aarrrgg. Primaries in Southville full. Any advice?

[Spero]

I am hoping to move to Southville in December and wanted to get my daughter in a local primary from Jan 2011. My nearest schools would be Southville Primary or Ashton Gate - but both have said they are full and no one they know of is moving.

My daughter will be in Year 1. The whole point of moving (from London) was to give us a better quality of life; I had a dream she could go to a local school, walk there and back, bring friends home etc, etc.

there is Holy Cross but I'm not religious.

Is it likely she will have to travel miles to go to school? Is there any way a local primary could squeeze her in? I will have to check up what the council's obligations are to find a school or fund transport, but I'd be really grateful if anyone has any hands on observations or suggestions; I would really like to move to Southville but equally I don't want her to go to school miles away. I have heard things are pretty bad for most Bristol primaries, in terms of getting a nearby school.

Sigh. I really wanted Southville as I know some people there and I could (almost) walk to work. I am told LEA has to fund transport for primary school children if the school is more than a mile away, but then it defeats the whole purpose of the move if she can't make local friends.

Has it been this bad in Bristol for a while?

It's been awful for a long time. The three main primaries in my area take turns to take an extra class each year, and still lots of parents end up being shipped out to less popular schools miles away.

Bristol city council really has its head up its arse. In my area there has been a lot of new build housing gone up in the last four years or so, and it didn't occur to the council that they needed to provide extra school places to cover all the new families moving in

Couple that with the bloody appalling, hugely expensive public transport and it's a wonder anyone ever wants to move here!

I am trying not to think about secondaries.

My mum says I should get bolshy and make a fuss, but is that feasible? Presumably it is not an appeal ground to say 'but I really want to live in a particular place and get a local school' - but then, what is this doing to the quality of life for parents in Bristol?

Would getting bolshy get any results or just be a waste of energy?

I doubt it'll get you very far Spero. If a school doesn't have a space, it doesn't have a space, sadly. I've heard of parents calling schools every single morning to find out if anyone has dropped out and it working, mostly because the school wants them to shut the F up but that's usually when kids are starting reception and there are often kids that move in the very early stages.

If you're planning on staying put in the house you move into now, it's a good idea to think ahead to secondary, although there's always the chance that your local secondary will change in the meantime!

I can't really help you with south bristol schools because I'm oop in the north of the city.

I live in south Bristol and the 2 schools you have mentioned are the 2 most popular in Southville.
Others you could try are Victoria Park, South Street, Parson street and Luckwell.
There is also St Mary Redcliffe primary but this isn't a feeder school for the secondary school and is now in special measures.

Until you have an address in Bristol you cannot apply for a place. If you had a child starting reception in Sept 2011 you would probably get in but for other year groups it is more difficult and does depend on which schools have places.

One of the reasons that Bristol is short of school places is that their system simply takes into account the number of births in Bristol each year and makes no allowance for people moving into the area. When my oh was parent governor he queried this but the model has not changed.

Thanks everyone for your comments, I just rang the two schools physically closest to my (hopefully) new home, but I will try the ones you mention crazymum; I just want her to have a chance to put down roots locally and make near by friends. Fingers crossed.