Late Addition to Waiting List in Lewisham?

[MrsF71]

Hello

My child is due to start school in Sept 2010. She is on a wiaitng list for my 1st choice school, but I would also like to add her to a waiting list for another school which I didn't originally select to go on the waiting list for, though it was one of my choices. I'm kicking myself for not adding her to the waiting list at the time.

Does anyone know if this is possible? I know she'd probably be way down the list but I'd just feel better knowing that there is more than 1 option for moving her from the school she is currently down to go to.

Everytime I phone Lewisham, although they are friendly I feel the are fobbing me off a bit about this point and I'm still not even sure if it is something I can do and if so how I would do it.

Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks!

You're perfectly within your rights to do this but this is one of the many aspects of school admissions that Lewisham don't understand.

E-mail them and state that you would like your child to be added to the waiting list for school X and that you will be phoning them in a week to find out his/her position on that list.

The oversubscription criteria should be used to decide the order of children on the waiting list but Lewisham find this tricky, hence the follow-up phonecall.

If you have no luck with admissions then e-mail Frankie Sulke - she's the director of children's services in Lewisham.

Agree with SE13Mummy. You can go on as many waiting lists as you want at any time.

She is also right that Lewisham seem to have some very strange ideas and are, in my view, operating a policy which is contrary to the Admissions Code, particularly with regards to waiting lists. Let us know what happens.

As extra back-up I'd also cc the e-mail to the Head of the school you'd like to be on the waiting list for, just so someone else 'in the system' recognises your DC's name...

[email protected]

The headteacher e-mails are usually: [email protected]

Thank you so much for these replies! I feel so relieved that there is an option to go on another waiting list.

I'm very close to both the schools in question (though not close enough...!), so I'm not being unrealistic in my choices, just decided at the time to stick with my first choice only and now regret that.

I will take your advice.

Many thanks again - I will update.

x