The 'nearest school' thing when applying for primary

[Pinchypants]

My DD will be starting school in Sept 2010. Thing is, while we live a couple of miles out of town, DD and her little brother are both at nursery in the centre of town, so my route to her school will be via nursery.

The two schools that are technically nearest our home are in the opposite direction to the nursery run so the round trip will be far longer than the three schools which are a little further down the list of nearest schools to our house, but which I go past on the nursery run anyway.

On the form we have to fill in this autumn, is there any way of communicating this?

All the schools are pretty good in our area, BTW, so I'm not really worried about which one of the six schools within 2 miles DD ends up going to. I would just rather not spend every morning in extra traffic, using up unnecessary fuel and time.

Depending on the form, you'll probably be able to put in your preferences (although not the reasons) so you can just put which school you prefer first.

Bear in mind this is a decision that will have implications when you are no longer going to the nursery (ie once your younger is at school too...)

all that matters at this stage is distance, trust me, they don't care about your personal circumstances. If the schools are oversubscribed I would strongly urge you to put the nearset one top of the list as this gives you a much better chance of getting in if your child has no SN or sibling already at the school.

You think you deserve a place at those schools more than the children who live closer to them

It will depend on two things, neither of which will involve the logistics of your journey.

1. Does your LEA operate an equal preference system, or like most (at primary level anyway), do you put down preferences, so if your first choice school fills, will you lose your second or third choice school to people who put those schools down as their preferred choice?

1. Are the school(s) you would prefer over-subscribed? If so then unless they are your nearest you will not get a place.

If the primary schools you want to put down are over subscribed they will apply selection criteria, which usually include distance from school. So you may not get a place there anyway.

As stated earlier, unless there are special needs involved then personal circumstances don't really come into the allocation process.

Plus, thinking further ahead, it may be better for playdates/friends if your children went to the local school.

Are there any other childcare options in the area? Perhaps a childminder?

All good points. We're talking really small distances - all the schools are incredibly close to us anyway, like 0.1/0.2 of a mile difference between the 2 nearest schools that are in the wrong direction while DS is at nursery for the next three years, and the 3 next on the list that are in the more convenient direction. There is no one truly 'local school' where we are. I can even walk to one school exactly one mile away for pick up with DS in the buggy (he only does mornings at nursery), but couldn't walk to the one that's 0.8 miles away because it's on a fast road with no pavement for some of the journey.

Our CC operates an equal preference system. Haven't actually looked round schools yet anyway, so what in my head are my 3 prefences at the moment for logistical reasons might not end up being top of the list.

This is all terribly head-space consuming, isn't it?!