Roundhay primary school catchments

[FindYourPorpoise]

I’d really appreciate some guidance on primary school places in Roundhay.

We’re planning to move to North Leeds this year and really like Roundhay but I’m a bit confused about the school catchments. A couple of people have told us that generally every house is in the catchment area for one school and that’s the place we’ll get. Is this right?

We have seen houses in the catchment for Talbot but are aware it is oversubscribed and are concerned we won’t get a place and could be allocated somewhere else. Has anyone had experience of this?

DS is 2 will be starting in Sept 2023 so the priority school list for that year isn’t available yet but the places we’re looking at are well within the catchment in the next couple of years.

We’d just like to know how much certainty we will have over a school place when we’re deciding on where to buy.

Have you looked at the Leeds Council website as a starting point? All the information is there. Leeds have recently moved to catchment areas so it’s much easier now to work out which school you will have a higher priority for

Yes, we checked the catchments and the house we are looking at would have priority at Talbot but we also know it is heavily oversubscribed. I can’t find information on number of children in the catchment area who do not get a place in the school so I was wondering how confident we can be he would get in.

Look for catchments for senior school and get safely inside one for Roundhay and then look for a primary close by (Kerr mackie, through school etc) . Talbot may well get you closer to Allerton Grange...

Okay, good point, thank you. We wanted to avoid Kerr Mackie as it has a ‘Requires Improvement’ rating at the moment. Do you know anything about that school?

It doesn’t look like there’s anywhere in the are you can be confident with a good primary and secondary at the moment.

Our LA (also Yorkshire) publish the allocation info every year (so how many got in for catch sibling, catch, out of catch sib, out of catch etc.. can you find something similar? Or ask the council for it?

I used to live in catchment for a heavily over subscribed primary but it was a 3 form entry school & 100% of catchment got in every single year. You’d be incredibly unlucky not too. Things not in your favour maybe are if it’s a small school with a built up catchment, church school that put church attendees top priority, you are right on the edge of catchment & you just hit horribly unlucky with catchment siblings..

Are there other schools in the area you like? We had a top 3 that we loved. All out of catchment. Was really hard to pick between, we just went on distance in the end & got second choice. 1st choice had a mega busy sibling year!

Here, found it for you:

data.gov.uk/dataset/38941264-3187-43b5-ad95-29af150fd15d/primary-school-allocations

Scroll down to see the various previous years data. Find the school & you can see how many kids were admitted under the different priority criteria. Annoyingly they don’t say what ‘priority 1’ is, so you’ll need to find that out! And the bit that says furthest distance admitted is how far away from the school the furthest kid lived.

Amazing, thank you so much! This is all new to us, combined with moving to a different city so we’re a little lost!

Talbot isnt in Roundhay?

The catchments were all rejigged and so previous data won't help much.
Moor Allerton and Gledhow expanded which skewed it all a bit. There are new catchments . Talbot now goes out more towards Street Lane.

The catchments are on Leeds website but then siblings and distance kick in- even within catchment zones. You need to see the 2021 admission actual information.

As the crow flies the schools are all very close to each other which is why they rezoned.

If you are looking at Roundhay then Roundhay is all through and so removes the secondary issue. You don't mention Roundhay St Johns?

A couple of people have told us that generally every house is in the catchment area for one school and that’s the place we’ll get. Is this right?

Just to clarify. No that isn't right.
There are catchment areas but then the admission criteria come in and catchment is 4th (5th after EHCP)

These are the new areas- from 2020 admissions for the city
www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/2020%20Catchment%20Maps%20for%20Primary%20Phase%20Admissions%20Policy.pdf

Aside from faith schools- Leeds schools are:

First: Children with a school named on their Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan
then
Priority 1 is looked after or previously looked after /adopted from overseas
Priority 2 is Children with exceptional social or medical needs that can only be met at a specific school
Priority 3 Children who have a brother or sister attending the school
Priority 4 Children who live in the catchment priority area for the school
Priority 5 – other children, by straight line distance

Also get yourself on the Facebook group as there's a wealth of info and knowledge on there - it's called something like the North Leeds Primary School Crisis group.

@lostlife - yes but the first two criteria rarely has more than a 3/4 children. The first major criteria is siblings in catchment.

Maybe it’s different in Leeds but round me, it’s rare not to get into a school if you live in catchment. That’s kinda the point of having a catchment area. But perhaps with smaller schools in built up city/suburban areas, it’s different.

Roundhay does have a famous "black hole" for primary school places at the moment - don't buy anywhere north of Street Lane or you won't get your kids in somewhere in walking distance. There were attempts about 3-4 years ago to get a new primary school built, but it never materialised and there is still a massive problem. I know three families who have moved house as a result.

