Moved from abroad, no school offer, 14-yo sitting at home

[LieutenantAmerica]

My wife and I have one 14-year-old son, and got a job offer in London in February, requiring a move from Berlin. We immediately began looking at state schools but were told we couldn't apply without our London address and council tax. We weren't due to arrive until August 1, but settled on East Dulwich, paying for an empty house and paying council tax for two months starting in June, before Aug 1 move-in, so we could at least get applications in to schools we liked.

We applied 1) Kingsdale and 2) Charter. We visited Kingsdale three times, including with my son, and he took the banding test. We were told he was on place 14 for Kingsdale on the list a while later. Nothing from Charter.

Having actually moved in in August, we were told nothing else until we frantically began calling schools soon before the year began. Charter hasn't actually received the application we put in through Southwark. Kingsdale were pitying on the phone, saying they don't expect much movement in year 10.

And Southwark has offered... nothing. In several conversations they said it takes weeks to see where there are vacancies, and that there's a meeting on September 22nd to sort the vacancies out.

This is three weeks into the year. Our son is scatterbrained and has trouble with organisation, but is intelligent; he needs care and attention to do decently. Instead he's falling behind already, in an important school year. The man on the phone actually told us to engage him in the curriculum at home--only we have no curriculum and are not qualified to teach Year 10 maths and science, especially as my wife is caring for our 3yo and I'm working.

When are they going to offer us a place? Is it going to be some "Requires Improvement" school halfway across town? Can this really be the system? We're at wits' end.

(No, we can't go independent, unless there's one that costs a fraction of the 18,000/year or so we've seen around us. And we can't go religious; we can't even fake it, on principle and in practice.)

Denomination- faith- schools have to have spaces available to all including those not pretax tiding the faith, however you should be aware that faith may and often does have a stronger lead in the school than one which isn't faith led. As soon as you're offered a place you have no right to another if you don't like the offer...

Distance is most relevant at the standard application points, so aged 4 for Reception , 11 for secondary and , where applicable, junior and middle school transfer in between. For in-year applications you are reliant on where places are available. Distance is also often used in determining place on a waiting list, but criteria such as sibling links or religion may come higher. If the Catholic school has contacted you it may be your nearest available with space, they will probably have a proportion of non religious (or "community" ) places (our local one is about 10% community). The LA of your area is responsible for finding a place, which might mean they go out of borough to neighbouring boroughs if theirs are full. Lots of secondary kids travel around especially in high density populated or rural areas.

First ensured you are on thee waiting Lucy of every school you would consider within a 50/60 minute journey time. There must be loads of schools within that radius that aren't in special measure
Second contact Southwark daily to see if they have found him a place. However be aware once they have offered a place they have fulfilled there obligation. If you turn it down they don't have to offer another.
Third consider the German school in Ham. A long schlep but fees a lot less than private. £6k + and Bursary possibility.
Popular schools are popular. If a school is full its full but you can appeal

Distance is really only an issue at key admissions ages or to rank you on a waiting list. It won't get you a place at a nearest school if one doesn't exist.

If it turns out that there are no spaces at all within around 75 mins travelling, the council can force a school to take another pupil, but that will be at a school they think most capable of coping, not necessarily a school
On your list.

St Thomas the Apostle looks like a good school. Worth looking at and also starting a new thread to see if there is any local feedback

LtAmerica: I can see why you find this confusing, soI will make an attempt at explaining it from the beginning.

Every school has a published Admissions Criteria in order of priority, usually Looked After Children (i.e in LA Care, e.g fostered), SEN or medical need, siblings, and then proximity to school. Some schools have as a variance faith or lottery, or some, such as Graveney in Wandsworth, an academically selective criteria.

Most people apply under the proximity / distance criteria for admission to Yr 7, and this is why most people don't travel far to school - the only schools in which they can get a place are those closest to home, because they are too far down the distance criteria for faraway schools.

Waiting lists are maintained according to how you meet the criteria, so the people ahead of you on the list for Charter will meet a higher priority criteria, or live nearer.

