Catchment area or distance

[Vs123]

Hi,

I am new to the community!! So thanks in advance for replying.
We are staying in maidenhead and DS will be turning 4 soon..so school rush begins. Right now she goes to highfield prep school nursery, but the costs are so much that we are thinking of changing house for a good school
From where we stay lowbrook academy is 0.58 miles.
But we are not in the catchment area.

My question is does shifting out house to a lowbrook catchment area make sense? Will the distance as calculated by rbwm be considered as it is only 0.58..
Do we stand a chance of getting an admission in the school?

Any help on this topic is highly appreciated.

Thanks
Vs

When does he tun 4?

What do the criteria actually say?

If there is a formal catchment (ie designated priority admissions area) then every single child within it will be allocated a place before they even consider non-catchment. And for popular schools, it's possible that there will not be enough places to every catchment child.

If catchment actualyl means "footprint of recent admissions" then distance from the school is all that matters, but obviously the nearer the better, and certainly not further than typical 'last distance admitted'.

First are you Scottish (use of the word stay)?

Second is your child 4 before 1st September? If so you have missed the admissions deadline, so will be a late/in year applicant. That means if there is a place and you are top priority you will be offered it, otherwise you need to go on waiting lists for all schools you are interested in. The LA will have to find you a place but it might not be at any of your preferred schools. Moving will only push you up the waiting list, not ensure you get a place at your preferred school.

As you named the school, I googled it, and it does have a formal catchment. If you move outside it, your DS will be in category 5 and so will only be offered a place if there are vacancies left over after all applicants in 1-4 have been admitted (looked after, siblings, staff, catchment) and then only if you are closer than other applicants (distance is the tie breaker).

If he is 4 before 1 Sept and you need an in-year admission for this September, you'll get it if there is a vacancy, or you will be assigned a place on the waiting list in accordance with e same criteria, though it will be category 6 for wait-list as FAP goes to the top.

If the LA can offer you no place at all, they might activate FAP (Fair Access Protocol) for you, which comples a school to take a pupil over numbers. But the school selected will be the one the LA (in consultation with all local schools) thinks can best cope with an additional pupil, and it won't necessarily be the one of your choice.

Thanks meditrina...actually she is dd..typo error!
She turns 4 in oct so she goes to school next year.
The school is very good and very popular and has quite a crowded catchment.

Is there a place where I can find out last year's admission critierion in terms of distance??

The footprint of the current round might not be published yet. But it should be on the school website or redily available from school (or LA).

Maidenhead Primary allocations for September 2013

But Lowbrook's details are not included, as it is an academy- you will need to contact the school directly to find out their allocation.

Thanks all for replying!! DD turns 4 this year October.
Just a quick question, if we shift to the lowbrook catchment area, can we shift back to our own house(which is .5 mile from the school but out of catchment are) once dd is admitted to the school? Will that be a problem for her continuity at the school??
Thanks

Errr yes that's against the rules. You'll find you place being withdrawn even if you already started at school.

Oh no..we intended renting our current home and moving into the catchment of lowbrook...my question was will we be ever able to shift back in our own home or we better off selling it off and buying a property in the catchment..
I guess did not explain it right!!'

In this part of London may people own a home they don't live in, and rent the house they do, because it is the only way to get on the property ladder. So the local authority takes this into account - if your owned property is a one bedroom flat, and you rent a three bedroom house for example, it is clear that the three bed is your main residence.

This may all be irrelevant to your circumstances of course.

You'd need to actually sell your current house and move permanently. Renting your current house out for a while, renting somewhere else, then moving back is categorically not allowed. I think you did explain it right originally....

If you want to move into the catchment area get your house on the market in the next few months.

Hi all,

Went for a school visit and apparently they did take a pupil from our area this area. The principle said that last year they doubled the admissions due to the council pressure. But this year it is not confirmed how many students they will be admitting.
I found that a bit strange as if they increased there resources for the increase in the number of students why would they go back to less number of students.
Does that happen?? If the school has picked up children from our area last year, will there be a similar pattern this year as well??

Thanks

Yes it does happen. Indeed, it is perfectly normal for an increase in admission number to be for one year only. The school may be able to double the number admitted to Reception for one year but it is very unlikely they have the space to double the number of children at the school, which is what would happen if they doubled the number admitted every year.

my nearest school (less than mile) but not my catchment school is the one all the children in my street go to as they have had a bulge class for the last year. they are not doing it this year and of course all the previous bulge students siblings take priority and no one I know other than people on the same street have got in this year. I got in to catchment school 4 miles away.

Our borough has been persuading two or three primary schools every years for the last few years to take a bulge class. Now they've run out of schools that have the space so they are starting three new bulge schools which will initially be just one reception class each and will expand as the years go by. They are planning to open them in September, but they hadn't been confirmed by the DoE when allocations were made, so they're having to have a second round of applications, from people who weren't happy with their first allocation. It all seems very complicated....

A bulge class, ie an occasional extra class, which will progress up the school is different to adding one at each entry . Maybe a school can find capacity for one extra class but not the 3 or 6 they would end up with if they added each year. In my area they are opening a new school from September as it has been such a problem , with extra hosing beingbuilt in an area with a historic school place issue.

Bulge class could be bad news for you OP as you'll be up against an extra class so likely to be another 10 or so siblings...

Thanks all...looks like shifting our house is the way forward.

Cheers