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Original poster

Primary school places !!!

500 replies

Mrsmost · 12/04/2012 21:10

Is anyone getting nervous for the primary school places next week? It's all I can thunk about now , the 18th simply can't get here soon enough , I would be happy if my DS got any of his 3 choices but does anyone have any idea of his chances if getting in one of them if they are all within a radius if one and a half miles from our home. My ideal choice would his first choice which is a catholic school which is 0.6 miles from home but is always oversubscribed, we attend mass every week and had all forms signed by the priest etc but don't know how much of a chance he has if getting it , any advice would be great as am worrying alot now the date is getting nearer.

Thanks for reading and sorry for rambling xxx

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SchoolsNightmare · 19/04/2012 16:38

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NKffffffffb942df10X12641d77b87 · 19/04/2012 16:41

This is a depressing website.

Full of people moaning about individual decisions.

4goingon14 · 19/04/2012 16:45

Yes, I had alot of people say to me how did I expect to get into my first choice out of catchment primary school that my daughter goes to nursery in.

Well I applied to 3 closer schools for her nursery place and was denied a place by all, but offered a place at the good out of catchment school a bit further away. When I called to find out where I was on the nursery waiting lists for my 3 closest schools I was at 12th place (closest), 22nd place (3rd closest) and 47th place (2nd closest).

So yes...the closest schools don't always have places when you live in a weird catchment spot like I do.

elliejjtiny · 19/04/2012 16:47

I've had a look at my year 1 class photo and there were 43 of us in the class on the day the picture was taken. 43 5 year olds and 1 teacher (faints)

SchoolsNightmare · 19/04/2012 16:51

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JugglingWithTangentialOranges · 19/04/2012 16:53

Yes, I think there were over 40 children in my reception class (when I was 5)

One teacher.

I remember sitting on the carpet and singing lots of songs !

Luckily for her the teacher could play the piano !

Peachy · 19/04/2012 16:59

NKffffffffb942df10X12641d77b87 well isn't it a blessing that posting is optional then.

NoWayNoHow · 19/04/2012 17:57

Don't feed it, peachy.

I'm fairly certain that isn't a well thought out NN, especially for a first post...

AThingInYourLife · 19/04/2012 18:03

Any news from the other in NI?

DD1 got into our first choice school. So relieved to just know.

Sorry to hear such tales of woe from some of you. To put down six schools and be offered none of them is not really good enough.

So much for parental choice.

streetcar · 19/04/2012 19:30

We're also in LB Richmond and have been allocated nowhere - there must be quite a few of us in this situation. It's so stressful - and it makes me so angry, it's hardly impossible to work out roughly how many future places will be needed... We're literally a 5 min walk to two schools, but haven't even got 6th choice.

ApuskiMcClusky · 19/04/2012 19:55

Waiting until tomorrow here for our allocation, fingers crossed.

Just wanted to say thank you SchoolsNightmare for your sterling work on the thread.

SchoolsNightmare · 19/04/2012 20:17

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wigglesrock · 19/04/2012 20:29

AThingInYourLife Dd2 got into dd1 school [phew] Was really panicking, didn't help the postman was 4 hours later today than he usually is!

sharenicely · 19/04/2012 20:29

I am amazed by the detailed and time consuming responses by the experts on here. prh, panelchair, sunnyday etc
I find out tomorrow re school places and am hoping not to need the advice but really want to say I think you offer great advice to lots of stressed parents .
Mumsnet is fab for stuff like this.

Tikkabillajive · 19/04/2012 20:52

I am SO sorry for all of you who have had bad news this week, it is awful that so many people can be so badly let down by the system. It's great that there is such brilliant advice on here, and I really hope that things get resolved somehow for you all.

We are waiting to hear tomorrow whether ds will go to the school that dd already attends - although he is a sibling we are not guaranteed a place as it's a village school and we are outside the village - priority goes to all immediately local children above siblings. I am feeling so sick about it! We had a bit of a nightmare getting a place (at any school) for our dd 3 years ago and I am keen to not repeat that misery.

