Problem finding reception place in hampstead

[Markhampstead]

Hi, I need some pointers if someone can help.

I lost my wife and mother to my two children in 2011 to cancer and we are relocating from Lancashire to hampstead. The problem is my eldest who is 6 and going into year two has been accepted to Christchurch but I am struggling to find a place for my youngest who is going into reception class. I don't want to separate them as they are at a point in life when it would be good for them to be a the same school as they were in Lancashire. It is looking like it will be very difficult to place my youngest and need some ideas.

I am looking at the following options until a place becomes available unless anyone can suggest a better idea.

A. Do I split them up ( youngest will be no1 on waiting list)
B find a private school that is local
C. Send to nursery, some cater for upto 7 years

Help help

Mark I am very sorry for your loss.

As it happens I work in a local independent primary. Are your DC's boys or girls?

And sorry, but do you know where in NW3 you will be living? It's fairly big if you need to get two children to two different schools on either end of the postcode!

PM me if you would rather.

Hi they are girls aged 4 & 6 and we will be living right n the centre of hampstead just off Gayton road.
Thanks for the quick response

Well Christchurch is supposed to be a good school, as is Hampstead Parochial if you are keen on C of E schools. Fitzjohns and New End I know less about but have never heard bad things IYSWIM.

But I am assuming you have tried all of these or else you wouldn't be asking the questions!

If you are thinking private, the closest schools to you are Devonshire House (co-ed), Northbridge House (co-ed), South Hampstead (girls), Sarum Hall (girls), St Mary's (Catholic). Something to consider is that Devonshire and Northbridge are privately owned e.g. for-profit schools whereas the others are charitable trusts.

Have to run to look after the DC's but will be back later after I've chewed things over a bit!

Thanks for the replies, really don't know what to do and would prefer to avoid sending private due to the costs. I have spoken to Camden admissions and they are none the wiser either and have no options for me. I wonder if there are any other schools a little further away that are good because I can't see any other options at the moment.
I wonder what might happen if I wait until the start of term and see if places become available but it's leaving it a little last minute and not sure what I would do if nothing came up.

Perhaps to help you decide you could call the school you have and ask how often in previous years reception places have come up before or near the start of term. Obviously while being clear that you know it doesn't mean anything concrete etc. Might give you an idea on how mobile the local population is usually.

All the best of luck.

Well, you do actually have the option because your youngest does not technically have to start school until her fifth birthday - although I would not recommend missing huge chunks of Reception.

I think your number one priority should be to get both of your girls into the same school as soon as possible - within a few terms or a year at the most. Presumably they are in different schools / nurseries right now in Lancashire, so it would not be a big wrench to them to be torn apart at the beginning, but I think that should be your medium-term goal. But sisters in the same school especially having suffered the loss that they did - I think this is very important and as sisters they will have a very special and close relationship.

Can you speak to the Head at Christchurch to get an idea of how high their pupil turnover is and how soon a place might come up? Great that she would be top of the waiting list. Of course recognising that the school can't make any promises. Have you explained your special circumstances to them? I am aware they have quite strict admissions guidelines they need to adhere to though.

More tomorrow!

Yes I have explained our circumstances but they have to draw the line somewhere which I totally understand. They are both hgh on waiting lists at other local schools but I am not sure if I accept a place for my eldest then she would then drop off the list completely. The question is do I put my eldest into Christchurch and run the risk of my youngest not getting a place at all. What can I do with my youngest if she doesn't have a school so she doesn't fall behind, I'm also aware it's important for them to have playtime with other children rather than being at home with me.

When is your youngest daughter's birthday? She can access nursery funding until the term after her 5th birthday.

Certainly in our LEA you could accept the place for your eldest daughter and keep her on waiting lists at other schools. Equally you could accept a place at a school for your youngest daughter and do the same.

Youngest daughter is 5 in feb. would I speak to lea about nursery places?

I'm sorry I don't know the details, but I can guarantee some-one on here will! Which is how I know it in the first place. I would imagine its like 3 year olds, that you find the nursery and apply for a place.

Has DD2 not been offered a school place at all? You also have the option of accepting a Reception Place for your daughter at which ever school is offered and deferring it until next Easter. Hopefully by then a place will come up at DD1s school.

I really hope you find a solution for your family.

You could speak to the LEA and/or private providers about local nursery places.

Can the LEA not offer anything at all for your younger child? You need to keep badgering them - it is not acceptable to leave a child with no offer of a school place.

Previous posts have covered most of the options. You could also appeal for a place at your preferred school. If it is an infant class size appeal (much discussed on numerous other threads) you should not, strictly speaking, win. However, given the compassionate reasons why you want your children to be at the same school - and even more so if the LEA have failed to offer you any alternative for your youngest - you may find that the panel is willing to stick its neck out for you.

