So the governors would know who has 'got in' to VA school wouldn't they?

[curiousparent]

One of the governors of a local school has been going around apparently giving some people the I think you'll be ok and others a bit of a doomy message of how over subscribed they are blah blah blah.

They then claim not yet to know who has or hasn't (for me i'm hoping I haven't actually got it as now want 2nd choice) but I suspect they do actually know. Not that it really matters as we find out on Monday anyway but just because I like to know how these things work - would they actually know???

Unless the LA has given them a list they won't know for sure. They will know what order the applicants were placed in using the admission criteria but some of those near the top of the list may have got places at other schools they named as higher preferences, allowing some of the children further down the list to get places.

Hi curious

Last year when i spoke to the head of my RC VA school in the February (results came out late March) he had the list in front of him and told me exactly how many siblings he was separating that year and the areas they lived in!

This year seems more delayed though - maybe as the results coming out later? I know in my school, the governors met to 'rank' the list of applicants (including 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc) about 4 weeks ago. That list was then sent back to the LEA. I don't know if the list has been sent back to school. I rang my 2nd choice school today to ask about school start times etc if i ended with 2 schools and she said they hadn't had their list at all (i got the impression she definitely would have admitted she had list as she was shocked herself not to have had it by now).

The governors of your school will have ranked the list so will have an idea but within that lists are 1st and 2nd choice. If its the only faith school, most non faith probably didn't submit faith forms so will be much lower on that list.

Therefore they could have a very good idea e.g in my town, the RC is the only RC school thus anyone who submitted RC form would have had it as 1st choice so when the preferences were sorted by LEA, they would have stayed within the school list if you get what i mean?

So anyone within the 1st 30, 60 (or whatever the intake is) are going to get in if they have it as 1st choice.

So naughty to be giving anything away though! Have they said anything to you?

Thanks for your reply - it is from a school where most applicants put 1st place so as I thought they have a very good idea.

Actually I don't think they would know. When dh was a school governor (not VA school) they knew how many applications there were (ijn total) and what proportion of those were siblings, SEN and children in care, but that was about it.
For VA schools there may be additional information such as the number of allocations from each church, so he may know that people attending churches other than the local parish church are unlikely to have places, for example.
At governors meetings families are not identified by name, in any way, and such matters are confidential and should not be discussed in public. So he is definitely breaking the confidentiality rules.

sorry sunny x posted.

Yeah I didn't think it was very good to be doing that myself. To me she just kind of said that the sibling iapplications was very large and that was not even considering those in catchment no sibling/looked after etc. I took it to be a bit of a don't get your hopes up!

TBH I genuinely don't want that school now so was probably not really giving her very many interested vibes - I was kind of well if we don't fall within those numbers who meet the criteria high enough up the list we don't get in do we and all we can do is wait and see.

I'm not really part of the 'clique' that goes there so I guess they wouldn't like to think of others in their group being displaced if we did get in there which is one of the main things that put me off wanting it really.

I soooooooo hope that we get 2nd choice!!!

Interesting crazy - do you think that it would be the same for VA schools where they do their own lists. Do they not have the names and do it by some other ID or something?

ah, it does sound like your 1st choice is busy then as you said there only 4 places left after siblings didn't you?!

How likely is your second choice? It sounds like things are progressing food for you then?! Just wish we didn't have the weekend!

That governor sounds like the staff at my school. Last year when all the non parish siblings didn't get in some of the staff just said "well what did you expect - you're not parish?" no sympathy or anything! Think some of the staff at very oversubscribed schools gets a bit full of themselves! Must be a power thing - i know something you don't sort of attitude :)

i suppose if it is confidential (def wasn't at mine though), then they may just know were categories were split? i.e if they didn't make it out of parish then they can say all non parish have lost out. I would have thought they'd need their info but that its confidential in terms of it should stay in the room?

Very naughty of the governor to be gossiping. Would get hands slapped if Chair aware I'm sure!

Yes sunny I do kind of see them as being a bit power crazy - some of them are a bit elitist - we are better than you kind of attitude. There were only 4 places after siblings (apparently).

sunflowers I did think it would not be encouraged and genuinely found it a little un-professional.

I do the paperwork for admissions in a VA school office. We get the list a few days before offers go out, just to check that there have been no obvious mistakes from the ranked list which we we previously sent to the local authority. While governors have to approve our ranked list, which includes everyone who has put us as one of their preferences, there is no way that they see the final list of places offered, which is strictly confidential, and no way that we would tell anyone whether or not they have got a place before they get their letter from the local authority.

I would have expected that families would be identified by id number or similar to prevent any bias but the school admissions officer (or member of staff that takes on this role in a smaller school) may know more. A list would have been sent back to the LEA but only the LEA know whether these families had placed the school as first, second or third preference so the LEA list may be slightly different to the schools.
Sounds as if your second preference is more likely though which is the school you now want.

Tubswubsy is right over this, the governors approve the ranked order list and send it back to the LA. As the exact preferences are not on this list it is impossible to say which applicants will get places, which is sorted out by the LA.
If the governor is nodding and winking on the original list then they might have egg all over their face when the real answers come out.
If the governor is using the confidential list sent to the schools a few days before the official list then it shows a complete lack of confidentiality in the school and the GB. A very worrying lack of competence in the school as a whole.
As a chair of this governor I would not be slapping hands I would be asking for their resignation or if that is not possible for them to be suspended for 6 months. It is both unprofessional and unacceptable.

Yes I see what you mean. I think it was said in a way that assumed that all those who applied (and certainly those who are probably higher up the list) will be naming it as first preference. But I agree, there may be some shocks!

Most schools where I am know by now, and so do the parents

Fingers crossed for second choice, first choice sounds a bit of a nightmare school gate!

3duracellbunnies - absolutely & this is one of the main reasons why we feel like we no longer want first choice. If we do get it we are going to go on wait list for school 2 and pray that a place comes up there!

I'm a governor at a VA school and at our school it is exactly as tubswubsy described. In fact only a sub-set of the governors (4 or 5, can't remember) sit on the admissions sub committee, so only they have seen the final ranked list that was sent in, the rest of the GB don't.

I know the school have the final list from LA (our offers come out on Monday) but I've not seen that either, nor would I expect to. I will be finding out on Monday just like everyone else if DS has a place, no nods or winks here, nor would I want any. (He should be okay as a sibling, fingers crossed! :))

Our chair would take a very dim view or what happened at that school OP and would be asking for resignations without a doubt.