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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Can any winchester mums please help me with primary school choices?!

13 replies

Mumof3boysunder4 · 17/03/2014 13:56

Hi everyone,
I'm moving to st cross in winchester at the start of May and need to get my son into primary school this sept, eek!! I'm really hoping to get him into st faiths but am worried there won't be space, we will be living in catchment but I'll be making a late application. Can anyone help as to which are the best other local schools for my 2nd and 3rd choices?
Thankyou!

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ratqueen · 17/03/2014 15:08

Olivers Battery would be my second choice, followed by Stanmore, which my friend's kids go to and she is happy with. It is also a feeder for King's and local - you could always go there and go on the waiting list for St Faith's? Appreciate it isn't quite so idyllic! How about a village school? Owslebury is supposed to be a 'hidden gem'... All Saints or St Bedes are the only others that spring to mind (unless you are catholic) but getting across town would be a pain unless you walked or cycled.

ratqueen · 17/03/2014 15:14

Ps NB I don't live in Winch but used to

Original poster

Mumof3boysunder4 · 17/03/2014 20:04

Great thankyou, will go have a look at those 2 for sure x

OP posts:

Lemonsole · 17/03/2014 22:33

There are no bad primary schools in Winchester. It's why so many people flock here. It's fairly safe to say that, unless you are going to be living in St Faiths Rd, that school will be a non-starter until the end of year 2, when a few often go orf to prep school. Stanmore is highly rated, and has an increasingly socially mixed intake. You'd probably struggle to get into All Saints, tbh, but it could be worth a punt.
Oliver's Battery always has space, and has lovely surroundings, but has had a few hiccups management-wise lately.
Don't let raw SATS be your guide: look at progress in relation to pupils' levels on entry, and consider that some of the primary schools have a very, very limited entry in terms of social mix. However, that you are looking at St Faiths suggests that this does not bother you.
The creation of the new through school at Westgate means that there may be space there or at Western come September, but you may need to accept that you won't get much choice, if any, as there is currently huge pressure on primary places here.
You don't need to go to a linked primary to get into Kings, Westgate or Henry Beaufort: catchment area and then distance from school are the priorities, and realistically Kings and Westgate catchments have a long way to shrink before families living in the city centre no longer have a choice.

Lemonsole · 17/03/2014 22:34

You wouldn't have a cat in hells chance of a St Bede place.

VioletGoesVintage · 18/03/2014 11:10

Are you looking at YR entry? If so, I'm afraid I agree you'll have no chance with St Fs. It has a tiny intake and a high proportion of siblings. There are always children in catchment who don't get a place. As a PP suggests, you may get lucky at the end of Y2; I know a couple of people who did - and also someone who got a Y1 place, almost literally by living on the school's doorstep!

Also agree that St B's is a non-runner. It's over-subscribed for YR - within its own catchment - and has long waiting lists.

I don't know about your chances of getting into Stanmore or Oliver's Battery but I do think you'd have a decent chance of a YR place at the Westgate. Westgate is a secondary school - highly rated - that will start to open a primary arm - so just YR - from this September.

Otherwise, you could have a look at some of the village schools. Barton Stacey, Colden Common, Compton etc? I know people who have managed in-year entry into all three of those although I don't know what they're like for YR entry. Best bet, though, is to ring Hampshire's education dept pronto and see if you can get a feel for where might have a vacancy come September.

Original poster

Mumof3boysunder4 · 18/03/2014 13:47

Thanks so much for your replies, I'll get onto the education department today x

OP posts:

kjack · 20/03/2014 06:54

Sorry to jump on the thread but we're moving too and need to apply for sept 2015. Any thoughts on St. Peter's??

Thanks !

VioletGoesVintage · 22/03/2014 00:07

St Peter's - my DH went there!

Seriously, it's popular and well-regarded, with extensive grounds. Time was you'd get in if you even if you lived out of catchment as long as you were Catholic and, way back when, when my DH went, you didn't even need to be Catholic. Not so now. Like the other popular Winch schools, you need to be in catchment and preferably Catholic (practising) as well.

VioletGoesVintage · 22/03/2014 00:08

Sorry for the very poor syntax. A combination of wine and making birthday cakes.....

ratqueen · 23/03/2014 16:07

I'd start going to church as soon as you move... They have a register at the back of the church!

kjack · 23/03/2014 20:30

Great to know.. Thank you! Will get the baptism certificates out!

Lemonsole · 24/03/2014 12:08

You'll also need to check how far away their last place has been recently. Time was when all city-based Catholics got a place; in the last couple of years that has changed, and the catchment seems to have shrunk. Current yr 1s didn't get in from East side of city, for example. Where will you be living?

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