Help! Has anyone been left without a primary school?

[lalalonglegs]

There are two primary schools local to us, one is fantastic, the other less so. Obviously we are hoping to get our dd into the fantastic, very over-subscribed one but we went to see the other as well as our back up. But the head there revealed that out of an intake of 30, 23 places next year are likely to go to siblings. This means that dd may not get into either school and all other schools in area have tiny catchments. The local authority promises to get her a place somewhere in borough but this is south London and that could mean a 45-60 min drive at rush hour.

I know I shouldn't be panicking yet but has anyone found themselves without a local school and what did you do? (nb: can't afford/don't want private option.)

This is not what you want to hear I'm sure but - why don't you move somewhere out of London with good schools? I think your situation is pretty universal in London. I think the only thing you can do is list all the other relevant schools in order of preference - then you may be in a better position if you get say your third choice than if you put just two down and then have huge panic. It is very worryingn though - we want to move and I can recite relevant school catchments in my sleep!

Message withdrawn

We're also in S London and due to a bizarre bit of geography the only school within a mile is a over-subscribed CofE one which fills with siblings and church-goers. We went private. In fact all of the 21 primary aged children in our road go to private schools with the exception of 2 siblings, but they already had places at a state school before they moved to this current house.

Do you know which schools your neighbours go to?

Quite a lot of them are in private schools or the over-subscribed one but as that has become more and more successful, it has become harder and harder to get into so we might not be so lucky especially as three children on our road, all living a few metres closer, are applying. Private really isn't an option.

does the local authority have to provide a place somewhere? even if it is potentially miles away? i think it unlikely that you wont get a place anywhere?

apply for these two and another and wait and see. quite often places come up because parents apply for state and private and give up their state places. in our area, they even added another class to cope with demand in the end

No chance of another class being added - buildings too small. Yes, LA does promise a place somewhere in borough but we live at one end and other, during rush hour, is at least 45 mins away.

Possibly I'm worrying a bit too much before event but just wondered what other parents had done in similar situations.

Talk to your neighbours about which schools their children go to.
The local authority allocate places in the following order

1. Looked after children - those who are fostered or adopted
2. SIblings
3. Nearest school to your address via public footpaths (not through parks etc)usually measured by satellite positioning software.

There is another category which kind of comes after looked after children depending on the case. This is called 'social need' and each case is considered by a LA panel on its merits. E.g. to have a social need you need to demonstrate why your child has to attend the school of your choice and that to go anywhere else would be detrimental to your family life and your child's well-being.
Cases that I have dealt with on these lines are situations like - social services involvement in the past or now, a physical disability that the child or the person who would be bringing them to school has, a recent trauma in the family, like a sudden death, divorce, serious illness etc. you are a teacher at one local school and you don't want your child attending that same school for emotional and professional reasons. You need to have 2 letters from other professionals to back up your case that must be sent with the application form.
The LA deal with all applications up until 1st October after your child has started reception class, then it is handed back to the schools themselves.
A little tip (from an insider) is to get to know the head/deputy of the school you want your child to go to - that way they will remember your child if a place becomes available after 1st October, (although strictly speaking schools also follow the LA admissions procedures)
It is a waiting game I am afraid.
Hope this helps

Are either of these schools very close to you?

Don't panic - often places come up in over-subscribed schools after the allocation of places, even within the first week of term. Especialy where ther is a high mobility in the population, people apply to a school and then move elsewhere - often without telling the school - they just don't show up! In DS's one-class entry school 4 children left during the first year, so places often become available in Yr 1 or 2.
But rather than leaving it to a lottery of whatever places are left, can you also apply to schools which are still close, or else easier to get to than one at the opposite end of the borough?

Scoggins - I think 'looked after' refers to being in local authority care rather than adopted.

strictly speaking yes it does mean fostered - but i had a case last year where the parents got the child in on appeal because she was adopted but they hadn't thought to mention it on the original application form.
Totally agree with you about mobility and children not turning up

Look at which local school you are most likely to get into and put that as your first choice. Check the admissions policy of each school - what scoggins has put is standard for most LEA schools but depending on how they are funded means they can state other criteria. Around here many schools judge distance as the crow flies but I think there is somewhere statind the distance from your home to each school.

See if your LEA operates an equal preference system for allocating you your place - going out now so can't do link but if it does that will improve your chances.

Make sure you have a 3rd option listed.

our lea is effectively cutting out a whole class by shutting one school and restricting intake in others and changing infants and juniors to primary schools. Basically if people do not put down their nearest school as first choice they are risking not getting a place in their near vicinity I do not think anyone has actually made this point to pre-school age parents loud and clear.

Yes - there is an aadopted child in DS's class who got in on adoption grounds - but it is because the circumstances of her adoption left her with needs amounting to SEN, it wasn't the adoption per se.

Very sensible advice but, unfortunately, I can't pretend that I have any special need that would make it vital for my dd to go to these schools and not another. Maybe I could have her fostered?