Beyond Yr 7 it is a case of a place coming up because someone has left. London has a highly mobile population so places do come up, and it may be that people on the waiting list have decided to leave their child settled in the school they are at, and so places are awarded to the person who happens to meet the criteria at the right time, and often these are from people who live further away. If a place comes up in a faith school it may be that all the 'faith' applicants have been admitted or are happy in another faith school, so they move further down their criteria and offer the place to a non-faith applicant who needs a place.

I am not sure whether an LA can 'pull rank' and have first claim on places that become available for a child who has no place at all. I suspect not, and that they find you a place in an undersubscribed school.

You can go on as many waiting lists as you like, and while Southwark will be finding you a vacancy in a school, any school, you can approach the schools and put yourself on the list. You live in Southwark, so they have an obligation to find you a place, but you can also place yourself on the lists for Lewisham, Croydon, Lambeth etc.

Southwark have a duty to find you place and make you one offer. By finding you a school place they have met their legal obligation. If you accept that offer and start the school, that does not disadvantage you in remaining on waiting lists for schools you like better. It just means that the LA have no obligation to keep looking for you. Just make sure that you are on the lists for each and every school you are interested in.

Yes you can go on as many waiting lists as you like as others say, and you can push harder for your son if he is not in a school yet. There are other kids in schools on waiting lists but if they are in a school and have started they are less likely to move (because they settle into their current school/routine and maybe they find it harder to leave, just thinking aloud here). The longer you can wait, I think you will be surprised and will get a place sooner or later.

Blu has summed it up

Most of the year 10 places in any given school will be taken by the children who are already there and moving up from year 9.

So really there are a tiny number of free school places in the most popular schools in year 10 - it only happens if a child leaves the school for whatever reason.

But rest assured, by strategically paying more for your rent you will have stepped right over other children on the Charter waiting list living further away from the school than you.

Good effort op.

And the children they take are the ones the normal schools want shot of! the children who have messed up really badly in one way or anther, got involved in gang crime, drugs, etc, or just not been attending.

Charis that is simply not true, why do you insist on chatting nonsense and misinformation?

Why do you insist in believing that nothing outside of your own experience exists. I am informing the OP of a situation they need to be aware of. Just because you are in ignorance of this doesn't mean everyone else is.

I have to say year 10 is a very awkward time to move into the English school system , most schools will have either started or be half way through some of the GCSE syllabuses .In 20 months your ds will be sitting public exams and not all schools ( possibly better in London) will be that keen on taking someone .

I think if you haven't already you need to do some serious research on the school system here , so that you understand just what he will be doing .He will need to choose options as soon as he arrives , so you need check subject combinations etc at each school.

I think you should phone round all the schools that might appeal and ask to speak to the school secretary.

14 years old is difficult. Councils work slowly. However at the same time a school will not want to be carrying a vacancy as they won't want to have to accept some form of "managed move" from a disruptive pupil in another school.

Sooooo a conversation which went along the lines of you have a nice child who would make a good pupil (eg will not disrupt their attendence records, take up lots of senior management time, and who will sit and pass exams) looking for a school place because of a family move. Is X school likely to have a vacancy. Is there any chance of it going to your child (is is there already an established wait list.) If so what next? Its a while ago but I used to work for a council and saw how good schools would work quite hard to ensure that they had a majority of purposeful students, though obviously staying within the rules. Good schools may well have had one or two who did not return after the summer break. Inter-borough communication is not always great.

Start with TfLs journey planner (its all about journey time, freqquency and safety). Ask neighbours etc, what schools local children go to. Wandsworth often has better schools than Southwark. Of you might find that schools like Pimlico Academy are within reach.

OP, I would also shout about this very loudly at work. Are you on an expat contract? Finding a school place or at least help with finding a school place has to be part of the package, especially when you move to the UK with its bonkers system!

I have to say year 10 is a very awkward time to move into the English school system , most schools will have either started or be half way through some of the GCSE syllabuses.

I think Hilda's made a really important point here - as well as finding a school with vacancies, you need to try and find one that hasn't begun the GCSE syllabus halfway through year 9. If they have, your ds is going to be playing catch-up in a big way. And if he's already coming from a different educational system this is the last thing you need.

