How could people be made more aware of reception admissions?

[Pyrrah]

Judging by the number of people on MN who turn up having made a balls up of the application process (which will be a fraction of those who have) surely there must be a way of alerting parents and of warning them of the possible issues.

Could the BBC do a party political broadcast type thing once a week from when applications open?

Could CBeebies do a basic guide?

I can see why sending letters out everywhere isn't practical, but it must cost a fortune for councils to sort out the mess each year.

Many people don't send their child to nursery, don't visit libraries etc and so really have no idea of when to apply or how it works - or more importantly the consequences of rejecting an offer or of only listing options they don't stand a hope of getting.

[PoppyT]

No they're all talking about local primary schools & adamant they got in using the school waiting list. One is CofE school so maybe that's partly true.

[PoppyT]

My DD goes to private nursery so won't go to school till she starts reception. I'm going to look at all schools in area then see if they have the supplementary form too but obviously no rush.

[NaturalBaby]

The information is out there, I'm amazed how many parents seem to be totally clueless and looking for someone to blame for not making an informed decision themselves.
I had letters and leaflets in the post, checked the council website a million times, talked to other parents, phoned the council, went to school open days and talked to teachers there....there are so many people who can advise and help before it's too late.

[Pyrrah]

No vaccination letters here at all.

Plus, they have such a nightmare getting the kids to have the MMR that they do the second one 4 weeks later. So in the main there are no pre-school boosters.

A lot of people don't take into account how long the whole application process can take an LA and so presume that school applications are done at the beginning of the summer holidays for a September start.

I only discovered about the primary school nursery places by sheer chance when I went for a meeting that happened to be being held in one of the local school's hall and saw a small poster on their notice board. Just scraped the application deadline.

Someone pointed out the cost of commercials, but given that the BBC is funded through the licence fee, they should be giving time for free in the same way that free space is given to political parties in the run-up to the general election.

The PSA wouldn't need to give masses of detail, just urge parents of children born between x dates to contact the council/look on websites etc. The warnings could then be in the online/booklet stuff.

Very few people know about where to go to check things like last distance offered in previous years either.

[HorryIsUpduffed]

NaturalBaby - that's all things you did, except from letters you received which aren't sent out everywhere. So you are kind of refuting your own argument...

[prh47bridge]

I am old enough to remember when the BBC changed all their AM radio frequencies in 1978 - a time when most people were listening on AM. There was an incessant campaign to raise awareness including adverts in the national and local press, information in the Radio Times (and, I think, other listings magazines), announcements between (and sometimes during) programmes on all BBC radio and tv channels, stickers to put on your radio sent to most (all?) households and so on. You couldn't get away from it! Lots of people complained that the campaign had gone over the top. Nonetheless my recollection is that the BBC received a load of complaints when the change actually happened from people who had managed to miss the campaign completely.

My point is that regardless of how much was spent running a campaign to make people aware there will still be a significant number who miss it completely.

[katgod]

No letters re vaccinations in our area of London. Private nursery had application packs for schools on a table in lobby area but no one said 'you must apply for school'. DD went to school nursery and they did remind us all that nursery place did not equate to reception place and that we had to fill in the form. Very glad they did as could easily have overlooked as felt like she was at school already.
Am actually shocked GPs remind anyone about anything!!!!

[steppemum]

the thing is though, that some people just don't think the rules are as stated. We had loads of information, but every day as we waited for nursery pick up, I found myself repeating the criteria again and again to parents who just didn't get it.

me - no, it doesn't matter if you can't drive
no, it doesn't make any difference who you know
no, it doesn't make any difference if you go to the school nursery - if your mate told you that then they were sadly mistaken. yes they were. Really.
no - if you put only one school it will not improve your chances, you really need to put more than one because otherwise you will risk getting xx school. (said parent, very intelligent, still put 1 school, and she lives in a black spot not close to any school, yet did not get that she needed to put more than one - she was lucky, she got her school, and now thinks it is because she only put one)


I could go on. People just don't get it that the rules are that simple and that inflexible. I think it is the apparent illogical nature of some decisions that leaves them flummoxed, like parents given different school for younger sibling.

[NaturalBaby]

I didn't get any letters for ds2, fortunately he was my 2nd child so I knew the system by that point.
My point was I made an effort to inform myself about what I needed to do to get my dc's into a school I was happy with. Your dc's have to go to school at some point, it's a bit naive to sit back and wait for somebody to tell you what to do and how to do it.
It's the parents/carers responsibility to inform and educate themselves, especially when there is so much information out there - you only have to look and ask.

