Oh gawd another question about Bath primaries.....

[HeadingSW]

I'm trying to plan my move to Bath but as it looks as it's going to be early next year now rather than this autumn, I'm worried about my DS, who is due to start primary school next September.

As I'm going to miss the application process for reception (deadline in January 2015, right?) , I'm thinking of taking the hit financially and paying for him for the Reception year, and then waiting for a state primary place.

My question is: is this realistic or completely pie in the sky thinking, given that primaries in Bath seem so over subscribed? Have I got any chance of getting him in to primary for Year 1, or am I trapping myself with the risk of paying fees I can't afford? I reckon I can stump up for Reception but I simply won't be able to continue with it long-term. I know it's not ideal, moving him, but I can't see any other choice at the moment.

Primaries I'm looking at include Newbridge, Weston All Saints and St Stephens... so if anyone's got any advice, I'd be really grateful.

Hi Heading thanks for your post.

I haven't personal knowledge of the schools you mention but I'll see if I can find any info for you.

Have a good day

St Stephen's is massively oversubscribed. I think you would be lucky to get a place there, but if you moved into a house on Richmond Place and starting worshipping at St Stephen's then you'd jump to the front of the queue so you never know. You would need to take up a waiting list place as soon as it was offered though, which might mean moving mid-term.

Not all Bath schools are oversubscribed. In case you haven't seen it, page 85 of this pdf gives you the actual figures. My DD isn't school-aged yet, but I've got friends who are very happy with St Saviour's. My (inexpert, based largely on hearsay) opinion is that it's a perfectly good school, which is only undersubscribed because of the proximity of the two "superstar" schools (St Stephen's and Bathwick St Mary).

Hi Spindelina thanks so much for your post, much appreciated

Hi Spindelina, many thanks for the info that's good to know, and brilliantly useful to have that link, I didn't know all that was available. So hard trying to gauge it but have heard good things about St Saviours and any personal insight is of course useful.