Catchment and Oversub in Teddington

[moonymama]

Hi

We're planning on moving to Teddington late this year or early next year (depending on when we can sell our house!) and renting initially until we work out where is best to buy. I've had a look and really like the look of Collis Primary School. If we move down before October of this year then my DD will be able to apply for Reception although being a summer baby she will be 4 in June 2012 starting in Sep 2012. If we can't get moved until after Oct 2011 then she'll be looking at jumping straight in after Reception year. What I'm not sure about is whether or not she is less likely to get a place if she misses the Reception year and if it goes even further back than this, ie, should she be going to a certain nursery to feed into the school? Also, where can I find out how close I need to live to the school in order to have the best chance? I'm sure I read somewhere that there is a website which publishes these kind of things? We're living in Scotland at the moment and its all a bit different than down south.

thanks

Hi - If DD is 4 in June 2012, then you'll need to apply for school by Jan 2012, and as far as I know it's the address for when you apply, so don't think you need to have moved by Oct 11 as you state above - though it's worth checking with the Local Authority. If you're really stuck on Collis (and it is great, but so are the other local primaries too e.g. St Marys and St Peters and Hampton Wick), you may well have to live very near indeed to be sure of a place in Sept 2012 as there was a bulge class in Sept 2010 - so there are likely to be lots of siblings applying then who will take priority. Where you go to nursery has no bearing on school admissions.
I don't know of a website that publishes info on catchments for each year (word of mouth is definitely best here) - definitely the nearer the better though! Good luck ww

If you move into the Collis catchment by Jan'12 you should be fine, but as pp has said - the catchment area may be slightly smaller due to the bulge class in sep'10. The normal catchment is around 0.4 miles from the school - but contact the school when you've found somewhere to rent to get a clearer idea.

If you move after Jan'12, it isn't automatically a cause for panic. Teddington is a high mobility area, and there is a lot of movement on the waiting lists between the offers going out and September. It probably does mean that you'd ideally need to move that bit closer to the school to stand a good chance of getting in. There's also a good amount of movement later on, so in-year places frequently come up even though they do get taken up very quickly.

But as already said, the other Teddington primaries are also very good, so there are plenty of other options too.

thanks for your replies. Sounds like I don't need to get too worried about making it down this year, but I would still like to try. I'm so fed up of the weather up here! Is Teddington and the surrounding area a friendly place for meeting new mums and little ones? I don't want my DCs to be without little friends for too long. Oh and me too... I used to live in Putney but that was pre baby. A whole different world now.

I just wanted to tell you that there is a huge shortage of reception places in Surrey, the whole thing is a nightmare for those starting school in the next 3 years I think

oh dear, its a bit of a lottery isn't it. Sure it wasn't like this when I was a lass....

I would focus on selling your house it can take months. Rent as close to the school as possible. The schools in the area are very good, however to cope with the increasing demand they are getting bigger most are 3 or 4 form entry.

Check with the council to see how small the catchment area is at the moment.

Teddington is definitely a friendly place. You and your children will surely make lovely friends and feel at home in no time. I have lived in several places and nowhere was as friendly as Teddington.

As for the schools, even if your little one does not enter Collis all neighbouring schools are outstanding. Hard to go wrong in teddington. Good luck !!

i am a teddington girl and went to sacred heart around the corner from collis, and like teddymum said pretty much all schools in teddington are outstanding! but to be in with the best chance for the school of your choice, you have to be living close by to apply by the 15th january before the september she will start. look on the richmond council website now for primary school admissions for this year and it will give you an idea of catchment areas as well.

Really cargirl? I know that I had to put DS2 on a waiting list for nursery and didn't do that with DS1.

OP Hampton is also a lovely place to live too.

Hi moony, I was in a similar position to you last year and was advised by the Council that I was better off arriving after January and making a late application, than arriving a year later. This was confirmed by staff at Collis and Hampton Wick, who both said that each year they have a large number of children who give up their places in early September in order to take up private school places. In the end, we applied late March and got a place at Collis by the summer. BUT this was in the bulge year: I've met kids who moved to Teddington in August and still got a Collis place. I don't suppose it will be that easy for you, but Hampton Wick didn't have a bulge and they still seemed confident I'd get a place.

