School Places 1st On Waiting List – what hope?

[cswilliams78]

Hello,

I am really sorry to post yet again on this but we have had a speight of bad news following the ?second application stage? and again haven?t gotten anywhere meaningful and I feel really upset again ? pretty much as bad as the first day we got ?the letter? (Ds hasn?t got in to any local schools and is being sent to the 10th closest school, all 302 local places are full!). The school offered doesn?t seem like a bad school but the area it is in is not at all good - I lock my car doors when I drive through and don?t visit parks there with my kids due to bad language and other anti-social behaviours on display, shops in the area have been closed due to frequent robberies. I?ve heard all sorts about the kids being ?too streetwise? and using bad language etc, children are so easily influenced at this age, it is just not what I want for him and that?s before I even get to the difficulty in actually getting him there and back with my husbands illness and my full time job or DS?s isolation from the kids in our local community.

Of the three local schools which we deemed him to have the best chance with he is sitting 8th (60 intake), 6th (30 intake) and 5th (30 intake). I am not at all hopeful given our local situation, all 9 schools are full with huge waiting lists and the council will not budge on their 3 waiting list rule and are the most unhelpful bunch of people that I have ever spoken to ? they have zero empathy.

Of the 2 schools that we applied for out of the area, we didn?t get in but are higher on the lists - we are first for one and third on the other (at the moment I know this can change) ? I know that no body here has a crystal ball but is there usually some movement in a 30 class sized class? How hopeful should I be, being first? The area is quite affluent so private may be an option for some but the property market is dead on it?s feet (both in my local area and the town where the other school is), so not really expecting people to move home.

Really struggling to cope with this again, it just seems so unfair that my child and family should face this situation, I keep hearing rumours of people short term renting to get in or other ploys but the schools and council don?t check and I have nothing specific. I am absolutely sick of being told if we ?kick up a stink? we?ll get in, or smugly ?I put my child?s name down when they were a month old?, as if that makes a difference!!

DH is phoning our MP?s office this morning as he said in the local paper that he was ?arranging urgent talks with council officials and local headteachers? it said later in the article that they were ?hoping for a positive outcome for the families involved?. We?re going to see if he has made any progress and in what way he hopes to achieve this positive outcome. The local paper are due to cover the story for the second week this week or next. I have already written to my MP but haven?t had a reply other than the comments in the paper (it looks as though he has contacted the paper as a result of the many letters he has had about the situation). None of my local councillors have even replied to my letter.

What next, any ideas and how hopeful can I be?

xx

Oh that is a horrible situation to be in. . I am afraid I do not have any words of wisdom but I completely sympathise.

I would say hold on, places DO become available right up until the last minute. Also, hold on to the thought that no matter what area he goes to school in the most influence in his life will come from you. So try not to worry about the area or peer group at this stage.

Good Luck

I don't want to get your hopes up, and remember you can go down the waiting list as well as up, but there is often some movement in a class of 30 between now and September. Schools don't really know who is going to turn up until the Autumn term is under way as a surprising number of people move or decide to go private without bothering to let the school know.

I'm not surprised you are sick of being told old wives tales!

Can't offer advice I'm afraid but can offer a and a listening ear.

We too are languishing on a wait list (although a different situation to you). I also get fed up with people telling me to appeal and that all I have to do is make enough fuss and they will let my child in. Erm well no I can't - I have no grounds for appeal and I can make as much fuss as I want but that won't change the sodding infant class size rule

Very variable from local experience. There was a shortage of places in my area when we were applying for a Reception place 2 years ago, quite a few families were only offered schools several miles away which is a long way in this heavily populated bit of London. Some waiting lists shifted a lot and children were offered a place before term stated, others didn't move at all and still haven't and the children are now nearly finished Year 1.

But I would say that all of the children I know who were initially in this situation ended up in schools that they and their parents were happy with sometime by the start of Year 1 and usually earlier in Reception. Sometimes they were offered waiting list places, sometimes a school they were initially not keen on turned out to be much better than they expected.