Kerr Mackie is fine and improving. In fact, a family I know chose it over Gledhow (their nearest school) and are very happy with it.

I hope things have improved re: Talbot. A few years ago families weren't getting into Talbot even 0.2 miles from the school because 45+ of the 60 places had to be offered to siblings. It was the following year that Gledhow bulged to 3 form intake to try to ease the crisis.

I'm a few years behind, but it was bad and very stressful for some family and friends that lived around the park/Street Lane area. It may have improved a bit now.

[quote HolmeH]@lostlife - yes but the first two criteria rarely has more than a 3/4 children. The first major criteria is siblings in catchment.

Maybe it’s different in Leeds but round me, it’s rare not to get into a school if you live in catchment. That’s kinda the point of having a catchment area. But perhaps with smaller schools in built up city/suburban areas, it’s different.[/quote]
They are big schools-mostly 2-3 form entry.

I think that you would be surprised how many could fall into the first categories at a popular school.

The CLA/adopted/adopted from abroad can be quite significant given the demographic of the area, parental choice and the historic lack of school places. Parents may travel from adjacent local areas to get the best school for their adopted children. Being adopted trumps where you live. In Leeds some of the most affluent areas border some of the most deprived.

EHCP is less common as Leeds due to the funding model and a commitment to mainstream education for pupils with SEND but they also have limited specialist places for an LA of their size. But pupils with SEND without an EHCP may fall into group 2.

The demographic of a school may result in larger than typical families.

The schools are not evenly spread within the area. That is one factor causing admission challenges. A lot of schools are within 5 minutes drive of each other.

This is the most recent article I can find, so not sure if the quest for a new school has died?

www.google.com/amp/s/www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/education/protest-park-roundhay-parents-refuse-give-battle-school-places-continues-589847%3famp

@Nellle

This is the most recent article I can find, so not sure if the quest for a new school has died?

www.google.com/amp/s/www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/education/protest-park-roundhay-parents-refuse-give-battle-school-places-continues-589847%3famp

It had died. The school has been removed from the DfE free schools in pre-opening and moved to the cancelled/withdrawn list.

Just resurrecting this one in the hope someone can give me a steer...

We are looking at a house close to Kerr Mackie. I've heard done good things about the school but the Ofsted report is pretty negative across the board.

Does anyone have children at this school or know someone who does?

Bump

A long time lurker, but have just joined to say please don't discount Kerr Mackie. Yes, the Ofsted wasn't great, but it was quite a while ago. There has been a new head appointed since then. If you join the North Leeds Primary School Action Group on Facebook, you'll find a lot of happy parents of KM children. The other benefit is that if you are near KM, you're more likely to be in the catchment for Roundhay for high school. Good luck!

@Cleopatra05

A long time lurker, but have just joined to say please don't discount Kerr Mackie. Yes, the Ofsted wasn't great, but it was quite a while ago. There has been a new head appointed since then. If you join the North Leeds Primary School Action Group on Facebook, you'll find a lot of happy parents of KM children. The other benefit is that if you are near KM, you're more likely to be in the catchment for Roundhay for high school. Good luck!

Thanks Cleo, I appreciate you taking the time to post!

You're welcome. I do have children at KM, so happy for you to PM if you have any questions.

Hi Can you kindly advise what is your view and children’s experience at Kerr Mackie primary school as we are looking to enrol both our children for Year 1 and 6 for Sept 2022 /23 academic year due to work relocation . Thank you .

Also can someone advise me on whether if my older child is in Roundhay secondary school at Year 7, will my younger child qualify as a sibling entry for the Roundday primary school ? Thank you.

I'm amazed to see this thread going! Our experience of KM has been really positive. My children have settled well and made great friends. Academically, they are progressing well and I have found the staff to be very nurturing. Ofsted were in a couple of weeks ago, so there should be a new report out soon. As for Roundhay, if you have a child already in y7 then the sibling link will stand for the primary school as it is an all-through school. However, I'm not sure if you can use the sibling link if one sibling doesn't already attend.

Hi Cleopatra05,
Thank you very much for sharing your experience and latest update about KM. I have heard / read that KM has been rated as “require improvement” unjustly due to the short time frame that Ofsed allowed KM staff to carried out any improvement in between and so shall look forward to hearing the outcome of the recent Ofsted assessment and would appreciate you sharing any update as and when you have heard / received any news on this.

I also managed to locate KM’s 2019/2020 result (not published in Leeds’ Council yet as they only published up to 2018/19) www.kmps.org.uk/key-information/pupil-outcomes and they seem to be progressing very well above Leeds and National Standard Level and probably better than other Outstanding rated schools. So sounded like KM is really progressing very well academically too. What I am not clear is how the combined score should be calculated compared to previous years.