Primary school places - waiting room for anxious parents !

[thetideishigh]

When does everyone find out where their dc have been allocated a place ?

Very nervous waiting going on here as we have applied to dc1's school for a place for dc2 even though we are out of catchment but because the order of preference rules have changed siblings out of catchment no longer have priority over children within catchment (The school wasn't that popular when we applied for dc1 but has been over subscribed for the last 2 years).

Dreading having to be in 2 places at once on the school run if dc2 doesn't get in.

Off to check the LEA website for date of notification of places but it is deffo March sometime.

i got forth out of six which is out of our borough - no chance in my borough) i never expected it at all so have other plans, london schools are over subscribed (a whole other thread)
im sorry thecat cant believe there isnt an alternative, although not surprised you didnt get any of four tbh?? you need to contact tomo, there are many on here with more experience perhaps start a new thread?

Got our second choice, not too bad at all. Think we will still go on waiting list for first choice though.

I am in Croydon

Thanks Pinkolives, I think I am naive in applying for 4, but there aren't any other local schools I want her to attend!
Thanks for support though, I will calm down and collect myself and ponder what to do next.
Bloody Southwark!

thecatatemygymsuit

i live in southwark and 2 years ago we didn't get any of our choices either. Got offered a really horrible school which I would never ever have sent my daughter to.

Tomorrow get yourself on all the waiting lists and find out where you are on each one. And if they haven't already told you find out what the furthest distance was.
We were 7th on the list for our first choice school and live about 500m away(which was in Lewisham - we're near the border) and we got a place there 2 weeks after term started.

Which schools have bulge classes this year? Were they on your list?

You have my sympathy - it is a horrible horrible time. Our results came out on a Friday and I cried all weekend.

I know how you feel catatemygymsuit - I am quite shocked too.

Got our letter today - DS didn't get in any of the three schools we wanted even though they are the closest to us & in the catchment area. He is also registered as disabled with cerebral palsy & gets tired easily when walking so I thought would get in to at least one of them - really disappointed :(

Do you have the option to appeal? DH rang the authority & was told that DS is 5th on the waiting list but in my mind he might as well be 105th on the waiting list, if he can't get in then he can't get in. but we are still going to appeal. Have got the option of applying for different schools but then will be out of the catchment area, further away & still not guarenteed to get in, I only know this because DH rang, it wasn't made clear on the letter. They did say that if we put in for other schools & still no place then they will place DS at a school where there are spaces available.

We are going to appeal & only have a fortnight to do it in & then see what happens from there. I would ring your authority to find out what your options are.

Kitty x

Kitty - does your borough not take into account medical considerations?

Nicky - I bet you're talking about a school beginning with R?

Another shocked Londoner here, dd didn't get into any of the 3 closest schools and has been offered a place in a school I don't know and has unimpressive OFSTED and is 15min drive away. Need to spend tomorrow looking into what I can do about it I guess.

clux and kitty, thank you both for lovely supportive posts. I am shocked by my reaction but equally shocked that she got offered no place at all!
Clux, my neighbour has already advised that I do exactly that, so tomorrow I will call up re waiting lists.
When you say you got a place 2 weeks after term started, do you mean you kept your dc off school until then, or did he/she start somewhere else first? I am so confused and feel I don't know the system! I am not sure what grounds I would have for appeal, other than there are some schools I simply would not consider, but that just sounds really middle class and tossy, doesn't it, so will have to come up with a better strategy.
Kitty, I am outraged to hear your story, especially as your ds is registered disabled, surely he should be a priority, considering walking is tiring for him?
How awful for you.
Good luck everybody and will update if I get any good news .

Kitty did you not apply under exceptional medical conditions? My DD has cystic fibrosis and we gave consultants letters and a list of all the reasons why our first choice school was the best one for her. We heard from the LEA a few weeks back that they were happy to accept our application on medical grounds so today was more a formality for us. I would recommend you appeal on medical grounds if you haven't done so ready. Good luck!

We were OK this time as had a sibling at school, but went through this 5 yrs ago. A couple of things worth remembering:

The schools you didn't get into should be able to tell you where you are on waiting list by end of week

Also, don't assume that if you are at no 5 for example, 4 other kids will start before your child. In about 2 wks time when everyone has to accept places, everything will change again. Some of the kids may not take up offers, then those at top of waiting list may actually turn their offer down (they may have got 2nd choice and be ok with that!).

Lastly, LEAs do make mistakes - when ds started, 2 of the children got offers from more than one school in the same LEA - although rarer than above, it does happen.

Best bet is to find out where you are on waiting lists & take it from there. If you are in top 5 there is a reasonable chance you could still get a place by Sept. If not soon after.

With ds, we were no 2 on waiting list for our 1st choice school & got an offer when all the paperwork went back in the May. Another friend was no 9 though and had to send her child to another school for a year before they got an offer.