Good news is that there are five great primary schools in Teddington. Collis seems to have lots of snob value (and is indeed brilliant) but the others are all good too. Hampton Wick, for example, is a lovely school: small with a real family atmosphere, a bit more socially mixed than Collis, but still producing great results.

It's a bit early for you to think about this, maybe, but if you move near Collis or Hampton Wick you will be just a few minutes walk from Teddington school, a mixed secondary that is a pretty good school (decent school + walking distance = London gold dust). But if you live further north, nearer Stanley Road, you may get in the catchment for Waldegrave School, a really good girls state secondary.

DO move to Teddington! It's lovely here. Not for you if you like urban grit: it's almost like the Truman Show, it's so safe and warm feeling. I've never lived anywhere so friendly and comfortable, and the place is DROWNING in mothers and young children. I've lived here only a few months, and have made so many friends already.

Cece, Surrey have admitted it although they point blank denied a few years ago when Runnymede were fighting them closing Darley Dene - they have the birth figures, there has been a huge rise in birth rates in this area. Mind you according to the LEA families dont live flats !

What great news for DS2 then!

TG and NHP are now linked schools though so you will (thankfully) get sibling priority!!! I tell everyone I know to put a local school down as one of their choices or they risk not getting a place anywhere!

Not sure what will happen here with Junior places as there will be no places for pupils at DD to go in year 3 in a few years time as everywhere else is primary.........

Absolute nightmare, I can only assume SC will get portable classrooms and go up to 2 form entry no other school has the space. OP could take 1 or possibly 2 bulge years but no more, Surrey have already reversed their decision that it wasn't allowed to fill the "spaces" in year 3 & 4 as they wanted it down to pan after converting to single form entry. Suddenly OP were forced to take pupils from Wey & VW who didn't have school places, some from Wey are at SC too......

More replies, sorry didn't think I had any more responses. That combined with the fact my husband thinks I'm addicted to the internet. Complete nonsense. (she says quietly tapping away while husband lies asleep upstairs!). Hester, I'm astounded by how excited I am at the prospect of moving to somewhere like the Truman Show. Safe and in London?? And to think I was thinking about moving out to Guildford. So, are you saying then that if I were to move down after January 2012, that I should still make an application for DD's reception year in Sep 2012 rather than waiting until January 2013 to apply straight into year one?

Yes make an application as soon as you arrive and get on the waiting lists!

I think that's what I would do, yes. If it all goes tits up, this was my back-up plan: enrol dd at the Educare Small School, just down the road in Kingston, while waiting it out on the waiting list. Educare Small School is tiny and Montessoriesque, also way way cheaper than private schooling is usually. I wouldn't have wanted it all through - in the upper years there are very few children, it would be like home schooling - but great for a year or so.

Teddington isn't actually like London. It's a small Surrey market town that has been mysteriously transplanted within the Greater London borders. This morning some hoodies let their dog crap outside my house, and I was outraged and astounded: it's the first time I've even seen a hoodie, let alone an antisocial one, since moving here! (Bet they were on a day trip from Kingston...)

Seriously, it's a wonderful area for small children. Come out for a coffee when you get here and I'll show you the ropes

Another tip: have a chat with the admissions officer at Hampton Wick Infants (I think she's the deputy head). I found her really helpful and a mine of information. It was her who explained to me about the huge number of children who turn down their state school places as late as September. She said that every year they have a long waiting list, and then vacancies by mid September. So, she said, if you can hold your nerve till early September, odds on you'll get a place.

Now, I would hate to guarantee that that will be the case this year. More and more families are moving to the area and there is huge pressure on school places. But it does mean that you are probably better off arriving asap rather than next year.

thanks so much for the tips. Hester, I'll definitely be looking you up when we arrive. I'll get on the phone this week and find out how this year's looking for school admissions. Watch out for the hoodies!

All Richmond Borough parents need to be aware that the council is looking to make some significant changes to Secondary Schools over the coming years, which could impact existing schools, so check out the thread: "New Secondaries for Richmond Borough" and join the debate. The council will hopefully listen to parents' views, but we can only engage in the process if we know what's going on.