As we are in admissions season again...some top tips for first timers

[BetsyBoop]

On this thread a while ago, I posted some top tips on the admissions system, which people found useful, so here they are again...

1. Visit every school local to you & make your own mind up - don't go on reputation/gossip/Ofsted reports/league tables
2. Find out how likely it is you stand a chance of a place by looking at the last few years admissions (eg what category & distance)
3. Put the schools in your genuine order or preference (schools are not allowed to operate a "first preference first" system, despite what people tell you)
4. Use all your preferences - but be realistic about your chances of getting a place - don't waste a preference on a hell-will-freeze-over-first option.
5. Always include one "safe" option (even if it is as last preference) which you are okay with & are pretty much guaranteed to get into (ie "catchment" school) . (Or you run the risk of getting a random "worse" school miles away if you don't get any of your preferences)
6. You will not be able to bully the LA/school/appeals panel into giving you the school you want by only putting that school on the application form & refusing places at other schools.
7. Read the admission code - you need to know the "rules" as if the rules are broken it gives you a valid reason to appeal.
8. Submit any exceptional social/medical circumstances evidence with your initial application, whether or not you are fairly confident you will get a place anyway - much easier than trying to win an appeal based on this later (which will typically fail if it is an infant class size* appeal)

• "infant class size" =YR/Y1/Y2 classes can have a maximum of 30 pupils per teacher

They've been channelling Humphrey Appleby I think...

What it means (although I think you know this) is

• for all schools in the LEA you must use the common application form
• VA and Foundation school may also have their own forms - if they do, these will be in addition to the CAF, not instead of it
• VA and Foundation schools can't ask for information that is specifically prohibited by the Admissions Code (such as parents' income or educational qualifications)
• They can, though, ask for information that fits with the admissions criteria (eg about church attendance for a church school)

See, why can't they just put it like that?!

Well our VA school are saying they don't have an additional form...so we shall see!

See, here we go, I'm SUCH a newbie at this that upon further reading I'm a year ahead of myself and I don't need to do this until this time next year. On the one hand - PHEW! On the other - >>headdesk

No, wait, maybe I do... ARGH so CONFUSED!

Trina... when was your dc born?

September 2007 - August 2008 will be next years recption intake

August 08, so yes she'd be reception next year but not compulsory school age until the following year? I think? Maybe? I clearly need more or less wine.

In my defence ds was born at the beginning of Sept 2007, and all this guff about reception entry the September after their 4th birthday had me confused, because I thought that meant he'd be starting school this year. Being a late summer baby myself I'd forgotten that he'll be the oldest in his year, and actually be 5 when he goes in to reception.

trina you're right about being able to defer. I can't do that because my ds is the oldest in his academic year, but you could because your dd is the youngest.

Trina - my DD is August 08 too. She will be starting next year (2012), because 1. She is very ready & 2. If I defer her place then she will have to start in Year 1 & miss out on reception. Which IMO is a disadvantage as friendships have been formed & she will be a year behind (and yes I'm aware that they don't do much, but YKWIM).

I would like everyone to know that we did everything wrong last year and we still managed to get into an excellent school, on the strength of a June CAPF application so yes follow the rules but weird stuff still happens in admissions. :)

bebe I'm just concerned about moving her around - as you say, friendships will have been formed. She was at nursery for a year when we took her out because I went on maternity leave (nursery too far away to keep taking her), she's just started pre-school and will make friends there. If she starts reception next year that'll be another move - and then there's the house move, if/when that goes through...

what's a CAPF application WMMC?

Common Application Form (I think) - it's the form you submit to change or select a school.

Yes tricky Trina. Are you likely to be moving far? Will it be the same LA? I'd give the LA where you are a ring now. I think you can't apply to anywhere until you are actually living there (although that probably varies from place to place). You can apply later than the deadline, but you will at the bottom of the applications list I think.

