Primary school allocations - any experience of them?!

[wiggy2]

Hi

Just been through the dreaded primary allocation process and come away with nothing.

Can anyone offer advice or experience of what happens in this situation. Do you tend to end up with a school from your list once others have accepted their place?

Bit in the dark really and any help (or light) really appreciated

Hi Wiggy, I have got a place in my first preference school so no direct experience but having scanned through the blurb I was sent, I think you automatically go on the waiting lists for the schools you applied to, then when people accept/decline places the places are re allocated to those on the waiting lists. I think you need to phone the schools direct to find out where you are on the waiting lists. If there are no spaces in your preferred school I believe you get a place in another school which has spaces. Not sure what exact area you are in but it said on my form that there were places left at King Athelstons and Knollmead.

You may find you get more reponses if you post this on the main "Primary Education" board.

Hope you get allocated a place soon.

Ooo - First time on the local thing and seen this.
My ds1 hasn't got a place anywhere either. We found out on Saturday.
Apparently there are 15 places left at King Athelstan and 4 at The Mount in New Malden.
Trouble is there are rumoured to be over 200 on the no places list!
Moves are being made, though, to get the local councillor involved and also to get it into the local press.
Last year over 100 children were in the same situation.
I'm sure they're hoping that the independent schools will take up some of the slack, but obviously not everyone can afford £6,700 a year.
I went and spoke to someone at the council. The advice I received was to put down King Athelstan as a new preference for allocation (this has to be in by 23rd May) since that's the school we live closest to, since they will deal with those people that have stated a preference first.
They then have 2 weeks I believe to inform you of your allocation.
They (obviously) told me that they have a duty to provide all children a place so there will be additional classes / spaces "in the areas they're required" whatever that means - I don't think they know yet either.
However to my mind that means no ofsted report / permanent staff / tried and tested standards etc and portacabins for that number of children. Sounds like a fairly poor way to start off your educational experience to me.
I'm also fairly pissed off that I didn't put Athelstan down because I wanted my son who is quite bright but also quite shy to have the chance of going to one of the many good schools in the area which are also the right size for him.
While Athelstan is okay, it is only okay and is the worst school in the borough. They have a high proportion of children for whom English is a second language so I worry that they'll be more concerned with teaching them all the correct word for a cat, for example, rather than concentrating on how to sound the word out and write it. It is also too big for him to my mind.
And instead I shall be thanking my lucky stars if he gets in!
If he does get a portacabin place I think we'll be moving. Might even be on the cards if we're lucky enough to get into Athelstan. Suppose it depends how reality compares to what I think it's like.
Anyway rant over! Good luck.

Hi, we are also in the position of no school place. I have been heavily involved with a group of mums who have got this situation featured in the media and contacted local MPs and Kingston council. All parents offered a place have now had to reply, so the council will start to work down the waiting list to offer any rejected places. However, there will still be children left without any place, so the council are contacting schools across the borough to see which are suitable (and want) to add classes - this may be via a portacabin, but may also be in a more permanent structure. They have said that it is unlikely they would put the younger children into portacabins. The council have a duty to provide a place for all children in the borough, so this could mean that children in Kingston have to travel to Chessington etc - not ideal. They have said that they are unlikely to be able to give us any further info until June (unless you are high up on waiting lists and get a place because of someone else declining their place). You can still add your child to waiting lists for schools you didn't previously apply for, although he would be added to the end of the list, but it might be worth it anyway. there is a meeting on Thurs eve (venue tbc) with parents and local Conservative party members to discuss the issue - you are welcome to come along. It will be at 7.30. I will try and remember to post venue once I know. good luck!

Oooo. That would be really useful. We're so far down the waiting lists that I don't feel we have a chance of getting anywhere on the "shake-down".

Hi, the meeting tomorrow night is now confirmed for 7.30 at The Kingston and Surbiton Conservative offices, 11 Kingsmill Business Park, Chapel Mill Road, Kingston, KT1 3GZ. Chapel Mill Road is off Villiers Road, and is the one that goes to the dump. The Business Park is first on the right, and the offices are at the far end directly in front of you as you go through the gates.

hi i am planning to move to the kingston area and need to be thinking about primary schools for my little girl, i was thinking of moving to surbiton as i like the area, but i was concerned that a lot of the primary schools in the area are church schools, and as i don't attend church regularly, does that mean we would not be given a place in a church-funded school like st andrews and st marks in surbiton even if i live nearby? i am quite confused about how the system works and need to think about it carefully as it may affect exactly where i will be looking to move to, so any advise will be greatly appreciated!

Beniel how did the meeting go?

gili it depends where in surbiton you are looking
I live in Berrylands and there are 2 main schools christ church and grand avenue one is church the other not
my ds goes to christ church and we do not attend the church but we can practically spit into the play ground
there is huge oversubscription in central surbiton this year (as there was last year)so many of the schools are having extra classes such as maple infants christ church etc
Lots of people do go to the churches to get a place but distance is usually the third criteria after siblings and church attendance so being near to a school that you like may be the best option for you

Starbear that was last year's meeting I think they are talking about