School admissions 2016- anyone else biting their fingernails and obsessing.

[MaccaPaccaismyNemesis]

DS will be going to school in September. The school situation here is a bit pressured. The best school is a faith school and a lot of parents start going to church just to get the signature off of the vicar to show they are active church members. DHs family are all church goers and we did get DS baptised and went to church until we moved house and then stopped. We are probably out of the running but have applied anyway. The second school of choice we are out of catchment so probably not going to get in as it's very popular. The third school is rated 'needs improvement' and is generally seen as improving and doing well. The recent ofsted results haven't been published but the school have had good feedback. It's our catchment school and we are likely to get a place.

The thing is, I've stupidly set my heart on the faith school. I went there, so did my sisters and we loved it there.

Anyone else in the same or similar situation? I'm preparing myself for disappointment but still, I know what we want and I'm crap at hiding it!

Sorry if that was a bit long

Oh, it was ages ago. Not cheeky at all. It still has an excellent reputation and I liked it when I visited it a few months ago.

Good morning, am I the only one feeling like this then?!

My children have been to 4 different primary schools (between them)

And the things that were good and bad about the schools were not at all obvious before they started.

And all of them had good and bad points.

So, honestly, it almost certainly doesn't matter what school your DC goes to.

It's not so much worry for me but I do want to know where DD will be going so I can talk to her in definite terms, know who she will go with from pre-school and sort my work and childcare arrangements.

I think I'm fairly safe - in catchment, signed off by priest (genuine mass attenders!) and sibling at the school but even so, I'd like it done and dusted.

Not just me then and I think I am fairly safe!

Got the letter in September. Applied first weekend - put 3 choices down knowing that it is likely DS would get a place (he goes to the nursery attached although that is not a guarantee)! Forgot about it!

January 15th came. Two days later I started worrying that maybe my application didn't go through! I am sure DH got an email to say it had been received but he can't find it.

Rumours are that the 50 place school has only got about 35 applicants so even if I stuffed it up, he'd get a place.

Doesn't stop me worrying though!

It's the worry, and things like I want to start buying uniform because it's so expensive. Also, would quite like to get DS (and us!) prepared.

Oh, I did the same 8reasons, I rang the admissions to check it had been received 2 days before the deadline as I had a moment of complete panic that I'd not pressed send!

8 - I'd phone the lea and check!! Others have no idea on applications... Uniform is cheap as chips really - a while set is about £10 in Asda...

This is the clear advantage of the catchment school as the uniform is cheap and readily available. The faith school has posh jumpers and silly rules. It looks nice but jeez Louise it ain't cheap!

Tell me about it! Logo'd bloody everything! Even the skirts are a particular type. The only thing I have free rein on is shirts. Big whoop!

We chose the wrong primary school for our daughter - it went from good to requires improvement (and that wasn't just OFSTED crap - parents agreed it was fully justified) and I always felt guilty about it. But you know, she was happy there, had lovely friends and now in secondary (outstanding comp)her academic performance has soared. Also, there'll always be an element of luck. You can send your DC to the best school in the world and they might be unhappy because they have a falling out with friends or can't get on with a particular teacher.
Of course, I'm not suggesting people don't give serious thought to their school choices -just don't beat yourself up about it too much.

This was the case at our school!

New school arose from an amalgamation of juniors and infants. We had a lot of behavioural issues, a head teacher who was weak in a lot of areas, families left and we were 'fighting' against the good reputation of two nearby schools. Our numbers decreased rapidly within 3 years from 400 to 256 - lots of redundancies.

Now, 3 head teachers down the line, we are considered a 'good' school. We are now nearly full (except our Y5 & Y6 year groups but they are the 'last' of the low year groups that was the result of the 'bad years') and we are now 'over-subscribed' for YR every year.

The two schools that we were fighting against have actually worsened and OFSTED has rated one as RI for the second time and is in dire straits!

Also my local village school where I live went from Outstanding to Serious Weaknesses in just 3 years! The latter being, everyone suspects, political as it was graded 'Good' 18 months later!

So it goes to show; a good school may not always be a good school by the time your child reaches the latter years of Primary School. Anything can happen but also in my experience, a 'bad' school doesn't necessarily offer 'bad' teaching.