Offers Day 1st March 2012

[gazzalw]

Anyone else feeling like we do about the impending Offers Day?

Not at all a foregone conclusion that DS will get into any of first five choices (all selective, two 11+ passes, one 11+ result due this coming week) so rather up in the air.... Sixth choice is okayish but DS has talked it down to the point that he is now desperately hoping it's not his one and only choice! Otherwise DS is being quite mature about considering that he could end up at any of the schools and is already thinking about which friends from primary school he is likely to stay in touch with etc.....

It all feels a bit as if life is on hold till 1st March.....

[YummyHoney]

Gosh - I hope you're joking... not only that people's dreams rest in-part with someone as.......... someone like you, but also that you want to run training courses.

If you're not joking, I would say no mileage whatsoever.

[Halleb36]

YummyHoney thank you for your response. I wasn't joking. My experience is that all those attending appeal panel hearings are trained with the execption of the one person who stands to lose the most!

[gazzalw]

NotVacant and SchoolNightmare I cannot believe what stress you must be going through. And how are the DCs? Is there any possibility of light at the end of the tunnel? It is diabolical that this type of thing can happen in one of the largest cities in the world in the 21st Century. It is where this whole issue of having choice is so misleading isn't it....

I hope that over the course of the weekend you can begin to spread your nets and formulate other plans (let's hope your Borough Education Departments or primary school Heads are helpful - they really need some type of specialist to help you don't they?) - it may be that there's an unknown-to-you at the moment school in another Borough that ticks more of the boxes than you could imagine possible. Oh dear, oh dear and thoughts are with you both and your families

[Bethnella]

Halleb36 that sounds amazing, I am about to go through the appeals procedure and feel a little like David!!! I think a training course, or any GOOD advice from an experienced insider couldn't be anything but beneficial. If you don't mind I would like to PM you outlining my reasons behind the appeal to see if you think I should go for it!

[Halleb36]

Hello Bethnella. I am happy for you to message me privately. As I am new to the site is it safe to presume that I just need to reply with my personal email address...?

[Bethnella]

I have sent you a message, thanks so much

[Halleb36]

Hello Bethnella - please email me at:[email protected]

[busymummy23]

Hi all - congratulations to all on the thread who got their chosen school and to those who didn't, I hope you get good news very soon.

My DS didn't get his first choice but we still got a place at another excellent school. I am still considering appealing for our first choice school as we do have appeal grounds - nothing to lose and everything to gain. For those of you who have experience with appeals, do you think it is worth hiring someone to represent my case or would I be better doing it myself?

[maxabella]

hi busymummy23, me personally would do it mysef, especially if you know you have good grounds to appeal, i appealed last year for my sons secondary school place he was 68th on the waiting list, when i was at my appeal i was told that my son was first on the waiting list, the preparation for the appeal writing a statement etc was stressful but was worth the 3 month preparation, sometimes it can be a chance you take if you hire a representive and you loose your case then what? but if you carefully plan it yourself you dont have to fork out loads of money, either way what ever you choose to do good luck

[busymummy23]

Thanks Maxabella and well done for winning your appeal. Have been looking on line at cost of hiring someone - people are definitely getting rich on the back of our heartache! £1500 + for appeal attendance. I'm going to take your advice and prepare it myself - if they get snot and tears on the day then so be it - at least its real and genuine! Hope your son is enjoying his new school

[JugglingWithTangentialOranges]

I think appealing can be more heartache for nothing though - just from looking at the stats on how hard it is to get a positive result from them. Having said that I do know someone who was offered a place after they appealed - I'm not sure they technically won the appeal though. It's all very complicated sometimes isn't it ? I feel for anyone who's not happy with places offered. But I think deciding whether to appeal or not is an important decision in itself. For some it may not be worth the extra stress - possibly depends how strong a case you feel you have.

[busymummy23]

yes JugglingWithTangentialOranges I agree - successful appeal stats - v depressng however I am trying to remain hopeful as it would appear the school have placed my DS in the wrong category - he has been counted as a non sibling but his sister will be on roll at the time of entry in September. Who knows it may not even get to appeal. Fingers and toes tightly crossed x

[JugglingWithTangentialOranges]

Ooh, that does sound a bit hopeful then busydoesn't it ? Good luck to you all x

[gazzalw]

Hi just wondering how everyone is getting on just over a week down the line from D-Day? Any resolutions, changes of heart. Hopefully some positive news for some of you who were left in the position of having no offers for your DCs....

[gazzalw]

Oh dear SchoolsNightmare..... :-(. Can only imagine what your poor DS must be going through as it seems to be the main Year 6 topic of conversation at the moment.....

I guess, you probably need to wait until the end of this month before you are really likely to hear very much at all - but then you might find you get bombarded (hopefully)! The closing date for acceptance/rejections isn't till 16th is it? Although I would have thought most parents would have returned/done theirs by now, there will always be some who leave things till the last moment. So, I guess any information gleaned now wouldn't necessarily give you the complete picture..... However, by the end of the month I would have thought that Boroughs will have communicated with the schools and at that point (but before the schools all break up for Easter hols!) it would be more than appropriate to contact the schools directly for updates on further offers provision or position on waiting lists.

I feel your pain as we were in a similar position with DS's primary school allocation. We did get our preferred choice in the end but only during summer hols and once we had fully accepted that it wasn't going to happen - so it is possible for the cloud to have more than a silver lining.....

Well done for being so on the ball with your appeal! Nothing ventured nothing gained and at least it keeps you in the loop with things.

I reckon with the amount of expertise amongst parents on Mumsnet we could set up a very lucrative schools' admissions consultancy! (And I'm only half-joking!)

[gazzalw]

Well we are keeping our fingers crossed for you and although it is not at all an easy time for you and your family, I feel sure that there will be a positive outcome for your DS. And it might even be better than the one(s) you originally hoped for!

Hopefully the imminent arrival of the school Easter hols (which happily coincides with a reasonable time-frame for you getting some more positive information from the Council/schools...) will mean that your DS's friends draw a line under secondary school conversation (at least temporarily) as the dreaded KS2 SATS approach ....

One thing I can say is that with the selective schools as many of the six preferences we listed for DS, it was not too difficult to fill up the CAF, but with the system changing for next year's cohort (so that the children will know whether they are eligible to apply for grammar school places before the 31st October CAF submission deadline), it will be an awful lot harder (if one's DCs don't pass the 11+ exams) to find six schools that are realistic options....HMMMMM

[gazzalw]

Hi, SchoolsNightmare, just wondering how the land is lying for you now? I guess you still might not officially hear anything until the 2nd April (which seems to be the date for second round offers in London at least) but maybe you have heard positive things from realistic/unrealistic options...here's hoping!

[EllaPella]

Not sure if anyone is following this thread now but a word of advice. My son was offered a place at Kingston Grammar School and we accepted and paid a £750 deposit. The terms said that the deposit was refundable if the place could be filled if we pulled out. Due to our circumstance we did pull out and now the school is saying that they still have spaces for Sept 12. Interesting - as you are completely led to believe that the school is over subscribed and in much demand.....? Any thoughts?