decision on 1st March? Anyone want to sit and sweat it out with me?

[MsIngaFewmarbles]

Urgh I am starting to feel queasy. I just want to know now. PFB (dd1) doesn't care which school she gets into and dh is being irritatingly pragmatic.

Is anyone else twitching nervously?

Good Luck everyone for Friday (Fingers Crossed for all of you).
I was in this situation last year for DS1 and will be again in the same boat for DS2 next year

It seems to me that even in London it usually works out that the DCs are allocated the schools that turn out to be the right ones for them. I cannot think of one member of DS's primary school class who is not happy with the secondary school they are now at, even though not all got their first choices.

I hadn't even realised that the secondary school allocations came out on 1st March until I read this thread. I'd assumed it was the same as the primary admissions one (in April). Probably useful I found out or I might have forgotten to accept the place or something equally stupid.

From this you will deduce that I am not at all worried about it all. I think it's much less tense up here generally, partly because we have a feeder school system and partly because it just isn't as crazy and competitive as it sounds in London. DS1 will be going into Y9 at our local high school (3 tier system). There is absolutely no way that he won't get a place (well, unless the school burns down/blows up) due to the feeder system. Even without the feeder system, there is no way that there are 360 children who are siblings or live closer to the school than we do. I still put down 3 choices out of the 4 available, just in case.

I'm more interested in DS2's reception allocation, but not at all worried. It's unlikely that we won't get our 1st choice, and if we didn't choice 3 is always undersubscribed (and I'd be perfectly happy with it). All our choices are within walking distance (for a just turned 4 year old) of our house and they all feed into middle schools and then to the same high school.

Is it Friday yet? I have tried to find out when our LEA does the emails/ online thingy, but to no avail. Only news from other people from other years is 8am ish, which smacks of someone coming into the office, logging on and pressing a button to send emails!

Havign said that, I will be there at 00:01 checking on the sly! We are not in the catchment for first choice school, but it is a tiny area and we are on the outskirts. Second choice is not her choice as 97% of all her school will have applied to her first choice school. Both schools are good in a middle class northern area, but first choice is not good at dealing with the less able pupisl and the 2nd choice school is not good at dealing with the more able pupils.

I really feel for those of you in the London and outlying areas as it sounds a nightmare.

Offers virtual gin round to all those genuinely worried.

Yes. It must be awful to have to go through such anxiety in some parts of England. When I was living in Scotland, I never really understood what all the fuss was about school admissions every year in the news (as you just amble up to your catchment school in January and apply for a place/fill in the form at some point in P7 to transfer to your catchment secondary). It's a completely insane system.

Don't all come north though. Then things will be insane up here too.

Arbitrary, I think that's what happened in my patch, loads and loads of Londoners arrived

One more sleep to go. I don't mind which of the 3 it is, I just want to know now.

Mad scramble here for password and login (london). Up to this morning have not 'needed' this thread although knew it was here. 2nd choice school gives us all the heebies - new academy, feels really stressy and sterile. DD being quite chilled whatever will be, will be.

'School schmool.' Said a friend of mine. It's not everything but a school the whole family feels good about is a wonderful thing, innit?

I am gibbering.

More coffee.

Ignore work deadline.

More gibbering.

Possibly hoovering with Ipod on LOUD to DROWN OUT GIBBERING.

Trying to write an assignment for uni, failing miserably. Went out for coffee with a friend just now and bored her rigid with it, poor woman doesn't even have children and she patiently listened to my whinging on

DH is home tonight after leaving for work on Monday at 5am, I love him but I don't care, he's coming home to a DW who is distracted and crabby.

Good luck to all those waiting. I was last year and it was horrible. Email came late afternoon iirc, if that helps anyone.

A word to the wise though. Our DS said he was fine about whichever school he got before the email came. He didn't get the school he wanted which was the one his friends got. We (parents) were very upset, but didn't show it. He said it was fine, he'd be ok, started talking about the new school etc. We bigged up the school he was allocated to, and set about appealing. We told him that we were appeaing, but in the same breath, told him there was little chance he would get his first choice school, so to assume he was going to the other one.

Fast forward several stressful months of being in pre-appeal limbo land. It is not fun btw (appealing, that is), get support on here if you do end up going down that route. We win the appeal. DS tells us that he had been really sad and stressed about not getting his first choice school. He hadn't told us because he didn't want us to be worried for him. I wish I had known though, because he went through months of uncertainty (as we did), but felt he couldn't talk to us about it. It must have been a horrid time for him - it felt bad enough for us!

Moral of the story - don't necessarily take what your child says at face value. Even at 11, your children might be trying to protect your feelings! Bless him, to this day I am still not sure why he did it. I thought we did such a good job of being blase and happy about the second choice school.

Anyhoo, good luck. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, you will at least know!

MsInga - me too! Will stay up til midnight, but we're in London, not Kent - so maybe a waste of time (and cortisol)?
Fingernails? What fingernails? More like bloody stumps.
ThreeBeeOneGee - just double checked my login and password. WHEW.

TiggyTape - the school knows? I'll be able to winkle it out of them - just by catching the head's eye...

Just checked our council website. Emails will be sent in batches from 9am and we should receive them by midnight tomorrow. I am sad enough that I will still check at midnight just in case.

I asked our head last night at a meeting about camp. He will be sent a list at the end of the school day

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, that feels better.

This morning DS showed me what his celebration dance/scream will be when he gets his first choice.

He has already said he will be devastated if he doesn't get the one we have put down as first choice.

Arrgh, the nerves!

IIRC emails were sent out at 6am last year. Will be checking at midnight tonight, though.

2 years ago, our local authority sent them out at 8am... I've still got the email :)

Pan-London website says emails will be sent out in the evening of 1st March and to not log-in until email is received.

Definition of evening please!!

Not as sweaty as last year with DS1 - DS2 should get in as sibling but nothing is guaranteed is it these days !

Ours definitely go out at 00.00 overnight tonight!

How do you know, Manky?

I wish everything was standard across the UK.

I know someone who works in the IT department, and she mentioned in passing that one of her other colleagues was setting up the links to the server and the prompts to send out the emails.

They are not involved in the allocation process at all, just the delivery of the information!

Our admissions website says we will find out before 12 noon tomorrow. They must be covering themselves....surely they'll come before that.

They know already....they must have known for months! I can't believe somebody somewhere has my son's name on a list. Somebody has that KNOWLEDGE and is torturing us like this! Arggh!

My LA says the admissions system will be updated 'from midnight' tonight and we can login to find out from that, emails are sent in the morning. I'll be on here at 00.01, you can be sure.

Tell them we want the information at 0:00!