where to find out about primary school catchment areas?

[rachelstephens]

hi all, we are renting at the moment and need to make a decision at some point on where to buy but i am not sure how to find out about catchment areas for primaries? I am not particularly stressed about my kids going to the "best" primary school but i do want them to go somewhere reasonably local (i have read all the horror stories in the argus about families in hove having to take kids across the city as there are not enough spaces in hove itself). i can find catchment area maps online for the secondaries but not for primaries. is this because they change them all the time or am i looking in the wrong place?!

i was looking at houses in the port hall/tivoli area but someone told me you fall between two catchment areas so it is a nightmare but i don't know how true that is?

any help or guidance would be much appreciated, i am due to have our second child in october and i would like to at least have a decision about where we are going to try and live sorted asap!

cheers, rachelx

I think I would try the Family Information Service at the Council (education part). My dd3 got a place at a primary school starting in sept, and I was sent details of where the furthest successful applicants lived in relation to each school. I'm sure that the Council can give you this information.

I thought Port Hall was pretty safe for Stanford, but that is a very popular school.

Rachel there ar no catchment areas as such, it's all distance from school which changes from year to year depending on number of siblings etc

The info on catchment areas for this year is on the Council website - go to school admissions page.

School admissions are v. helpful - if your ring them they can tell you exactly how far an address is from schools and will tell you if you would have got in over the past few years.

Would be careful with Tivoli area to be honest

cheers for that info everyone. Furrycat - why do you say to be careful with Tivoli?! do you mean what the other person did, ie that you fall between two stools so might not get into anywhere local? It is all so difficult, but then again I know two people in different villages whose little ones didn't get into the local village primary so it is not just an issue in the cities. cheers x

Yes - I know of someone from that area (don't know exactly where) who didn't get Stanford or Balfour and has been sent to Coombe Road which is right across town.

All the nearest schools to that area are v popular and you needed to be within about 800m of both Balfour and Stanford to get in this year. Same with Davigdor.

Would second what furrycat says about Tivoli. Call the education people. We were just over 800m last year and that was absolute borderline for Stanford.

Having said that, it really can change year by year. Downs and Balfour seemed to have wide catchment areas last year.

And the waiting list system seems to work well because the B&H population is quite fluid in those areas (people relocate a lot).

If you move to the Tivoli area (where I live) you have a better chance for Westdene than Stanford. I know people on my road have got their kids into Westdene. The supporting info section can help too. It is a bit in-between catchments but most get them into a local school via the waiting list at least and to be honest, we moved here because we got a house twice the size in a lovely area for much less money. We thought it was worth the risk. You can always move them after reception. I live on Tivoli Crescent North and have been told that we have a good chance for Westdene which is a great school but if you move to Porthall you should be fine for Stanford (but have to put up with a smaller house). Good luck

Can anyone advise how we can measure the catchment area ourselves the admissions have given there catchment area but I keep being told when you appeal you only have a chance if you can prove that they have made a mistake but unless we can measure the area ourselves how can we prove any thing also if they measure as the crow flys its wrong because no one can get to a school that way I welcome any ideas

If you phone the School Admissions team - (01273) 293653 - and give them your postcode, they can send you a list of the distances from your house to all schools in the district.

They measure down the middle of the road from the school entrance to your home, only including lit main roads.

I would recommend speaking to them - we measured the distance ourselves using googlemaps and we were about 50m out - which can mean everything when it comes to catchment!