With dd we didn't get the admissions email until mid-afternoon so I am not sure what to do tomorrow - whether to hang around the house pressing 'Send & Receive' repeatedly or to take ds out somewhere for the day and try and pretend it isn't happening!

Glittertwins · 19/04/2012 20:55

SparklyGothKat, we got a letter today for one of our pair because we were allocated our second choice. Guess the other letter will turn up tomorrow. When we went online to accept the places, we ticked the box to opt out the chance to go on the continuing interest list for our first ranked school as we are now more than happy with the school places given.

kipperandtiger · 19/04/2012 21:38

MrsMcNulty - yes, it's worth getting on the waiting list. The lists work by distance and not by when you apply, so you can only be bumped down by someone whose address is 47 metres or less!! Sounds incredible but it's happening everywhere, being out just by one house or several metres. Plus it doesn't cost you anything to go on a waiting list, you can still accept the given school, and reject that if and when a place comes up in your school of choice. The lists do move a bit - from one place to three places, as people move home, decide to go elsewhere, or find that they have enough funds and want to go private.

AThingInYourLife · 19/04/2012 21:55

Great news wiggles :) very glad to hear it.

I have to agree that the advice and support on this thread from the resident experts is very impressive.

chouilla · 19/04/2012 22:17

The nightmare goes on and Haringey council is giving me grief.
To remind you - the eadmission portal says that my son was allocated a to a school which is one of my preferences but it is not true, this school is not one of my 6 choices and never has been. Now tonight I receive the admission letter from Haringey council which states that my son has not been allocated any school at all. How is this inconsistency possible? The portal says one thing and the letter another. It is very unfair that Haringey council plays with parents' emotions like this. I'm very upset.

Is one of you experiencing something similar?

I live 0.3442 m from my first choice, they gave 37 places to siblings and 20 to distance of max 0.2968.
Waiting list and appeal for me.

SchoolsNightmare · 19/04/2012 22:42

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chouilla · 19/04/2012 23:02

Schools Nightmare - Thanks for your reply and advice. I have already printed a screen shot and a print out of the portal as soon as I saw the the inconsistancy.

I haven't been able to speak to them yet. I tried this morning, I was on hold for a long time then I had meetings nearly all day. It is my day off tmrw and will go to the council in order to understand the situation and as you said how the have handled my application.

I hope I can use this at my son's advantage for the appeal
Honestly I really hate the offer they have put in the portal, the school is badly rated, the league table results are dreadful ( i know we have to take such results as a pinch of salt). I do not want my son to go there.

kipperandtiger · 19/04/2012 23:05

Chouilla - you have a good chance of getting your first choice by going on the waiting list. People move or decide to go private all the time. One of my friends even found out the week they got their first choice on the waiting list before school started. She says wasting one set of uniform (she'd bought uniform for the other school already) was worth it - they saved on the petrol they would otherwise have had to use. You're entitled to go on a waiting list whether you got one of the your lower choices, a school that you didn't apply for, or no school at all.

kipperandtiger · 19/04/2012 23:06

(something wrong with my laptop - 2nd line should read "found out they got their first choice the week before school started"!!!)

nlondondad · 19/04/2012 23:16

One of the things that happens is that some people get a place and then, strangely just do not turn up when school starts, and that can trigger a truly last minute offer...

chouilla · 19/04/2012 23:26

Kipperandtiger - I will put my son's name on as many waiting lists as possible. I keep my hope.
About my first choice, there are 58 spaces available, 1 given to special needs, 37 to siblings and 20 to distance to the max of 0.2968m. I am at 0.3442m therefore I think everything was allocated to first choices and I assume they will all accept the offer. For the siblings I can only assume that they all also have put 1st choice and will accept the offer.

Fingers crossed.

I had so many issues with haringey council on other matters in the past that these inconsistencies do not surprise me. It is just unfair that it plays with my emotions and in a stressful time like this , they add up even more to the stress. I had stomach cramps for nearly two hours due to stress after I read the letter today. Didn't sleep much either last night , I was thinking about the appeal strategy.