surely there has to be a better way

[notimetoshop]

I understand the thinking behind not giving children at a nursery class priority to reception. Parents who can't manage it wouldn't have a chance at their nearest school etc.... but it seems so cruel to take children there for 3 - 5 months, make friends, have playdates, watch the big children playing in the school playground and then say to them 'sorry kid, we don't want you. Push off now.' (not to mine btw, but friends)
Surely someone has found a more humane way to sort it out?

Good posts Trowelanderror and others.

I think the nursery or the parents or both are rsponsible really.

Of course a situation like you describe, Minthumbug, is not nice; but if there are more nursery spaces than reception spaces, then lots of children were bound not to get in - even without allowing for the inevitable children from nearby who wanted a recpetion place but couldn't do nursery (because of parental working).

I understand MintHumbug - you can't always be sure in advance whether your child will be eligible for a place, but parents need to know that places are allocated by the LA according to particular criteria (I'm speaking generally, you clearly do) and that no amount of working for the PTA or helping in class will change that.

A lot of nonsense and hearsay gets bandied around here (I was told to put my baby's name down for the school, as 'you need to get in early, it's very oversubscribed', as it if were Roedean).

Sorry, not entirely pertinent to the OP, but it makes the sense of resentment even worse for people who don't know how the places are allocated.

It gets even worse here at secondary admissions level.

I think if nursery places guaranteed a place for reception all that would happen is that everyone would apply for nursery bringing the problem forward a year.

We don't send DD1 to a school nursery because we are in that difficult position where we don't know which school we will get. Even our nearest school we are on the boderline for admission. We didn't want to settle her in nursery and then move her. To me if you are worried about the chances of not getting a place this is the logical choice.

A lot of people don't send their children to school nursery for many good reasons. For example if you have to work then school nurseries are a non starter. Why should a child be given a poorer choice of schools just because their parents work? Children often move in and out of areas. School nurseries are very intolerant of children who have toilet accidents.

An ideal solution would be for school nurseries to have wrap around care, but given that many schools do not have proper after school provision for complusory age children, I doult that will happen.

Children adapt and make new friends. Its not the end of the world.

notimetoshop, well said. it really is horribly inhumane. i am faced with this situation at the moment. my ds has been attending the school nursery since last september. he is painfully shy and its taken until now for him to feel comfortable and settle in. we have not been offered any of our school preferences as the school is oversubscribed for the first time this year. we've missed out by a distance of 40 metres and this is despite this being our closest school (our council don't operate a catchment area policy), despite the fact that all our other 3 children attended this school (the eldest is 17, our children have been in regular attendance for the past 13 years!) and my dd is currently in year 6, but as she won't be there in september she no longer counts as a sibling. the school are supporting us and feel it will be detrimental to ds's social skills and well being if he has to move schools, but all this is falling on deaf ears. it is undoubtedly cruel to ask very young children to attend nursery, make close friendships, proudly wear the school uniform and look forward to moving up to the 'big' playground, where they know their siblings have played, to then have that taken away from them, as if they're not as important as their friends. unfair, inhumane, cruel and very medieval. how long before the 'law' starts to allow the admissions criteria and procedure to become more realistic and fair???

Djjc - Check the other thread on which you have posted today. I think you may have grounds for appeal.

thanks prh47bridge, i will look into this regarding the gate. i have brought it up with the admissions department already but they said they had to measure to one point, so chose the main gate. sorry if i sound ranting at the moment. i just feel very stressed and angry! anything i bring up with them at the moment seems to be falling on deaf ears. its very frustrating. thanks for your advice.