How to get into state school after private?

[Fossie]

I have taken my 2 elder children (girls) out of their private school after it was taken over and has changed so much we no longer want to continue there. We have a son at private school and a 2 year old. I want to find a state school for my elder two, keep my son where he is and get my youngest into the same school as elder two. But, all the decent schools have no places. We are not even top of a waiting list for our closest school and they have been on that waiting list for 10 months. The council say we have to find a school ourselves and can recommend ones with places but these are either far way or poor or both. I am now home educating. How can we get them into a good school? Hope someone has some good ideas out there.

LadyMuck, thankyou for your interest. DD1 is y4 and DD2 year3. We have applied Ridgeway, St. Johns (C-of-E Selsdon) and we are C-of-E. Will do Park Hill next though they have been on a two week half-term. I take your point that the latter has a slow turnover. I will probably do Gresham next and then wait a while to see how that goes. I will think again in the summer if there is no movement. Ridgeway had no waiting list last summer (though it does now) but we did not apply then as we were 2nd on St. P wating list and thought I would home-school a while. Now we are 4th on St. P list we have had to go wider. How do you know so much about these schools? Will not try an appeal at St. P unless I get professional help as it does not seem worth the effort. Even so, from what I have read, we don't have any grounds. Next Autumn I will need to apply for my youngest DD. I am intersted, if she gets a place in one of these schools, will the other 2 be sibling status even before she starts at the school?

MillyMolly, wow at 75% sibling discount, the prep school DC 1 and 2 went to didn't offer any sibling discount and the school DC1 is at now offers around 5% I think

LadyMuck, sorry, I wasn't clear. Its not a prep school, DS1 is at a boarding school in Sussex doing his A levels. Thankfully we don't pay the 8k a term due to his scholarship and an allowance DH's company pays but I do struggle to understand how some parents pay that.

Am impressed with relatively low fees quoted here though, the old prep school DC 1 and 2 went to is between around £2,500 to £3,500 per term depending on age. We've registered DC 3 and 4 for a much smaller and cheaper prep school as simply can't maintain silly money any more

Fossie, we have seen a local private school go under with about 40 children (all known to us) suddenly scramble for places in the state system in that specific area (and for those schools). When such a number of your friends are all, unavoidably, home-educating, you do know the score.

Have you looked around St Johns? Friends who did were unimpressed despite it being oversubscribed. Do think about Christchurch unless the commute is unworkable. I guess that if you like Ridgeway you probably won't like Atwoood but it is a school where places come up certainly in Years 5 & 6.

Good luck! I have sympathy!

It was on the third child so we're already paying an arm and a leg IMO however it amazes me those who don't ask, it doesn't cost the school anymore to have my DD's bum on their seat so 25% is better than nothing and makes the school look fuller plus when DC1 leaves I'll still be paying 2 sets.
If you don't ask you don't get.

Go and look at the schools you've rubbished!

Ofsted only tells half the story.

I hated the 'Outstanding', oversubscribed schools in our area when I visited them: one was an enormous, three form entry school that looked like a secondary school, really big and unfriendly and initimidating; at another the head was obsessed with their shiny new facilities and didnt talk about the children once; at a third the head didn't even deign to take parents around herself and it was left to the school secretary, who couldn't tell us anything useful at all.

The school we chose in the end was the one closest to us, a small, friendly community school with a warm, dynamic headteacher who is absolutely passionate about the place and the kids. Ofsted was average/improving. My DS is extremely happy there.

I assume you mean St John's in Shirley (as opposed to Selsdon)? Places regularly come up for Y4 and Y5 at that school. If you are looking around Shirley then look at Benson rather than Monks Orchard or Orchard Way. Boys regularly leave Benson for Trinity or Whitgift for Y6 so there are often places available then.

As LadyMuck says do look at ChristChurch - it has a very good reputation. What about Greenvale? I know some-one who got a place there for Y3.

StephHaydock, I take it that you are unfamiliar with the area and the issue that the OP faces? Some London boroughs are very short of primary school places due to poor planning by the LAs. This isn't a case of the OP being unreasonably fussy about getting into the "outstanding" school , but getting into any school within a suitable distance which doesn't have some huge issue (eg several are on special measures)

Just so as you know, of the schools being considered by the OP, St P.s is "good", Ridgeway and St Johns are both "satisfactory". Park Hill is "good" but oversubscribed as some of the other local schools have been in special measures. Gresham is "good" and Christchurch is "satisfactory". These schools vary from one form to 4 form entry so I don't think that the OP can be accused of being obsessed with an ideal school. I think that the OP would simply be pleased to go to one of her local schools which has a steady leadership team in place.