You need to be clear about what you mean by deferring. By law, a child doesn't have to be in education (at school or at home) until the term after they turn 5, so for some children that will mean the spring or summer term and for some it could mean missing reception altogether if they turn 5 in the summer holiday. So you may be able to delay, but they will stay in the right cohort for their age and if they miss all of reception they will go straight into Y1.

Deferring school entry for a year (what some people call back-yearing) so that the child leaves their birth cohort and starts reception a year late can only be done with the agreement of the LEA. They rarely agree to this.

oh, thanks WMMC... just gotta get up on all the jargon :o

ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts - I would be really suspicious about that. It would be extremely unusual for only those who named the school as first choice to be admitted, so much so that it would make me wonder if someone had cheated and given them priority. If I had made the school my second choice and ended up getting a place at my third choice I would be asking a lot of questions.

ThePathanKhansWoman - The order of your preferences comes into play if you get places at more than one of your preferred schools. You will only be offered the highest preference. So if you have three choices and you get places at your second and third choices you will be offered your second choice and go on the waiting list for your first choice.

Stokey38 - Yes, you can accept the offered place and stay on the waiting list for other schools. Most LAs will automatically put you on the waiting list for any school you put as a higher preference than the one offered.

Pigleychez - In general going to a nursery or pre-school attached to a school will not give you any priority but you do need to check. A few do give priority even though it is difficult to see how they can do this and comply with the Admissions Code.

TrinaLuciusMalfoy - You should definitely apply where you are now. The council at your new address won't accept an application from that address until you can provide proof that you have exchanged contracts on your new house. And yes, your child will be old enough to enter Reception next year so you need to apply by January 15th 2012. Whilst you could wait another year you would then be applying for a place in Y1 and would have a very limited choice of schools. You can defer entry until later in the year (January or Easter) but you cannot defer entry for a full year.

bebeballroom - I share Admission's concern about a school which "just rings and checks with the vicar". If their appeal panel is properly independent they should be losing appeals left, right and centre. If they aren't it suggests that their appeal panel isn't really independent, in which case someone needs to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman.

Ah I just checked it's COMMON APPLICATION PREFERENCES FORM (normally referred to as the 'application form') by anyone who does not work for the admissions dept. It's the form by which you apply for several schools at once by listing which ones you prefer and which they totally ignore and present you with the one THEY would prefer you take IME

Trina don't feel bad about not knowing where to apply yet - I was in that same boat last application year - we got an offer very quickly but it has taken until now to get anywhere close to exchange (hopefully tomorrow). We were lucky enough to get a place where we plan to move too (weirdly because it's an OFSTED rated excellent primary in and oversubscribed area but ho hum) after applying really late for a transfer. We were offered the place on the basis of our CURRENT address (19 miles away).

But I would counsel you not to rush in - I currently have to spend the entire day where my kids school is because DD goes all day and DS just the afternoon and it's too far for me to come home in between, so I just go to the gym and haunt the coffee shops in the mornings with DS. (we also do park/soft play/hunt the oddest thing in the charity shop etc. ) but it's not a good solution really and once they are in you are really loathe to move them. So just think it through before you go down this path and expect to encounter delays. :)

See now I'm all confused again. Will it say on the compulsory application form if I NEED a supplementary for for this school or is it up to me to know & to get one from where ever one gets this illusive form from?

bebeballroom
It won't tell you on the common form. My LEA has a webpage with all the admissions criteria for the various VA schools on it's website - the forms are included as part of that, so it would be worth checking there. Or the school should tell you (I know yu've been down that route, but I too can't believe they don't have a form )

For example, for my DD's school it says something along the lines of
"if you want your application to be considered against the faith criteria you should fill in the supplementary application form & return it direct to the school before the deadline"

If you want, you can PM me details of the school/LA & I'll see what I can find out for you.

I'll double check again, but I fear I'm going cross-eyed! If you really don't mind, I'll PM it to you, 2 heads better than one & all that!