Collis Primary catchment

[BlindMelon123]

Does anyone have any experience of the recent Collis catchment area?

We are in the process of buying a house on Park Lane in teddington and it seems to be closest to Collis distance wise but just outside the distance catchment for last year’s admissions (the house is 1.28km and catchment was 0.92km) although it was within for waiting list places. Although I’m not even sure how the distances are calculated, the distance is so marginal perhaps a different measurement would mean we were more likely to be in or out?!

The house we are buying annoyingly seems to be in no mans land catchment wise, the second closest school is st Marys and St Peters, but I would prefer a non faith school and don’t feel comfortable attending church to gain a place which I understand is the best way of securing a place there. The other option for us would be Hampton Wick but that is furthest away and I understand despite outstanding ofsted at the infant school, pupils transfer at 6 to St. John the Baptist which isn’t brilliant performance wise.

We are now having second thoughts about our house purchase given the uncertainty over schools and catchment areas and wondering if it would be better to rent closer to Collis for a few years (DS isn’t able to apply for another 18 months) although I am pregnant and fed up of renting, we would much prefer to buy and love the house we have found.

Such a dilemma! I’m hoping someone with some experience/ knowledge of catchments can help!

What about Stanley? It's a very popular school and quite big, so it's catchment might stretch there.

The 2020 catchment distances after waiting list movement are all here: www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/730334/response/1740203/attach/html/3/FOI%20Response%20AfC%20184%202021%20Sawyer%20Richmond%20Schools.xlsx.html

The council's primary admissions brochure is the best place to look for info on how the distances are calculated, but they are walking distance rather than crow-flies. There's a link to the brochure near the bottom of this webpage: www.richmond.gov.uk/primary_school_admissions

I think you can also contact the council admissions team and ask them to tell you their official distance measurement from an address to the school.

On that list of distances, if it says "all preferences met" it means you would have got in from any distance. There are quite a lot of those. I think there must have been a dip in the birth rate or a Brexit effect because most of those schools were definitely over-subscribed a couple of years ago.

I would get on and buy the house if you love it - school catchments can change, as can their reputations and Ofsted ratings. I've heard that the picture for school admissions in Richmond is now very different from a few years ago. Some schools which were made to take on bulge classes ten years ago now can't fill them as the birth rate has dropped, and a number of free schools have also opened in the last decade, which has further reduced demand.

@amelie427 thanks so much for the reply, I really hope you get the place you’d like! What did you think of Collis compared to SMSP? I had heard that the places at SMSP were very limited if not a religious place and that the catchment is quite small, but also I don’t think they have to share the same amount of data as non faith schools so it’s all a bit unknown. I would be so nervous too! I do think they will be happy wherever but it’s natural to want what you see as the best option as a parent. Fingers crossed!

Incidentally, I’ve been looking at nurseries today, are you able to recommend any in the area? I liked the look of the Pavillion Montessori and also Little Forest Folk as my DS is full of energy and loves to be outside.

@amelie427 thank you! That sounds entirely sensible! It’s so hard isn’t it - choosing a school without being able to get a feel for it isn’t ideal. But it’s great you know parents with happy children there, I’d say that counts for more than a quick tour of the school.

Thanks for the Busy Bees recommendation, I will check that out too! The little forest folk is in twickenham so may be a bit of a schlep, but possibly a good option.

Let me know how you get on with the schools admission

Ah that’s fantastic news! I’m really pleased for you (and indirectly me haha!) xx

@amelie427 did you also get offered Collis and HW or does it not work like that? I’d love to know if anyone got Collis outside of the usual area x

Thanks so much!

OP - all the data you require is publicly available - ie the furthest distance place offered each year for each school. And also the exact distance from your chosen house to each school. (It is measured along the quickest route to the school, not as the crow flies). If I were you I would ring the Richmond admissions, they are really helpful and I imagine get calls like this all the time! PS, re SMSP, the distance offers are much further this year, due to less church places belong offered. (People can’t attend church during covid!) Anyway, get all the data you need to make your decision. Good luck!

Friend's of ours got a place in Collis this year who would never have got one in previous years, so you never know! This article was quite interesting - I wonder if there were a lot of parents in the usual Collis catchment that applied late.