Applying to schools and top choices - confused, please help!

[Mamabear12]

I am doing research about applying to schools and I have three questions.

1. When you apply to schools, they suggest you apply to a few to ensure you get into one and you select first choice, second choice, third choice etc. My question is, if you select one school third choice, does that lesson your chance to get in, because you were not putting it first choice? Do the schools know you select them as third choice?

1. If the school has a nursery start for age 3, do you re apply for reception start for the next year age 4?

1. I want to send my daughter to a Norwegian school for one year during the nursery start age 3 because my husband is Norwegian and I want to ensure she speaks the language - but after one year, I want her to start reception school age 4 at a Catholic school, which is close to our house. The Norwegian school is a 20 mins drive! The main reason I want her to go for one year is to help with the language. Her father speaks to her in Norwegian, but I feel if she went to nursery for a year, it would stick more with her. I am not a Norwegian speaker (studying though!) so I am not able to constantly speak to her in the language. Would this hurt my chances to get in a school that has an age 3 nursery

start?

1. When applying to schools, is it best to apply as early as possible? How early can you apply? For example, the year before they are due to attend? So if my daughter is born 2012 Feb, She is due to start nursery in Sept 2015? because you can only apply when they will be 3 during the school year and not 2 turning 3?

1. I believe that schools do not know which choice they are, they only allocate places out from the applications they receive. The LA then work out which of your choices you have.
2. If you go to nursery you then reapply for reception even if at the same school.
3. Getting a place at a nursery at a school gives you know preferential advantage when applying for reception, so you should be fine applying for Norwegian nursery and then a different school.
4. You apply for school the academic year before your child starts there, there are slightly different cut off dates depending where you live but as far as I am aware it will be at some point during the Autumn term (but the cut-off can be anywhere from October to December). It makes no difference if you hand your application in on the 1st September, or actually on the cut off date, but if you hand your application in after the cut-off date you won't be put in for a place until all 'on-time' applications have been allocated.

I'm assuming you are in England. Some of these answers would be different if you are in Scotland or Wales.

1. No. Schools are not allowed to prioritise applicants who make the school their first choice.

1. Yes you have to apply again for Reception. And in most cases going to the nursery doesn't guarantee a place in Reception.

1. Check the admission criteria for the school you want. They will be on the school's website. They will also be in a booklet on your local council's website. Some schools give priority to children who attend the attached nursery but the vast majority don't.

1. Your daughter will start Reception in September 2016. You can apply through your local council the previous autumn. Assuming nothing changes the closing date for applications will be 15th January 2016 and you will receive an offer of a place (which may not be for the school you want) on 16th April 2016. These are national dates so apply wherever you live. As long as you apply before the closing date it makes no difference whether you apply early or late. You don't get any priority for getting your application in early.

Oops, didn't realise England all have the same admission dates (we are in Wales where they do differ).

And do make sure that you have a realistic chance of admission to at least one of the schools. Look /ask about previous last distance admitted as a guide. Church admissions often require evidence of baptism (sometimes within a certain timeframe from birth), and regular attendance for some years before application. Ask the RC school about their admission criteria and which was the last group of children admitted - e.g. if the last child admitted was RC, baptised within 6 months and parents attend mass 3x monthly then if you have never set foot in a Catholic church and live a mile away you are unlikely to be offered a place. If the last child admitted lived a mile away and not Catholic, and you live next door and are regular church attending Catholics then your chances are good - but still not guaranteed if lots of siblings with priority.

It is important to put down a nearby realistic choice as it is better to go to a satisfactory/ special measures school nearby than be offered none of your choices and be sent to one miles away which is no better than the nearby one.

Thanks for all your responses :) Two of my choices are very realistic, but still a little nervous as they are difficult to get into and both schools might move location! I live .28 miles away from one school and apparently the furthest student accepted last year was .34. I fully understand that the distance might get even shorter by the time we apply, but at the moment we still have a chance! Also, the school might relocate! The other school is Catholic and we are a member of the Parish that they accept from - we go to mass regularly, live close to the school (within .5 miles) and volunteer at church etc. The third school, which I would love to get in...is a bit more difficult, as we are 1.5 miles away and they accept first choice from a different parish...although my parish did list them as one of the schools anyway....so I assume some kids might have gotten in in the past.

I am a bit worried about talks about the schools moving (Marie D'Orliac and Holy Cross) as this would change distance etc! I guess we still have some time, but still want to research etc. Esp because I grew up in the US, so not familiar with how the system works (and my husband is Norwegian...so he wouldn't know either!).

I will get in touch with the schools to discuss whether or not children who attend nursery have a higher chance of getting in.

Also, one more questions - do they interview the kids prior to accepting them? Not that this is a concern, as my little one is well behaved and a perfect little charmer :) I am just curious.

No interview in state schools, private schools might. For state schools they have strict admission criteria which they must publish, and if you can prove that they did not apply the criteria correctly then you can appeal and you should be given a place if you would have been given a place if they hadn't made the mistake. If there is a place which you qualify for then it is yours.

Worth checking if a nursery place at the RC school gives an advantage for the primary school.

DD has been at a CofE primary in their nursery class, and despite our being total heathens we gained 2 points towards entry criteria, which put us above all distance applications and on a par with church attenders outside the immediate parish.

We didn't want to send DD there for Primary, but it would have made the difference between getting a place or not - and we are only 400m from the school.