catchment area, a true battlefield?

[ptitemaud]

hi

I live in North London and i am thinking of moving flats so as to get into the catchment area of a good school.
it is a primary school called Coleridge in Crouch End.
I called the council, the school, talked to parents and all gave me different even contradictory answers.
My question is: if we move, WHEN do we have to move?
do we move a month before applying or do we have to live in the catchment area for at least 6 months before the time we apply????

i would love my son to go to the nursery at Coleridge but it seems like we need to rent a flat 6 months before applying and then up until we apply for a primary school place again a year later. it is a long time and rents are really high

plus , i have a baby girl and would like to know if she has to go through the same exact process ...Do we have to stay in the catchment area for her too or will she get a place as a sibling???
thanks for your help

So why not move there now? If that is where you want to be and the school is where you want your DS & DD to go to should you not just go there now?

Haringey require you to give two pieces of evidence that you are living at the stated address. You can give your mortgage or rent agreement, current council tax bill, current child benefit letter, a utility bill relating to the previous 3 months or documents from the National Asylum Support Service. You can only use one utility bill. You need to move early enough to have this evidence when you apply.

Haringey do give priorities to siblings. For reception admissions, their criteria are:

• looked after children
• special medical/social needs
• siblings of children already at the school
• distance

Note that sending your son to the nursery will not give him priority for admission to the school.

Having said that, you are proposing a temporary move into the area to get a place at the school, moving out again as soon as you've got it. That could be construed as a fraudulent application in which case your son could lose his place at Coleridge even after he has started at the school.

To get into the nursery, you will need to be able to provide proof of residency at least 6 months before the september he would start, as places are allocated in May for the September (this is from the school website). So you would need to move by around March to get these documents.

As PRH says, admission to the nursery gives no priority for admission to the school, so you would need to be able to provide evidence again when you applied for the school place (which would be a few months after he started nursery), and then again - their website suggests - when you received an offer of a place a few months later. So you would need to be in residence for at least a year, probably 18 months. And yes, if you were to get the place then move immediately, Haringey could construe that as fraudulent.

Where we live siblings only get priority if you live in catchment.

In our area you have to be able to show proof of actual residence by the application date - including things like bank statements or other personal affairs at that address as well as utility bills. On rented flats they want to see a lease of at least a year. And they often visit in between application and the start of school.

And the true nature of the battlefield will reveal itself once other parents find out what you are doing - if you don't genuinely move, expect to be reported. Close to one highly favoured school in our borough friendly enquiries abiut where you live turn out to be veiled assessments as to whether you live closer to the school than them, and whether you are leapfrogging the list! It's a shame, because it causes tension in the community, particulalry with the prents in the very close council block who find themselves squeezed out by the temporary renters, and also schools often thrive on the comunity strength of parents who live close to the school.

Just move for good!

You're right - rents in Crouch End are very high. Where do you live now? Even if you did secure your son a place in reception (and kept it - see above post), how far would it be to get to school from where you would move to? Is it realistic to consider doing this journey (with younger sister in tow) twice a day for 7+ years?

Have you actually looked ie been to visit, talked to local parents at the schools near you? If they're really dire and you definitely want to move, look for an area that offers affordable rent with decent schools. There are actually plenty in North London, once you get past the 'must get into Coleridge/Tetherdown' hysteria.

GiddyPickle - I am not saying that this behaviour is fraudulent, just that it may look that way to the LA who may respond by withdrawing the place, especially as we are talking about rented accommodation. If the LA see someone moving into rented property just before applying for a school then moving out again as soon as they've got a place it will certainly raise questions.

i haven't been on my own thread for a while, time flies...
i live in a street where the school is really really bad... i see kids coming out of it and they don't look like the sort of kids i would invite for tea. they start fights and throw litter everywhere and eat fries at 9am
it's my opinion of course but i need to move for my son's education
the system is wrong but it does not mean i can't play by the rules and if the rule is to move and then stay 6 months and move again , i will do it
it is hard moving houses but spending 1500 pounds a month for rent in a tiny 2 bedroom flat is just too dear. who can afford that??? plus council tax and bills ( am not talking about food either)
coleridge is a great school and my partner visited it and he loved it
we always wanted our kids to go there when we lived in Crouch end
we moved away from it for we needed a bigger flat but now we realised we can't let them down
i am going to have to work as a nanny to pay for the rent but this is a priority
believe me, if i could i would buy a house and live in Crouch end. But then i would have to start earning 5 times what we earn...

i just realized that my latest comment was a bit too emotional. I stop moaning now and i will stop complaining too. Moving flats is a normal thing to do. i need to get a grip.

As far as I am aware there are no catchment areas in Haringey. Places are allocated on distance so just living on a particular street or whatever is no guarantee of a place. Do check this before you move.

But yes, if you do rent somewhere for a nursery place, you would need to do so before those places are allocated and, unless being in the nursery gives priority for reception (not the case for much of Haringey), you will end up needing to stay put until reception has started.

You might look at a Barnet school called Hollickwood. It has good early years provision and the nursery is reportedly lovely. And nursery places = priority for reception.

thanks will check the barnet school one