I think the best thing I can do is apply to the two very local ones, pray we get her into the first choice, and two further away (which we are nowhere near catchment area for _ it is down to about 300m) and wait and see. If LA can't allocate a school within a reasonable distance, then I will just keep her at home for a while until a place comes up.

If you apply for your nearest school and do not get it and they place you at one more than 2 miles away the Lea will have to provide free transport for your dd - see here

I would be tempted to only put the two local ones down and if you do not get in then let the LEA find you a place and get your dd there!

lalalonglegs...if they are very local schools, then you do stand a good chance of getting in, surely? Remember that those 23 siblings will mostly still be local, how many rising 5's can there be in a local area?7 more who are oldest children doesn't sound too daunting!

And if you are in a borough where people worry about secondary schools families with children entering Yr 5 may well be moving elswhere for secondary schools so younger siblings don't end u in the school after all. A couple of places in DS's class became available because older children hit secondary application stage!

Because of quirk of geography the area I live in is considered very family friendly (close to commons, close to transport so parents can get home for bathtime, loads of children's activities) but only these two state schools - tonnes of fee-paying ones.

The school I love is about 100m further away than school I don't like so much but that one is next to large council estate - nothing against social housing - that has a lot of very young children and families on it. Also, my preferred school is a church school (I wanted to avoid this whole debate) so all the non-Catholics in this grid of streets are forced to apply to the school with only seven places - hence problem. I qualify for preferred school because I attend mass regularly but lots of Catholic families have been moving to area because of this school so we may not get dd in there as after siblings, SEN etc, it comes down to distance and we are looking very borderline.

I think I will put down four choices but know that she only has real possibility of getting into the two nearest and that's touch and go.

In London where education is the responsibility of the boroughs, and boroughs are often geographically quite small with boundaries in odd places, its worth knowing that the borough boundary is NOT taken into account for eligibility, so you do have the option of applying to schools in neighbouring boroughs...

I'm worried about the same thing. I though it was just me b/c I'm new here. We are here for 3yrs on DH's work assignment and my DD is due to start reception in Sept '08. We chose where to live b/c it seemed nice and knew good schools were around. We just did not know that you had to live so close to them. What a shock to an outsider .
I don't know where I'm going to get a spot for my DD. I live in SW London. Our closest primary is a very oversuscribed CofE school, but it's not even really that close. It's still about 1.3 km away! The next closest schools are oversuscribed as well. I don't drive either, so I'm not sure what to do. We are stuck in a lease now, so moving is not an option.
Why do we have to wait and worry so long? I've never been so stressed!

me too.
Twickenham
nightmare.

let the stress begin.

One thing i know though is that you don't actually have to deliver them to school until the term AFTER they turn 5. So for us, that is April 2009. So if they send us to a ridiculous school the other side of the borough (a good 1.5 hour round trip in the morning) then i will leave her in her day nursery until then as i have also heard many places become free even in oversubscribed schools in the first term.

For those in Richmond borough, it is also the case that last year was a "peak" year which often happens in a 3 year cycle. So hopefully this year won't be so bad.

Amida - I live in Richmond - it seems to have a very odd dynamic. Unholy bunfight to get into reception, then eases off till even most 'desirable' schools have places in KS2 and everyone seems to have private school places as back-up insurance in case they do not get into a near-ish school.
I was told at an NCT evening ( about 9 years ago, when DS1 a baby) by the LA admissions officer that the irony is parents are completely obsessed with which primary they get into when ALL the Richmond State primaries are fabulous (this is true) and don't even think about he secondares, which are, even the LA admits, dire...

true!
what is KS2?

the thing is i would be happy with any of my 3 closest schools, the ones i could walk to.

however one is catholic and even though we are catholic it is IMPOSSIBLE to get in

the other is CofE and you have to live within 10m to get in unless you have a priest place

and the other one we wouldn't have got in last year based on where we live as we are over 1.7 kms away.

so it is a nightmare, and i don't have a confirmed private school back up place - just on the waiting lists.

i don't want to drive 5 or 6 miles to school - that would take about 45mins each way in the morning.

and yes, for secondary, we will be going private. no doubt. or moving.

HURRAH - it's not just me. At least people believe me about how f*ing difficult it is to get child into a local school. I can only reiterate to the other posters that there really is NO point applying to any of the other schools nearby in or out of borough except the two closest - she simply won't get in on distance grounds (although, yes, I will apply to four just to make it look as if I am playing the game).

I didn't know about not having to send them until five - I'd be tempted to keep mine at home until April 2009 rather than sentence her to hours in the back of a car each week (either mine or LEA provided one). Unfortunately, not in Richmond, in more patchy Wandsworth.

i know - i get so vexed with all the "walk to school" bandwagons because that is all i want to be able to do!

i would be more than happy with any of our local schools. it's just that we live right by the river which cuts our catchment potential in half (if that makes sense) as obviously the schools on the other side of the river may be close as the crow flies but not if you are walking or driving.

Yes, and swimming to school could be considered highly eccentric....