From experience, appeals don't yield fantastic results but if its on the grounds of medical issues then it's worth getting stuck in and going for it. If its on distance/catchment alone then it doesn't look so good.

Sorry, if its not what anyone wanted to hear, but this is just my experience from the whole process. I'm in SW London where pretty much every school is over subscribed.

We got first choice! over the moon, this is something i have been worrying about for about 2 years.

Like Snowballed I'm in SW London and the catchments are tiny ... but the lists move a lot.

I do know of people who last year were waaay down the lists for the most sought-after schools but stayed on the waiting lists and in the end got places on the day before school starting, or a couple of weeks in. Not the ideal situation but if you sit it out things may come good.

thecatatemygymsuit

She started at another school (our second choice) for two weeks, then they phoned to offer her the place at our first choice and I was literally jumping for joy, but at the same time really guilty at uprooting her as she'd settled in brilliantly and won star of the week and made friends. She adapted really really well to the new school though and is now in Year One and doing brilliantly.

Another piece of advice is to keep in touch with the school, not just with Southwark. At one point we discovered that the school had her at number 4 on their waiting list, but Lewisham had her at 7th! Was all very confusing and at that point Lewisham realised the central database wasn't linking to the schools and updating properly. Added stress.
Also, be warned that you can move down on the waiting list if someone moves into the area adn lives nearer, or someone who didn't originally apply to that school asks to go on the waiting list and is higher up the criteria than you. We were told that if you're in the top 10 of the list then you stand a fair chance of getting a place.

We are very lucky - just found out that DS2 will start at first choice school in Lambeth. I am very relieved.

Good luck to everyone else. x

We found out today here in Herts, email was promised at 6 pm and I got mine at 6.13 pm. Was very, very happy that DD2 had got our closest, oversubscribed school. DD1 has been on the waiting list there for four years.

Applied to 2 schools in W London and did not get any offers. We live 300 metres from our top choice :(

Our ds just got offered place at third choice. It's really not what I want at all - a new free school opening in area because of lack of places and so he will be in a new school where he'll be the eldest plus they have extended days - 8.30 - 4 and are moving to a new school in 2 years, 2 miles away which would mean I'd have to drive. I really hoped we'd get at least our second choice.... which I really like a lot & feel excited about. Can someone who knows tell me what happens now - waiting for letter tomorrow but can you/ should you just ring the schools and see where is on waiting list. What's the chance of getting a place depending on where you are? Feel so so unhappy about this and more so because my dh really is in favour of this school so q. lonely (although he'd be v. happy with choice 2). Choice 1 is v. unlikely altho' would love. Thanks so much for help.

Where are you dollypops? You can ring the school to see where you are on the waiting list. I teach in a school which is very oversubscribed and people on the waiting list were getting last minute places just before term started in Sept so there is a chance.

Our LA says waiting lists are handled by them so is there any point calling the school?

I've only skimmed this thread but see that appeals have been mentioned. There are lots of threads about appeals with general advice about infant class size rules etc, but if anyone wants to start a thread I and the other posters with experience of admissions appeals will try to help.

For the poster with no offer anywhere - that is not acceptable. The LEA has to offer you something and shouldn't leave it up to you to find your child a school place. If there are lots of children in the same boat, ask the LEA where it is going to create a bulge class. Be persistent.

pinkypig I can't believe you are 300m from the school and did not get in . You MUST get yourself on the waitlist.

Also West London here, got 1st choice school, v pleased and surprised (we are the last house of the last street in the catchment area!).

pudding25 - am in queens park/ north kensington. Thanks very much. Will ring tomorrow.

Just wanted to post a link to ACE (Advisory Centre for Education) for anyone who is unhappy with their school place offer. They are a national charity set up to supprt parents with things like appeals, exclusions etc. They have a PDF you can download on how to appeal and telephone advisors you can speak to. I spoke to them when completing my application and they were great.

www.ace-ed.org.uk/

Hi Mintyneb - When I applied I rang the LEA to ask about medical reasons on the application form & was told to get medical evidence eg letter from doctor outlining any problems. I asked for a letter from his doctor but he suggested that I should just send in DS latest cerebral palsy report. I rang the LEA again & they said just to send that in & if they needed more evidence then they would get in touch. I also listed the reasons why we wanted our first choice school.

I don't know whether his medical report has been overlooked or if he just doesn't come under the criteria for medical reasons. To not get into any of the three I had put on the form has really shocked me.

We will be appealing on medical grounds but again it seems to me that unless a genuine mistake has been made then there is not a great deal that can be done.

Kitty x

Our letters don't get posted till 29th April, which I've just realised is a bank holiday anyway.
Reading this thread I'm starting to get nervous now. We live directly across the road from the school so it's the only one we put down. No other child lives closer.
If DD doesn't get in then there's something hugely wrong with the system.