Thread to share the horrors of secondary transfer

[TheDullWitch]

Oh my lord, 9 open days to attend in the next month. So why does it feel living round here that - unless you have girls or are Catholic ? you have absolutely no choice.

I know the feeling - but we were canny and spread the load! We've written off two in principle; dh did two last year (one of which I work at); we all went to an open day of a third (independent); But it still leaves us two to go to this year, and it's a really busy time of year.

How many people ask for a tour to go round secondary school during the working day? I can't (obviously), but I'd quite like dh to go round our top choices to get a bit of a feel for the place. Is this reasonable?

We have people coming rounf twice a week and will do for the rest of this term, I think.

Parents can also arrange a tour later on, but these are set up, and parents can book in.

If a school will not let you see it on a 'normal' day, I would take it off the list TBH

TDW - we have little choice...unless you are CofE (which we are) AND have been regularly attending church for the past 6 yaers!!!!

our saving grace is that the local comp has a new head and she is supposed to be brill; but it doesn't have a very good reputation.

we have 2 open evevnings and an open moring

Just told last night we have a 1 in 30 chance of getting into the only decent state school in the area.

oh no, next big thing to worry about...

That ratio applies in our home borough too DullWitch (clue, where Jamie Oliver went is NOT considered one of the better state schools in the area, despite a smashing head)
Hideous isn't it

Our primary school recommends scoping out some places during Yr 5, as Roisin suggests

And a new boys academy is "starting" in September. ie it is in temporary buildings until 2008. That really inspires me with confidence about my child's education.

What I dream of is a school full of bright children who all want to learn, but who aren t there because their parents can pay. Oh my God, I m arguing for grammar schools... [faints emoticon]

Ha ha, have to say it's amazing how many people I have known over the years have eaten their words on the topic of selective education come year six in London (and elsewhere too I am sure) and a horrendous reality check.
I grew up in the borough where I now live, unlike most of my parent friends, and I know more than they about the grisly truth
Ship out or pay up round where we live unfortunately
Places at the one really well-regarded secular comp are like gold dust, as are places at the even better Catholic comps. Parental choice my foot.

Bloody Catholics! Bloody girls schools! Bloody sibling policy at good school! (though obv I won t say that when ds2 is school hunting)

i thought you were in - ahem - dulwich? no high performing catholic secondaries in southwark. or lewisham or lambeth for that matter. more's the pity

We've got two goodies in Greenwich bk. One for boys and girls...and one for...girls.

And don t get me started on music and sports scholarships! What so special about playing a violin or kicking a bloody ball. You might as well have gardening and Play Station scholarships.

We have the grammar school system here so will be dealing with that this term and next for DS2. DS1 is already at the nearest grammar school which is a 10 min walk from our house, so, assuming DS2 passes the 11+, we are guaranteed a place on the basis of both existing sibling and distance from school .

The application process has been made a little easier this year with the good local high school no longer being allowed to operate its "first preference only" policy, i.e. they would only offer places to those children who listed that school as their first preference on their application form. Before this practice was outlawed, you had to be 100% sure that your child would pass the 11+ or you risked not getting a place at either the grammar or the good high school. Now at least you can enter your child for the 11+ without that added unnecessary pressure.

Crumbs, I can't believe the problems people have, it's so simple and stress-free here.

Our two main schools (the 3rd is right at the other side of town and no-one from our primary school goes there), are literally next-door to each other - their playing fields actually merge.

There are no catchment areas as such - everyone who lives in the town proper is in the catchment area for both. People from outlying villages are technically assigned to one school, but this only comes into play when schools are heavily over-subscribed, and the village children still have priority over children from other towns.
No catchment area by house prices either - because it's everyone in the house it doesn't matter if you live in a council house or an executive detached home.

Because of where the schools are, right next door to one another, some parents let each child choose and end up with children at both schools.

Both schools are good. One is perceived as better academically - in the top dozen or so comprehensives in the country, and on Ofsted's honours roll of the best of the best etc - but the other is still good. Both have nice atmospheres and strong sport, music etc. I would have been happy with either.

We only put one school down for our eldest, no 2nd, 3rd or 4th choice, because we knew that living in the town meant it was almost impossible for her to be refused a place. For no. 2 we did the same - he had even more chance because of the siblings-first policy. We'll do the same for no. 3.

My sympathies to all of you for whom it's obviously more of a palaver. It just sounds so alien to me.

Sorry, meant to say everyone in the TOWN not house, therefore no house price catchment areas.

DS1 is only in Y4 but already parents are getting twitchy and a couple of children are leaving as the families move out of town.

DH (who is a dyed-in-the-wool state school supporter) is having a few reality checks at the moment. He called me this am from a bus stop in our borough and said that the children wating there would not have increased my (somewhat uncertain) confidence in our local secondary schools.

Slight shock for some parents at DS2's school. With the loss of the first preference only option, the good local high school has now decided not to take children from the local primary schools specifically, but to offer places based on distance between school and home (previously the 3 local primaries - including DS2's - were feeders for the school). I know of a number of parents who, whilst not living locally, registered their children at DS2's school specifically because it was a feeder for the high school. They will now have to take pot luck as to whether they get a place unless they buy a house in the area.

Portonovo where do you live??? I want to live there!

I thank my lucky stars that I ended up living in Scotland, I really do. I just can't see why the perfectly simple "you are in the catchment area therefore you have a place" can be applied up here but not in vast tracts of England. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I recall that Scotland is allocated £1000 more per pupil per year than England?

I have a feeling that's true, janinlondon, and of course there are no university fees in the same way as in England. It all seems so unfair- I know I sound smug but I just don't get why it has to be so complicated.

Tamum maybe its because the population is just so vast here. We have ten times as many pupils, (though of course nowhere near ten times the number of schools!!). I share your bewilderment.

I have friends who live in Kent grammar school land. And I just don t want to see them until all this is over. They ll be so smug and told-you-so because they moved out to a boring commuter town for the bloody schools.

Well I expect they got pretty tired of you being smug about being in uber-desirable and upmarket SE21 all those years DullWitch...