[NaturalBaby]

(except, of course, not all dc's have to go to school at any point if that's your choice)

[ReallyTired]

In our area there is plenty of information. There were posters at the libary, children's centres/ health visitors/ private day nursery/ school and a letter from the council saying that we had to apply online. There was plenty of information on the council's webstie on how admissions worked.

In real life I don't think I know anyone who failed to understand the admissions process. In my town there are simply not enough primary school places because four primary schools were closed down 5 years ago and we have had a baby boom in 2009.

No amount of advertising is going to get round the fact that LEAs are in a mess that they are not allowed open schools where there is a desperate shortage. Instead we have stupid free schools in areas where there are a surplus of places.

[meglet]

Thinking back the only place I saw a poster was at nursery, I found out everything else on MN and from reading the forms properly.

If an area can give parents the heads up then around the pre-school booster time it wouldn't be a bad idea as it would give parents enough time to get organised. I remember starting to think about schools in the summer term 2010, and made the first phone calls around then but the open days weren't until the autumn for a January 2011 deadline. CBeebies could do some reminders.

[ReallyTired]

The closure of schools five years ago with the land being sold off for housing and baby boom has led to the admissions crisis. You can inform the parents all you like about the admissions process, but its no good as there aren't enough primary school places.

The LEA has their hands tied by the government and cannot open new schools. Seven years ago primary admissions was very easy. The majority of schools were not over subscribed and people could have choice where to send their darling. Unfortunately parental choice is not economic so the number of schools was reduced.

[QOD]

Just ring the school you fancy when you find out you're pregnant, they'll put you in their list....

[Barbeasty]

Lots of people here have mentioned the red book, so how about a page in there that says your child will be due to start school in September 20xx and you should contact your council in October 20xx for details of how to apply.

Our HV talked about applying for schools at DD's 2yr check, which I know we were lucky to still have. They've also mentioned it at clinic, even when I've taken my younger child in.

The children's centre work with the patents they support/ come across. Actually they have a big database with DoB and addresses, so they could do a mail shot.

Billboard campaigns, posters at bus stops, info at every public place- Dr surgeries, hospitals, job centre, CAB, banners on school gates, at parks...

TV and radio ads, a story in the papers- they all love a good "my triplets were sent to 5 different schools, 3000 miles from home" story. Maybe they could run an "I knew nothing about applications" story at the start of applications time.

A leaflet sent to every house. If businesses can afford it, surely the social good can. Put it in with the electoral role form, or as someone else said the annual council tax statement.

Then add an optional section to the forms of "where did you hear about the applications process, tick all that apply". Then target carefully.

[AmandaPayneAteTooMuchChocolate]

With the actual need to engage with the process, I agree that things like indents on Cbeebies and Milkshake would help. Also things like those big plasticised banners outside primary schools. Most people with young children physically pass the outside of school buildings quite often. A big banner saying "If your child turns four before 31 August, you must apply for schools by 15 January. Please contact Worcestshire Council" (or wherever) could be strung out every year in November and left up until the holidays.

I am not sure a mailshot to every household would be cost effective given the tiny percentage of households the information would apply to. The red book probably should have a note, but honestly I've not looked at mine since DD1 was 2.

In terms of busting myths, my authority has a leaflet with all of them (if you put the same school down four times, you stand a better chance, if you put a school first you stand a better chance, they have to give you one of the four schools on your list, etc) which is online with online application and in the pack if you ask for a paper one. Yet I still know intelligent, educated parents (i.e. parents you wouldn't expect to need extra support to understand these leaflets) in my area who have fallen for these myths. I do think standardising the process nationally would help. Then sites like MN or gov.uk could include a basic guide to applications.

[DewDr0p]

I'd have thought that mail shots via child benefit records and child care providers or maybe GP records would catch the majority of parents? (I know not everyone gets cb any more)

There are 2 preschool providers who feed into our primary - one v good at informing parents, the other does nothing - every single year the school gets very late apps from parents with dcs at the latter who didn't have a clue about needing to apply for school ... Lucky for them there is generally a falling roll around here so places not an issue

[Pyrrah]

I think the big plastic banners outside all primary schools from Nov-Jan would be a brilliant idea.

[AmandaPayneAteTooMuchChocolate]

But there is a lot of variation in the application process too. How many schools you get to choose. What the form looks like. Currently (and I know this is changing) when offers are issued and how. How many waiting lists you can join if you don't get your first choice. Whether there is a priority catchment area or not.

I do agree that to assess your chances at a given school you will always need good local information, but for example there could be a standard way of presenting that information so that it was easily accessible. Imagine how much it would help at least the clued up parents if there was a standard table with distance admissions for the last five years, PAN, details of bulge classes in previous years, etc. My authority doesn't even automatically issue distance information for effective catchments - you have to request it.