I have already put a case to the board of governors but it looks unlikely they will agree to let her have a place. The lea have mentioned that if they can't find a place they may look at another borough, don't know were I stand with this because I can't see it being easy travelling to two schools and to be honest with all the good schools already full I dread to think what they would offer.

Call Andrea Taylor at Hampstead Hill School. It is private but you may find, given your circumstances, that she can work something out for you and your child can move when a place comes up at Christchurch. She has dealt with bereaved children before. The schools are close together.

If the class is full, the governors have no discretion to admit another pupil. Lobbying them is irrelevant. An appeal would get your case in front of an independent panel.

Thanks for the replies i really appreciate it. Can i run this idea by you? As my youngest is only 4 and not 5 until Feb 2013, what if i was to take her to nursery for a couple of mornings a week and have a private tutor to help her get started on her reading etc then i can practice with her aswell. I can then appeal a place at the school and put my case forward. The only problem i can see with this is that i run the risk of her not getting any place at all. The school have had the number of pupils reduced for reception class to 27 due to the size of the room but i am aware they have allowed 1 extra at somepoint on appeal but it was a child with special educational needs which is not the same circumstances as ours.

It is not the same circumstances but it still shows a precedent and that the school has managed it in a previous year. I think you need to do the following:

You need to inform the LEA immediately that you wish to appeal for this school, you can work out the detail later (and there is lots of expert help available here) and also put her on the waiting list. Unfortunately I think it is likely that the appeal would not now be heard until September.

In the meantime you can accept the school they find and defer her place until next Easter (school won't like this but tough.)

Make plans for your daughter's education in the meantime. I actually don't believe a home tutor is necessary, look on the Home Education boards here and I am sure you can find what you need.

It may help you to know that Nursery and YR are both Foundation Stage and follow the same Early Learning Goals, not the National Curriculum, therefore if you can get a nursery place (and you should be able to have 15 hours) they should differentiating and planning her learning appropriately. This should including literacy and maths and ought to include reading at the right time.

Our over subscribed school does have a small number of afternoon nursery places for September so it is worth checking local school nurseries.

Incidentally I am a school Governor and agree that community schools have no say in admittance, which is why you must appeal.

Can i actually start an appeal even if they have not offered her a place yet? Cant take the free nursery option as i dont fit the criteria. My worry is if i dontfind a place for her or the school they offer is a poor one, not sure what i would do and i dont want this to have any negative affect on her. On the plus side i suppose if i was teaching her a little at home and she went to nursery for a couple of mornings a week she would still be getting some good time with her Dad.

Assuming that you have actually applied for a place at this school, and been turned down you can appeal. Contact the Admissions Office and tell them you would like the appeal forms.

As PanelChair said (and she is an expert), you can use the fact they haven't offered you a place anywhere in your appeal.

Why don't you fit criteria for the 15 hours? I'm not an expert but I wasn't aware there was any, beyond having an appopriately aged child.

The criteria i believe is down to savings and income. I must say that the help and advice i have received on here is superb and i am very grateful.

If anything I have said is helpful, I am really pleased to have helped. I am hesitant to say anything definite where I'm not certain.

And by the way, quality time with a parent is going to benefit your DD enormously.

Nursery funding is available for any child REGARDLESS of income/savings of parents from the term after the child's third birthday. As everyone I know starts school in the September after their 4th birthday, most children will have received this for 3 - 5 terms depending on their birthday. This part I am certain of.

The bit I am more uncertain of is what happens in their Reception year, from Mumsnet I know some DC still go to nursery and access funding, and I have never heard of financial criteria being applied at this stage, but don't know for certain. It is certainly worth establishing this - you could start a separate thread to find someone who would know.

Childcare Tax credits are a different thing and are means tested so possibly this is causing your confusion.

You can appeal for any school at which you have applied but been refused a place - so if you apply for all the schools that you would be willing to accept, you can appeal for a place at any or all of them.

The fact that the PAN [Published Admission Number] is 27 is a huge help to you. The school's/LEA's position will doubtless be that it is full, the classroom is cramped and it cannot admit another child without detriment to the children already there and their education. Crucially for you, though, this would not be an Infant Class Size appeal and so you would be arguing on the balance of prejudice (ie your child's need for a place outweighing any disadvantage to the school in admitting another pupil) rather than against the much higher threshold of error/unreasonableness.

The main plank of your argument (as I see it) is that your children have been bereaved and, even more than the generality of siblings, need to be at school together. Being at school will help them settle in their new home. The fact that Camden are unable to offer you any other place is certainly something else that you can throw into the mix.

I have spoken to Camden Admissions and have been told that i cannot appeal for a place at Christchurch with them and must do this direct with the school as they have there own criteria and a board of governors and is not run by them. I have already given a letter outlining why i believe she should be given a place but was told that it looks unlikely and i think this is because they once they start they may need to consider it again for someone else.