I have found it is very difficult to judge what a school is really going to be like. We found the Ofsted reports to be very innacurate, we have found the 'satisfactory' school DS attends to be very good and were less impressed with our nearest school where he went to nursery and which has a glowing 'outstanding' Ofsted. Amongst other things behaviour is excellent in his current school, it wasn't so great in the previous school despite a much more advantaged group of children. I don't know if this is just a coincidence and he happens to have a particularly nice class, or if the teachers are better at dealing with behavioural issues. Looking round a school gives you something of a feel for it, but I still think it's pretty difficult to know what it's going to be like until your child actually goes there.

Can you work out a way of getting DS to the school he has been offered if the worst comes to the worst and you haven't had any other offers before September? You may find the school is better than you expect, and if the teachers are good at dealing with problem behaviours it may not be a real issue, at least for 4 and 5 year olds. A better alternative will hopefully come up, and none of the children I know seem to have been phased by changing schools in Reception of Year 1.

I think 2 or 3 places came up (out of intake of 60) before term started here (home counties, heavily oversubscribed school). However, these tended to be taken up by people moving in very close to the school. People who had been first on the waiting list were moved down it as people who lived nearer went on the list. So difficult to say really. Would agree with one of the views above, this school is highly rated by Ofsted but I'm not that impressed with it so far. I think I would have preferred the school in special measures down the road.

Our local primary has 60 places and will generally get 4 or 5 declined places intitally, following the offer letters with these being reoffered quite quickly. But it has been much higher in some years when a higher proportion have ended up going private. There are also those who accept the initial offer but drop out later (ie don't turn up to the new parents evening which is around June) which prompts the school to follow up if they really do want the place. Plus then they sometimes loose 1 after school has started some time in reception, generally due to family moves.

I would talk to the school admissions manager as they are generally happy to give you this sort of info, it is in their interest to make sure you are informed if you are on the wait list as they want people to take the places if people drop out (they get funding per child so need to be full).

Could he stay at nursery for a bit if you don't get place you want for September but are high on wait list? This depends on when he is 5, there are a few threads on rules for this if you think it is an option.

Thanks for all of your replies there is some really great support there and I feel allot better again, yesterday was a very bad day for me, hopefully not much worse to face on the journey now.

Thank-you all as well for not telling me to threaten the head teacher with not taking DS to school as that is bound to work ..isn't it? At least I am safe from such tales here - they get a bit much!!

I love the advice about the influence in his life being from us, that is right, I also need to remember not to judge on two counts as really I should know better! My eldest DS went to an Ofsted 1 rated local school, it was not 'Outstanding' in my opinion they pushed very hard for results (complained my DS was immature at 6 and warned that if he didn't try harder he would end up on the 'scrap heap' ....he is now G&T in Maths, Science and now even English and although we have to work quite hard to keep him on his toes as he's naturally lazy there are no scrap heaps in sight ..). He also experienced bullying due to his ability and that was ignored by the teachers despite my husband and I going in several times. Not very Outstanding at all. Also the school is in a 'good' area ..the kids that bullied my son are mostly from quite wealthy families all living in 4 bed detached exec homes with their exec cars, they were not nice kids and would be at the door comparing who got what every boxing day or birthday...so materialistic it was horrid to watch. At secondary my Ds finally has nice friends (who never compare what they have or talk constantly about what they are getting) and he's been strong enough to deal with the bullies. The new friends are from mixed backgrounds and ability and seem like genuine nice friends who actually like my son for who he is not who they think he 'should be' I certainly sleep better these days. I am not saying all good areas are bad and all bad are good my DS may have been unlucky in his year group but you just can't tell can you?

So we are moving making preparation for the school we have been allocated I have told Ds he is going to a lovely school where he will meet lots of new friends, gets toast and milk each morning, wear a green uniform and he might even get to go to school on a bus!! So let the positive spin continue. We're looking at bus time tables and having talks with grandparents about how they can help.

Story was in the paper this week too and also ran online with other poster from here, council and MP still to hold talks so maybe he can help, we'll see and I will carry on doing what I can (which isn't much in honesty).

I won't be buying much uniform and the tags will remain until the day before he starts in case the phone rings but I am trying to move on a little for my own sake but most of all DS's this is such a big thing I don't want him to pick up a shred of negativity about it!

Thanks again,
Catherine