Anyone had to send their DC to prep rather than a bad school?

[Lovelylovelycake]

Please would you mind sharing
How has it worked out? Are you still on the waiting list for a good state school? Has this been done before?
We would really have to stretch to do this, but have been offered such a bad school that I feel we have to. Is it heard of for parents to put their child into a prep then switch when a good state place comes up?

Ah,thanks for info,I don't think she will be eligible cos I only want to put her there until there will be place in our local school available. And about this Early years funding,where do I ask about it? If I call LA in our borough,will they be able to tell me more? My experience with LA is not so good,not very helpful

Think you need to think about the differences like many have said. My friend did this but moved her DD after 2 terms because the environment was very different to the prep. I am afraid, once you are exposed to a good prep, it's possible that nothing can ever compare!

Early Years funding is same as for any other nursery/preschool, so LA should know if a particular setting is eligible or the Bursar at the school. If so it may be worth up to around £500 per term until the term after child has turned 5.

Reception fees can be very cheap indeed if the school qualifies for nursery funding and takes childcare vouchers. A boy in ds's year moved to state school after reception. Parents could afford private but wanted their Ds at the same primary as his brothers and hadn't got in for reception year.

But things do genuinely change. We sent DS1 to a very unpopular school because it had a new Head and I was blown away by her attitude. Before we looked around I said to DH "there is no way we are sending DS1 here, I just want to get some idea of a starting point" but after looking we were really impressed, much more so than the "kill your granny to get in" school that was closer. Cue five years later - the school was massively oversubscribed (my gut instincts were right) and even though we lived 5 mins away we were no longer in the catchment BUT DS2 would have got in on sibling preference. I nearly fell out with a really good friend who lived 2 mins away because she felt really strongly that her DS1 should get a place because they lived closer. She really believed it was reasonable for me to have to send DS2 to a different primary to DS1 so HER child could get a place.

The bottom line is the UK admissions system sucks. It sets neighbours against each other and leaves people who really can't afford it having to contemplate huge school fees. We are now in Australia. You have an ABSOLUTE RIGHT to a place at your local community school for your child - your could rock up with four children in the middle of term and they would have to take them all. I am no logistics expert but if Australian schools can do that they why the hell is there such angst in the UK system? I have opted to send my kids private - the school feels for three kids are less than for one in England.

Sunnydelight,

I would be very interested to know whether the Australian system has maximum class sizes, as these are usually the obstacle in the English system. If 4 children turn up in the middle of term and would make a class size of over 30 (in the infants) then by law a school cannot admit them. Schools cannot create new classes at the drop of a hat due to lack of classroom space, and even should they wish to the cost of suddenly creating 2 classes with full-time teachers but with only 4 more children's money (income is per capita) is prohibitive.

However, I would say that in more rural areas, where schools are often under-subscribed, it is still absolutely possible to rock up on a Friday and be admitted by the Monday. The school I teach in has a high proportion of traveller families, and although many of them are 'settled', we frequently have large families of 'cousins' arriving on the school doorstep expecting admission that day. We do sometimes have to juggle a bit to be allowed to go over our PAN for a year group temporarily, but since failies leave just as quickly it normally comes out in the wash!

So if you had lived somewhere differemt in the UK, you might well have the impression that all children can get admission at any school at any time, as this is the case in large parts of the country.

Don't discount the effect of moving your child away from their friends and a good school if you choose to start them in prep and move them later - it's 'their school', if they are happy why would they want to leave?

OP I wanted to add that you shouldn't worry about changes your DS had had ths far....he is VERY young...moving at this age won't affect him!

I was so anxious about it all...I now realise that it's home which really matters....yes, school and friends and some regularity are very important. But kids can deal with change...if their home life is secure.

in the danish school system student no 27 releases a 2nd class so the moment a parent moves into the area with a child that would need a school place then the school if they had a class of 26 students would need to make 2 claseses and have a split of say 13 and 14 they do not get to say they are full they simply have to make a 2nd class. Sounds to me like the Australian system is similar.

Yes, it is similar Lonnie. The maximum in kindy (reception) is 20, it's 30 by the time they hit Y3. It must be a bit of a logistial nightmare, and one of the downsides is that the classes often aren't finalized until a week or so into the new school year to allow for people who arrive with no notice, but it does seem to work. The absolute right to a place is only at your catchment school - very small schools have very small catchment areas - most schools will take "out of area" kids though if they have space.

Lonnie,

I'm just trying to imagine making an extra class in my - small rural -school every time a new family arrives in the catchment((which as explained is often 3 or 4 times a term, but usually only for a few weeks at a time). Where would we put them?? It's not like most schools have a few spare classrooms hanging around (we already use the staff room, corridor and are thinking of converting a small storage cupboard to use for small group areas, as we have absolutely no spare room at all, even the hall is a logistical nightmare of pe / group teaching / wet play / another class pe / 10 minutes for 1 to 1 work then lunch....!). I suppose if the law is that new classes must be created, then most schools will have been built with extra rooms in preparation.