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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

WTF is happening in Wimbledon - no school allocated???

50 replies

ISimplyDontBelieveIT · 05/04/2011 12:36

Right, first choice was Priory, second Holy Trinity, third Pelham, fourth Bishop Gilpin, fifth Dundonald. So which one has my DD been allocated.... NONE!!! And no options, alternatives offered either. I live 5 minutes walk away from P and HT, about 7 to Pelham, further from the other 2... Worst thing is that I know of other children from nursery who live even closer than us to P and HT and also haven't got a place in either so what chance do we stand!!! What do I do now?? (private not at all an option)

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

wobblypig · 06/04/2011 21:28

Anyone got an idea how we can get our voices heard. It's not just people who didn't get places but also the disruption of waiting for a place and needing to start soemwhere else . There are so many people affected by this.
Take it to the press?

grafenstolz · 06/04/2011 21:53

You could take it to the press. Alternatively, if you don't want to go to councillors, the local MP, Stephen Hammond, is very responsive.

Or there are education advice bodies like ACE or CASE - the latter is Campaign for State Education; the former Advisory Centre for Education.

grafenstolz · 06/04/2011 22:00

Could I just say: don't be afraid to talk to local or national politicians about this. But do be careful of talking to the press, especially be careful of giving out info about or pix of your dc. Really better to speak to politicians IMVHO.

YvieE · 07/04/2011 16:31

Just to add on Merton's website they now have the table showing the allocation breakdown for September 2011 including furthest distance offered.

www.merton.gov.uk/learning/schools/changingschool/admissions/school-applications-and-transfers/primaryplace.htm

Original poster

ISimplyDontBelieveIT · 07/04/2011 17:32

Thank you for the info YvieE. Shame we can't view info on the schools I'm interested in. I hear that at least in one of those schools, after half the places were filled with siblings, the other half went to church applicants. Fantastic. And people critizise some tax payers who pretend to be religious and go to church just to get a school place. The system is discriminatory so what other choices do people have!!!!!

OP posts:

FebreezeYourJeans · 07/04/2011 17:37

Lucky escape from The Priory but desperately unfair that you have been given a place so far away.

Original poster

ISimplyDontBelieveIT · 07/04/2011 17:42

Sorry Febreeze, I'm not sure I understand what you mean?

OP posts:

CointreauVersial · 07/04/2011 17:47

I'm not in Merton, but I find it extraordinary that a catchment can stretch no more than 300 metres in some cases!

Btw, faith schools will sometimes take bulge classes - certainly several have done in Surrey in the last few years.

Original poster

ISimplyDontBelieveIT · 07/04/2011 17:55

Holy Trinity did. Bishop Gilpin almost did but parents were all up in arms about their precious little school accepting more children from the community so it got turned down.

OP posts:

lililolo · 07/04/2011 18:33

My child has just been accepted into a RC bulge class in a neighbouring borough.

omnishambles · 07/04/2011 18:56

You know what strikes me about that list is how very small lots of the schools are - I'm in a neighbouring borough and there are schools top of the league with 90 entry - merton schools need to increase in size. No matter what the nimbys say.

Original poster

ISimplyDontBelieveIT · 08/04/2011 12:06

Does anyone know what Febreeze meant by 'Lucky escape from The Priory'? I am in a huge predicament as it is and now I'm even more worried. I need to make a decision and put my DD in the waiting lists of some of my chosen schools so what's wrong with the Priory? Please help me !

OP posts:

FebreezeYourJeans · 08/04/2011 12:20

Sorry, ISDBI Let my mouth run away with me, I'll message you.

hester · 08/04/2011 12:29

My dd's school is very high-achieving, Ofsted outstanding and there are 120 children in her year. I found the size of the place really offputting at first - I couldn't believe a primary school could be so big - but I'm sure we'll be getting more of these super-schools wherever there is space to expand.

FebreezeYourJeans · 08/04/2011 12:58

hester It's not in Battersea is it?

hester · 08/04/2011 13:04

No - Teddington.

sunnydayz75 · 08/04/2011 15:36

Hi
Anyone herd of Sacred Heart In Roehampton and know what it like. They increased the intake to 60 this year and my daughter has a place but not sure what it like.

pollmeister · 08/04/2011 15:52

I am glad Im not the only one - My daughter didnt get offered a place at all in Merton. 1st choice was West Wimbledon (where she goes to nursery and loves it) and is the nearest one to my house (in Motspur Park) bar Sacred Heart bloody faith School (which is not an option). I got sent a list of schools with spaces - there are EIGHT in MITCHAM which is about 5 miles from me - I work and dont drive so thats totally out of the question. Also my daughter is an only child and we want friends that live near to her. There are a few schools with places in Morden (not walking distance) but not particularly good schools. I have an idea: If the schools in Mitcham are so 'unpopular' why dont they close down some schools there and build some more in Raynes Park and the area?
I have since added some extra schools from the Kingston borough and guess I will sit tight until I get somewhere. I have to say though, I REFUSE to go somewhere more than 2 miles away.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

pinkypig · 08/04/2011 15:57

We live in RBKC and at our preferred school (we are 0.33 miles) the last place offered to a non-sibling was 0.018!!!

hester · 08/04/2011 17:09

Oh my word, pinky, what school was that?!
I applied for a place in RBKC last year (before I moved) and was assured by the headmaster that as I lived 0.2 miles away I wouldn't get a place. I did in the end, but it shows how very close you have to be. I guess there's so many flats in RBKC that you can easily fill a school from just the immediately surrounding streets.

pinkypig · 08/04/2011 19:35

hester the school is Fox Primary. It was bad last year but this year is worse.

AllGoingSouth · 08/04/2011 22:20

I am in Sutton and have the same problem - no places available at any of my 6 preferences & no school allocated. Have added my son's name to a further 3 schools waiting lists but was also advised by admissions to try Merton to see if they had any places available!

hester · 08/04/2011 23:15

Ah yes, Fox. I lived a bat's breath away so didn't even bother applying. And the nearest alternatives are faith schools were you have to be the Pope to get in. Or David Cameron.

daylightdreaming · 09/04/2011 22:34

It's happening all over London

www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23938535-extra-70000-places-needed-for-london-schools-at-bursting-point.do

...and the solution will be portacabins everywhere - as though there hadn't been over three years to prepare or did no one tell about all the extra babies being born

popstar · 09/04/2011 22:45

At least in the maternity services you could argue that we couldn't predict the sudden increase in service demand 5 years ago when the birth rate exploded. The education system really should have seen it coming and have had a few years to prepare.

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