school reccomendations in Holland Park

[tafi]

my family and i are moving to holland park and it's been a bit unexpected.My girls are 6 and 4 and I was hoping to find them a good state school in or around the area for a transfer for September.I'm aware of the time constraints of the situation and the current state of state schools but i'm willing to give it a try. If all else fails then it will have to be for next year, however it would be great if anyone could recommend some good ones. Also, do church schools take non-denominational children?

Can't help you with Holland Park recommendations, but I can help with the faith schools question.

There are 2 types of faith school Voluntary Aided (VA) who handle their own admissions & Voluntary Controlled (VC) where the LA handle the admissions

The VC ones will use the same admissions criteria as the LA community schools, whereas the VA ones set their own criteria which usually gives priority to those who practice the religion in question.

So for VC schools it makes no difference what religion the children/parents are.

For VA schools if the school is oversubcribed then you aren't likley to get a place, but if the school is undersubscribed then they have to admit all children who apply up to their PAN (published admissions number) regardless of religion.

I hope that helps?

The state primary schools in Kensington are generally good. Look on Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea website and also that of London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (for schools in the Shepherds Bush area) to see which schools are close. You may need to ring up the admissions department at the council to discuss admission as I believe the schools have already allocated places for September.

I can definitely recommend Fox Primary school just behind Notting Hill Gate. If your elder child gets in the younger should be guaranteed a place as they have sibling priority. If there are no places - stay on the waiting list - a lot of kids leave as they are visitors from overseas or to go to private preps at age 7 or 8.

As far as I am aware all the church schools in the borough are oversubscribed and will take people with a commitment to the church as a priority. St Barnabas and St Philips and St Mary Abbotts (where Cameron's daughter goes) are meant to be good but I have no personal experience of them.