Advice please on schools and other things.

[magicalmollie]

Hi everyone. This is a bit long, but I am desperate for advice.
Just need to say a little bit about myself before I ask your advice. I am a single parent to a lovely 5 year old girl. I split from my husband just over a year and a half ago. It has been the worst year and a half of my life, he was a nasty man. Anyway I am currently living with my parents (a bit strange being 38) as I have nowhere else to live at the moment. My daughter is going to the local school. Anyway I need to move on with my life this year. And in doing so I need to buy a house and start again. I am thinking of moving maybe moving Guildford as it is only about 30 mins from where I am now. The area looks lovely and I have heard amazing things about the schools. But have heard that the good ones (I am not sure which they are though) are very very oversubscribed. Will my daughter even get into a school if they are so oversubscribed. I am so scared of buying a house then finding out I cannot find a school for my daughter, there is no way I can afford private education. I was hoping to move to coincide with the start of the school year in September so she would be going into year one. I cannot stay where I am, partly because it is not my house but also I am so lonely here. It is a small village and I am the only single divorced person around. In a year and a half I have not met anyone in the same situation. Is Guildford friendly? Is it just families or are their other single parents like me? Please please can you give me any advice on the school situation, also areas to live would be amazing and if I am just going to be moving from one place that is just families to another with no single parents and I will just feel as alone and different as I do now.
Thank you for your advice. MM x

In your position I would be trying to buy close to your preferred junior & secondary schools, which might take a while to get sorted. Would your parents be able to help with a longer school run in the short term? If so, I might try to get her into a school in the area that you want to be in before commiting to buying a house. The reason is that even in oversubscribed schools, in-year spaces come up fairly frequently due to people moving in and out of the area, but you'll need to be prepared to ring the schools regularly. (Surrey regularly thinks schools are full when in fact there's a space because of a recent move.) You will also have to put up with a longer school run in the short term, but your daughter will settle in and make friends in the location that you want to be in long term.

Hi Banter thank you for your advice. I thought I could not apply for a place unless I prove that I live in the area? At the moment I am in hampshire a good 30 mins drive from guildford. x

If there's a space and noone closer on the waiting list, it doesn't matter how far away you live from the school. It's certainly worth going on the waiting lists for all the schools that would meet your needs, and doing so each year (because they are normally wiped after the admission round.) Note that you need to apply via Hampshire's Admission procedures www3.hants.gov.uk/education/admissions/ad-out-of-round.htm

I would move and be willing to move schools if a place comes up later. There are lots of divorced people in Guilford, and I think it's friendly. Lots of people start by renting, and that might be a better way to go, as you can Suss out the areas.
There is a university so quite a bit of movement.

Thanks mummytime. I am def going to rent now as I think that is the best option. Also it means if she can not get into a school then I am not stuck in guildford as schools are the most important thing for me. Do you know which are the best ones? I am going to go and look around some this week and next. x

Holy Trinity Pewley Down (best reputation and now joined together so if you can get her into the infants you're safe until 11), Boxgrove, Onslow Infants, St Nicholas (Infants), (both feed into Queen Eleanors - also good), Merrow Infants and I think Sandfield are all considered good. And the Catholic one in Merrow (St Josephs perhaps?). And there's a good one in Burpham too but not sure of the name or if it's just a junior school).

The good thing about Guildford isb that there are a few infant/ junior schools so even if you can't get a favoured school now you'll have another shot at 7. I think Holy Trinity has an extra form for KS2 and Queen Eleanor's is done again on proximity at entry and whatever Merrow Infants feeds into.

Agree with mypersonalfavourite on all the above. The catholic school in Merrow is St Thomas' and it's Burpham Primary so another all through.

Don't want to hijack post OP but I'm in a similar situation with a DS in Y4 - currently private school but that won't be able to continue going forward. Can anyone advise where to live for best chances of getting a place at George Abbott?

Merrow and Burpham for GA. The closer you get to town the less chance you have but I'd have thought you'd be safe that side of the town centre too. County is a much smaller school and good as well.

We wanted to live near GA based on reputation but decided we actually liked the look of County and the fact it is a lot smaller. We now live near County and all the children going there seem to be very nice.

Thanks nn - have you finished that book yet?! Desperately trying to get through it for Thursday while the girls nap. See you then!

Thank you again for all your advice. I have to ask though if all those ones go from infant schools to Queen Eleanors how do they all fit in? Is it a massive school? I spoke to St nicholas and like very other school I have spoken to they are totally full and have a huge waiting list (I feel like I am having a nervous breakdown about this) as my daughter would be going to year 1 in September. They said that they don't feed into any school just depends where you live where you go. So I am now stressing that if I move near St Nicholas (rent) and she gets in which seems unlikely anyway, then she might not go to Queen Eleanors as we won't' be living near there, but all the kids from onslow will go there instead (I would rather live in town then Onslow village, just preference, being a single mum). I am pretty much in tears the whole time and feeling ill as I am so worried that I can not get her into a school as we will be going into year one and reception is full. Any advice is really really appreciated x

When are you planning on moving? Don't stress so much as places will become available later on, most parents try to move at the end of the academic year. In the town centre the schools are St Nics, Sandfield and Pewley. Sandfield is all through. St Nics mainly go to Queen Eleanor and Holy Trinity. The ones I've known who didn't get into either, we're living in the far reaches of St Nics catchment.
However for an in year place you could live next door to St
Nics and still end up with a place at Onslow first or Pewley or Sandfield, it depends where the place becomes available.
But I have known someone move in the summer and get one child into George Abbot on appeal and another into their choice of primary. Do not panic. The schools in Guildford are all okay really.
I would really suggest you visit a few and talk to the heads.
Btw lots of kids walk from close to St Nics to Pewley because their parents preferred it, it really isn't that far between schools.

Agree you should phone the heads. Or even better, the school secretary will probably have more of an idea of waiting lists, where people on the lists live and what the max distances were for the intake last year - useful info for renting.

If you read the QE Ofsted report it says about 1/4 of children come from outside the area, so it could be quite a distance. It's not huge but there will be natural loss to private schools, Holy Trinity and some further children at the infants who just won't get in.

I think I read somewhere that Sandfield has a lot of pupils from foreign students at the uni so that could mean above average movement at the end of the academic year.

Burpham Primary School - there is talk that it is going to become 2 form entry from this Sept, but that will only be the Reception class for 2012.

Clandon Infants 100% has spaces in the current reception class.

just wanted to say that Onslow Village is only a 15 minute walk from town so it is not like you would be in the boondox iyswim ( i do it every day). Onslow Infants is a lovely little school, as is St Nic's and quite close together. If you drove between the two it would take you all of 10 minutes in traffic.

Queen Elaenors is not a massive school at all.

How about Bookham - Eastwick infants had 1 reception space recently and is very good school, and Eastwick junior school and Howard of Effingham secondary are both excellent. Bookham is very friendly, good range of housing and not far from Guildford.