I also agree with all the PPs who are telling you that you need to get onto as many schools as possible, first thing Monday morning.

With regards to travelling to school, I don't live in London, and the secondary schools locally aren't particularly bulging at the seams. But my dc all leave the house before 7:30 to get to school by 8:40 - which is considered normal. They do get tired, but... well, it's the norm for them and their friends, so they just seem to live with it.

OP why don't you talk to your MP? Even if he can't immediately help, he can bring the issue up in a larger context in parliament (though its not as if this is a new issue). The more MPs get grief from their constituents about an issue, the more likely it is something will be done in the long term at least.

don't discount home schooling even if you are not qualified. There is plenty of assistance out there and also it is possible to engage tutors - working inside of school hours will not be as busy as after school so you may find someone to cover those elements for you during the day. In terms of syllabuses they are available - search for them, use the LA to point you in the right direction as they know the local resources. Looking after a 3 yo is no excuse in my book for neglecting this. You have two children that need attention at the moment. Have you considered private school? There may be bursaries etc available

There are plenty of options you just need to be open minded about it and knuckle down to maybe doing things you don't like for a while but frankly thats life

If you pay, you might start with DLD, Ashbourne or perhaps Portland Place. All central London. DLD is near Waterloo. Essentially tutorial colleges but used to taking kids from overseas at odd entry points. And oddly often cheaper than traditional independent schools. Once through GCSE, sixth form will be much easier, and for good schools, will largely depend on grades. (And they do get the grades.)

In the mean time get home schooling. You don't need to know anything about the syllabus, get down to the book shop or online and buy some of the core subjects: maths, english, science, geography and history. He can work his way through a little of each subject on his own each day. All you need is a table and a quiet room. The specific syllabus can be covered/caught up when he gets to a school but he needs to continue learning something. Don't let him spend all day in bed, playing computer games or watching tv. If he misses first term it isn't the end of the world as long as he gets to a good school and had parents that care. Try not to stress to much.

Charter is very oversubscribed and sought after, many people I know don't get a place. Harris are supposedly good schools, and the children appear well behaved. Definitely worth considering too.

How are you supported here? If you're on an expat contract I'd be straight into HR creating merry hell. It's hardly news that secondary school in London are oversubscribed and they have failed you appallingly. If you've come over independently, that sucks. It's hard to understand just exactly how random and arbitrary the system is. How long will you be here?

Ref what oreos said, the library at the Plough is excellent and has fantastic study facilities. It's also open every day including until 9 several nights a week. They can order in books too and have a notice board with local tutors. There's a homework club, but primary only I think.

Home ed groups often run coops for gsce tuition if you are worried about him receiving no formal tuition. Try checking out any links for South West London home educators - you will find an enormous amount going on for that age group, social life included/workshops.

In the meantime, check out National Curriculum and Gsce course requirements, buy some targeting revision/workbooks written by the exam boards (Edexcel, Aqa have their own websites) Better than nothing if you are really worried.

In the meantime, this is a brilliant time (I speak as home educator of one and mother of two schooled children) for him to go and visit museums, galleries, libraries and just get the feel of London - September is sublimely beautiful. Even a three year old enjoys those sort of things. And he might learn a lot in process and be ahead of his peers when he gets into school at last.

Also try googling HE Hub - lots of suggestions there for social meetups and constantly updating events/workshop, and links. Fab for meeting new people if you are new to London, especially with three year old.

Sorry, I meant South East not South West..not very good on geography of London.

London has a big Home Ed scene, obviously not available in Germany - it tends to be invisible unless you are one of the home educators.

We found Harris/East Dulwich strict for his personality and style. (They were absolutely humiliating a student with a dressing-down in a public area where I sat with my wife waiting for a meeting, and that initial impression was reinforced by what felt like a glum look on many boys' faces.)

Sadly this is the approach used in many schools. The reason being that most of those boys won't respond to being politely asked to behave well and stop messing around.

My advice is to go and see how kids behave when they leave school. It is the best way to assess what kind of students are in each school. You can spend few min just listening to their chatter at the nearest bus stop.