schools advice please?

[shelley72]

hello we have a DS who is 4 in september and so will be starting school in sept 2012. i am now in a blind panic that we have left it too late to consider schools for him as lots of parents i speak to have already put their DC names on lists.

so my first question is, is it too late? we have 3 schools in our immediate area - one has v bad reputation (special measures i think), one is a catholic school, and one seems to be a very good school but is on a new estate where houses cost £££ and they will only accept children who live on this estate. i checked with them directly and last year they only accepted 3 children NOT from this estate. we have not a hope in moving and so i am very scared that DS will be sent to the special measures school .

we live very close to the county border - both DH and I work in the next county and the kids both currently attend nursery right on the border (half town in one county, half in the next). a school near work would be ideal in terms of drop off etc so my second question is can we also apply to schools in the neighbouring county also?

am i worrying too much about this? it all seems so important, DS seems quite bright and i want him to do as well as he can be but we cant afford to move and im worried that becasue of this we will ruin his future. does that make sense?

Hi these are all state schools right -I don't think putting down on a list gives you any benifit -so don't panic -and this is about england as don't know about for instance school -
have a look at your local Authority website - applications will be sometime after september - could be january -
you can apply for schools out of county -you will probably need to put another applicaiton in with the other local Authority but again check with their website. I did for my DS and he got a place but again it will depend how many other children apply and where they live. It also has downsides not to live near the school - for friends etc
Don't rule out the other school with the bad reputation - there was a thread about this here just recently - it could be with a new head and extra support its now a very good school - -repuation also comes sometimes from the intake - which tells you nothing about how good the teachers are - you need to go an visit it next autum for yourself and look at ofstead reports etc

I'm sure there will be some experts who can give you some good answers to these questions, but in the meantime I didn't want your post to go unanswered.

You haven't left it too late. You'll probably get application forms via nursery in the autumn or late summer on which you list your preferences. My DDs go to school in a neighbouring authority. We only had to fill in one form for the authority in which we live, but we could list schools in other authorities. Does that make sense?

The Catholic school may have its own admissions criteria which you should check now if you want to apply there. Church schools often have different admission groups that give preference to regular worshippers. It's worth checking this now if you want to apply there.

For what it's worth, I don't think lists make any difference in the state sector. Children are admitted in the order in which they meet the admission criteria.

Hope that's helpful :)

Joining informal lists and/or attending the pre-school does not (except in very rare instances) give you any priority for a school place.

Most LEAs require you to apply in about January for a place the following September - your council's website should have information about this, with a booklet publicising the admissions criteria for each school and the distance at which the last place was awarded in the most recent round of completed applications. Don't rely on the nursery handing out application forms - some do, some don't - so check for yourself when the forms will be available and when they have to be submitted.

You can apply to any other nearby LEAs too. Check whether you apply on one form for all LEAs or need to apply to each LEA on its own form. Again, each LEA's website should have information about this.

Do your research, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that unless your child goes to an 'excellent' school they are doomed.

Don't panic, you can't put your childs name down until around september anyway I think it is, and then you have until January to do it, so you really have plenty of time. I looked around schools myself in the October and then registered on the council website at the end of that month (that was for this years 2011 entry, so you have ages yet. Don't rely on the nursery etc giving you forms, check your local council website for details, but again there is no rush they are still only sorting placements for this years intake.

The lists you mention aren't worth worrying about, parents often put their childs names down in the mistaken belief that it is a waiting list, it isn't, it is just so the school knows roughly how many people are interested, I didn't put my childs name down at any schools, its not important.

thank you all for the reassurance. i think yes that nursery hand out forms in the autumn and that they have to be completed by january. its good to hear that there is a chance that we could apply to the neighbouring LEA, have yet to ring hampshire and find out if we need to do this on their form or our form.

thanks for the replies, it really has been helpful. am ashamed to say i am quite vague about it all . i am going to try and arrange some school visits for us to get more of a feel for the schools than the ofsted report alone and take it from there.

it just all seems such a worry - am sure i was just sent to wherever was nearest regardless of how good (or bad) it was!