightest. There are less selective independent schools which are less picky and where your bright but not stellar child will thrive as being among the brightest there rather than scraping in to a very highly selective school where even a bright child can be made to feel stupid and miserable in comparison to their superbrain classmates.

I don't know Lambeth schools particularly but https://www.dldcollege.co.uk/ was the main one that came up in my search for nonselective Lambeth independents and I expect there are others (a school that starts at 13 isn't a problem - there are loads of Peep schools that go up to 13 but lose half their cohort to 11+ entry schools so there'll be plenty of places available).

"Appeal if you want for the schools you applied for – as many as you want. What sort of grounds do you have? Things like subjects offered that DC can show interest in, extra-curricular ditto (eg they play flute and there's an orchestra).Lots of threads on here to help."

@IAmMum85 This advice from a pp is irresponsible. You live in an area where your favoured schools are very oversubscribed.They will have very robust appeal defences. If you have to look for reasons to appeal then, frankly, you don't have any. Too many parents are lodging weak, naive and self-indulgent appeals, and it is costing schools a fortune.

You have also been naive in only applying for aspirational selective schools. You should always include at least one school, as the final preference, that you know you will be able to get a place at because, otherwise, you will just be allocated what is left after everyone else gets their preferences.

Thats your opinion and that’s ok.

I took accountability for taking a gamble, and understand the consequences- please don’t call me naive…it’s already a sensitive time.

I do get your concern. I chose a school further away than my local one because despite being rated good the local one had low aspirations for their non high achieving and my DS is lazy and will coast if given then chance.

Banding tests aren't a method of selection. I'm really surprised that anyone (who has clearly been through this process before) could be unaware that state schools in London mostly select by distance from home to school, with the obvious exception of Kingsdale. So presumably your son has failed to get a place because you live too far away? There's nothing you can do about that.