Dunraven primary - 2016?

[thisguy]

Hallo! We've been lurking and reading up and thought we'd ask some advice. We’re looking at moving to Streatham, and have been liking the sound of Dunraven primary...

We're looking at a place which would put us about 0.6 mile from the north building. I know it's a long shot, but how would you rate the chances of him getting a place in 2016? I believe that the distance threshold is dependent on filling places from higher priority admissions criteria; but do you think we’d need to be bang on their doorstep?

We'd also be even nearer Sunnyhill - I love the bus and the boat, but wondered how it was regarded at the moment; it's hard to figure out from reports etc! I heard that the classes were really small, like 18-20?

Any pointers would be very much appreciated! thanks :)

Hi there - we're also potentially interested in Dunraven primary for 2016 so I went along to one of the open morning sessions in November. It seemed a good school (though its early days, think there is currently only Reception and Year 1 so no KS results) and the Head was enthusiastic.
Class sizes at that time were 28 (2 form).

A lot of the parents asked about distance, the Head said for 2014 the furthest distance awarded was around a mile (but you can check on Lambeth's website). She said she expected that to shrink given Dunraven's outstanding Ofsted and as the school became more established and more places were taken by siblings. No one really knows though so its a bit of a lottery. NB distance is measured by walking route to the entrance on Mount Nod Road (not straight line).

On the plus side I've heard very good things from local parents about Hitherfield primary which is nearby and also Julians (which has a good reputation at its West Norwood site) is opening at a new site in Streatham. I've also heard good things about Sunnyhill. There's a Streatham Mums FB group, people often post on there asking about schools. Local parents are very willing to give their views.

Hi MPM - thanks, that's really interesting, in particular about Julian's expanding to a new site. We'll check out the FB group too...

Julians is going to be 3 form entry I think. The site will be on Leigham Court Road I think (not the Streatham High Rd end, the opposite end). The Julians kids were camped out at Dunraven when I looked round in November as the site wasn't finished yet.

I have recently taught at the secondary (supply teacher, taught in many local schools), and would send my DC there in a blink... Don't know about the primary, but the secondary is fab.

Streatham is great for schools - Hitherfield, Sunnyhill, Julians, Dunraven and Streatham Wells are all fantastic, according to parents who have kids there.

I suspect that as the years go on Dunraven primary will suffer very badly from the siblings effect, especially because of the all-though-school entrance to the secondary school. Families will get one child in and then be able to move at any time knowing that the secondary place is secured. If this happens a lot there could be a lot of siblings while the family lives nowhere near the school.

The vast improvement of Fenstanton and the expansion of Jullians could ease up pressure on places with a knock-on effect across Streatham. A ,lot of families to the North of Dunraven primary may well choose Streatham Wells or Hitherfield.

If you are in the Sunnyhill / Dunraven area you should be sorted for secondary anyway. If Dunraven stays as strong as it is now.

Hello all
I can't believe I finally found someone discussing this topic - have been looking for quite some time!
We are also very interested in Dunraven Primary for 2016 as our little boy will turn 4 in May 2016. We currently live in Battersea but are looking to move to Streatham Hill as we are expecting our second child and need a bigger place; so far we have been looking at properties around 0.5miles away from the school (walking distance) so hopefully we will be able to get a place - if the catchment doesn't shrink too much. We have been calling the school over the past few weeks but nobody gave us any specific information, they said they will probably have data for the 2015-2016 catchment area around September. They said they will call me back but I will also try to go and visit the school in September.
I will give you all an update in case I discover any more info!

Half a mile sounds quite a way. The school has gained 'Outstanding' status since it took the last intake in so I would expect competition to grow.

Where is Streatham Hill are you thinking?

I wouldn't go the other side of the High Rd, but if you stay close to Dunraven and Hitherfield, or Dunraven and Sunnyhill, or Julian's, or Streatham Wells you can't go wrong!

Visit all the local primaries.