Found a lovely house but it is near a very crap school - too risky?

[AngryFeet]

So we are pulling out on a house today due to some big issues and are trying to find something else. A lovely place has come up which is in a nice area and needs no work doing which would be fantastic. But it is 0.9 miles from a very bad secondary school (really shit, not much hope of it improving as on the other side of it is a bad estate). 1.7 miles away in the other direction is the good secondary we want them to go to and we would still be in the catchment area although nearer the edges of it.

I have no idea how the admissions process works for secondary but I looked online and last year the majority of the kids admitted were on distance and they went as far as 2.5 miles away. DD is in year 3 so a while to go yet. Either way would you move in this situation or not?

I also have a DC in year 3 and it is a very big year - lots of year 3 classes are very oversubscribed. So you might be taking quite a big risk.

That's interesting Dromedary. I work in a school and our yr 3 is huge

OP is that pattern repeated where you are?

I did what you propose, because we could never have afforded the house we wanted near to a better school. We decided that it's not all about the school and that living in a cheaper area but still being able to "do" things with Dc was worth the risk.

DS1 was in a very small year group and did get in to our preferred school, but DS2 has one more year to go at primary and I have to admit, I am nervous.

Yes I think a lot of babies were born in 2004. I remember hearing that at the time. Fuck it is such a nice house too!

You could always call the county and check with them. Find out if the secondary school is usually oversubscribed and also check about the current year 3 size as they must know numbers on roll.

Without knowing the precise rules for your local area I wouldn't want to advise. You've said your lovely house is within catchment for the lovely school, what makes you think it might not be when dd gets to year 7?

Actually are you sure you would be in the catchment area of the good school? Would you not be in the catchment area of the not so good school given that it is nearer (although I know catchment areas are not always based on what is geographically closest). I don't think you can be in the catchment area of two schools. If you are officially in the catchment area of the good school then you would get priority for a place.

We are in exactly the same position here. Looking at the school uniforms around us here, the vast majority go to other schools and not the poor school in catchment.

In fact, so much so, the poor school is now closing due to falling numbers.

It so depends on your own situation / catchment. Could you find out where children in your neighbourhood go? Is it the catchment school or ones further afield? The schools further afield here (both 1.5 - 2 miles away) are supposed to be oversubscribed, but looking at the uniforms, there's a pretty high success rate of getting in!

Worth thinking about this now, even though a lot can happen in a few years. We heard that the nearest school is closing to new admissions with only a few months' notice.

Good luck!

Sorry, I missed the that you are actually in catchment for the good school already ..

I guess the above still applies though.

This year & last year's year 6 are small, year 3 is bigger (but not as big as current reception). So don't rely on current figures if the school is very important to you.

But school's do change - esp outstanding ones you have your eye on can go downhill. And don't reject a school without looking. We bought our house for the house rather than the school. Our local secondary has a dodgy intake but we looked round on a usual school day and really liked it. We put it second choice (after the grammar) & would have been quite happy had ds2 not got the grammar place (see yesterday's results thread). My main concern for ds3 (also year 3) isn't that he doesn't get a grammar place - more that he doesn't have the local school as backup ( eg if it changes).

Also check admissions policies - our LA changed from catchment areas to feeder school at secondary fairly recently.

Yes definitely check admissions criteria. In my area your catchment high school depends in what feeder school your child attends, so even if you don't live on the area that's closest to the secondary school, if your child attends one of the feeder schools this is high up on the admissions criteria - usually after looked after children and children with SENs.

You know, year 3 is a long way off going to secondary school, and both schools could change a lot in 4 years. The crap school will be under a lot of pressure to improve.
I'd choose the house you like, and worry about secondaries nearer the time.
(Easy for me to say though as round here there is no choice of school. Only one in our area).

If the school is crap, is the area itself OK? Not dodgy? Schools change, so I would look into area.

The area the house is in is nice. The secondary is a mile away right in the middle of a rough estate. Yes the school will improve but will never be as good as the other one we like. The other has a catchement area which is shown on a map on the admissions website. They have one feeder school where about 70 or 80 pupils come from a year and they take 240.

Looking at house today but other house may still be on the table as problems can be gotten around we think.

We're in exactly the same position. So many houses we like are in the catchment we don't want. I guess that's partly because you are going to get more for your money if the catchment is dodgy. It's reflected in the house prices at least to some degree.

We've decided not to take the risk and if we have to compromise on the house then so be it.

Where we live, they don't have catchment areas as such, they use 'distance from the school as the crow flies' (after the usual LACEs, Statements, Siblings, and sometimes faith).
The last 3, or 4 years or so to be allocated places, have been low birth rates, so if you look at maps the schools show where children got places from, it will paint a very optomistic picture, however, the birthrate started creeping up again after current Yr6s, so those 'circles' will start to shrink.

what you need to find out, is what happens to a 'catchment' when there are more children than places... do they then take children on distance ?

In herts this year the places mostly went to kids for whom it is their nearest school. There were no places left after that! School guru website can tell you which schools you wld have got and is a guide.

Could you knock price down and put the saved money towards private school?

I would email the LEA and both schools and ask for a map outlining their catchment area and also ask about numbers. Work out which school you want DS to attend and then look at houses within catchment.

Or if your son did end up in rubbish school, you could always put him on the waiting list and move him as soon as a place came up - be it in 6 months or a year.