Choosing a school, how do i do it?

[JiggyJiggy]

At the risk of sounding unprepared and 'not bovvered', could anyone please explain to me how I go about choosing, and then applying, to get DS into school.
He is at the moment going to nursery one day a week. He turns 3 in April.
I know the local schools are said to be good, but hard to get into, one RC, one CofE, and others, further away.

1. How do I find out all the schools, and whether they really are good?

1. When does he need to be registered and do I need to do this directly to the school?

1. What's the 'first choice school' thing about, where can I find out about this?

1. Isn't there just one magic overall form to fill out to sort it all out?

It's all complicated and overwhelming. Unlike my little home town, where everyone just went to the one school that was there.

I'm in North London.

Thanks IA

Get a list of schools in the area. Read the ofstead to get a flavour but don't use them to choose. The only way is to visit the ones you are interested in on a normal working day. Talk to everyone there, especially the Head and ask questions.Notice if it is friendly, does the Head know every child's name?(they should do). Are the children working in a purposeful way? Do they cooperate with each other? Is the children's work displayed on the walls? Are the children polite? What is playtime like? I could go on and on-just go and get the feel-do you think your child would fit in?

Church schools might prioritise children of church attenders.

I am up north, but I would say that your first point of call should be your local LEA website. Our local one has all sorts of handy info and links to Ofsted reports. The Ofsted reports are not the be all and end all. Some of it comes down the 'style' of shcool you like - for instance, one of our local schools gets outstanding Ofsted reports but is very big and a little impersonal for my liking.

Up here you fill in one form and it's actually the LEA who tells you the place your child has been allocated. First choice just means that it is your preferred school, but you can also put down others as second or third choices.

My DD2 turns three in May, so is in the same year as your DS. We have already applied for a school nursery place for her, but that has no influence on whether she gets into the main school. I think that the forms for Reception year have to be in just after Christmas 2009 in these parts.

Good luck. I hope this helps - choosing a school can feel a bit overwhelming the first time.

Patsy

Thanks all for your replies.
I guess I have some research to do!

So I'm not too late to get him in then?

Thanks

Just to add, you do need to check their admissions policy and whether or not they are usually oversubscribed. There is usually a catchment area, a policy of admitting siblings and children in care or who have SN statements. So even if LEA asks for 3 choices, if your three choices are oversubscribed and your child doesn't fit the admissions policy then they will allocate a place at the nearest available school even if it is not on your list. It's usually worth chatting to Mums whose children are already at school locally, but ultimately, you just have to visit the school and go by your own gut feeling.

I completely empathise with your confusion. When I had to do this for the first time I was amazed about how much all the other parents seemed to know about it all! This time next year you'll probably be dishing out advice to everyone else!

Thanks chopchop, that's exactly how it seems, everyone else knows all about it.

Right off to the LEA website

Thanks all

Although you get 3 choices, the reality for most people is that their options are the nearest school or the one or two schools in the borough which are undersubscribed. If you go to church you will have more choice.

If you don't go to church and your nearest school happens to be an undersubscribed school you have no choice.

I found all the info on our local council website, including details of how many metres away from a school it was necessary to live in order to gain a place (although obviously this varies from year to year depending on the other applicants).

1.How do I find out all the schools, and whether they really are good?

Your local authority website, under education, will list all the schools, their admission policies and timetable for applications (this varies eg we have to apply in October for the following September, other places it's later in the year). You should also be able to see how many places (PAN) each school has and how many applications it gets

1. When does he need to be registered and do I need to do this directly to the school?

When you have a rough idea of your preferred schools, phone them and ask to be put on the list, to ensure you get sent the correct form(s) Church schools usually have their own form in addition to the LEA one.

1. What's the 'first choice school' thing about, where can I find out about this?

You will be asked to list at least 3 choices of school on the form. I can't explain it, but some LEAs operate a system of 'equal preference' which means you will be considered for all the schools on your list as if they were your first choice.

1. Isn't there just one magic overall form to fill out to sort it all out? Yes,(see above) but some schools also want additional information about religion etc on their own form.

If you go to 'upmystreet' they have a section on schools, on that you can compare school records and find out distances from you.

I have just been to visit a school this morning which had a fantastic reputation for many years. However, when we got there, we were very disappointed with it.

Our cut off date for applications is 14th Jan and I'm waiting to hear back from another school we really need to see today or tomorrow. Surprisingly, the school we were most apprehensive about has turned out to be wonderful and has made its way to the top of our list after today's visit. We have to include today's one though as it covers our home address and most forms advise you to include them. So this next school is going to be used to determine 2nd and 3rd place on the application forms.

I agree, check out Ofsted for guidance, but definately go and visit. We did this back in November when the forms came out and drew up a short list. I don't drive so had to consider distance as well, plus the fact that I will have a 3 month old when DD starts. We then phoned each school and visited them in turn.

You will also need to check the church schools criteria as round here, it is slightly different to that of the non-denominational ones.

But be wary of upmystreet because it can be inaccurate on social data, and often the "nearest" schools it lists are the ones geographically closest, not the catchment.

Crikey, it ain't simple, is it.
At least I have a starting point now
Thanks for all the tips and advice.

you can chose? wow am impressed

Yes, I always thought "choice" was an illusion created by the government.

The only way is too visit Lazylou, schools get bogged down in reputations which are way out of date. My local one had a poor one for years , people who had their children there knew it was good but those who had no contact perceived it as poor-then it got Beacon status and people had to revise their opinion. I know a small village school where all 3 staff changed one summer and yet it had a reputation-ridiculous!!
There is no choice at all, unless a school has spare places-the same goes for secondary.Unfortunately people don't realise it is an illusion until they try it!

Also remember that the vast majority of schools are absolutely fine and your DD is likely to be happy wherever she ends up.

Of our circle of friends (scattered all over the country) I can't think of one family with more than minor gripes about their primary school and some of them have had to use a school they were very unhappy about pre-admission. My DD1 goes to a school at the other side of town which has a pretty poor reputation locally because it is on 'the wrong side of the tracks'. However, we felt that it was the right school for her. It's great and she has been very happy there!

Patsy