Intra year transfer - Year 8, London

[tomasito]

Hi
Can anybody suggest good secondary schools which have a catchment area covering the whole of London please?
For example I've found Grey Coat school which takes pupils from all of London.
We're moving to London from Oxford with a 12 year old daughter (currently Year 7). We're likely to live in Croydon or south London but don't have a proof of address yet so we can't show that we live in the catchment area of any school, however I can get bank accounts sent to my parents' address in north London in case I need to show that we're in London. I'd like to be able to get some applications in now, just wondering what my options are? It might be August or September before I know exactly what the new address will be and obviously it's better to get the application in sooner rather than later.
Also does anybody have experience transferring a child between years 7 and 8, so moving schools after the first year of secondary school?
Thanks!

"obviously it's better to get the application in sooner rather than later."

Well, not really - if a school you apply for now has a place, you'll be offered it, but expected to take it up quickly - within a couple of weeks.

If something is offered to you a few weeks from the end of term you might be able to negotiate a delayed start.

Most London secondaries don't have defined catchments, and for in-year applications they are less important anyway - if they have a space, they have a space and would have to give it to you. Where you live would affect your place on the waiting list if there is one.

Croydon require a council tax bill/utility bill/tenancy document for in-year admissions, though as I say if a school has a vacancy it has to give it to you if you apply - it would be up to you to get her there in order to take it up in a couple of weeks though!

Bank statements to your parents' address - no - this is fraudulent.

Unfortunately you will have to wait till you have a permanent address until you apply. You must have some idea of boroughs thoygh? You could phone and see what schools are currently under numbers and maybe visit.

Catchment areas won't matter as you're not applying in the normal round. I would imagine Grey Coat has a very long waiting list!

The better news is that London tends to have a fair bit of movement, which can make it a bit easier to find a vacancy.

OK thanks for both of these responses.

With regards to north London - we can move to live there temporarily with my parents until we find a permanent place in London, so I didn't mean to send the bank accounts to that address without actually living there. The problem is that it's no use for being accepted for a school place in Croydon as it's the other side of London.

What I'm worried about is that even if we make the move in August, maybe there will only be places left in schools that are not that desirable. So I'm wondering what our options are to avoid this scenario?

Thanks

I'd check with la's about vacancies then check about transport as some out of area are easier to get to if on the correct transport and also OFSTEDs Thames link now goes through to Purley and South Coulsdon.

Okay, you want to identify schools that have a good local reputation but are not so ridiculously sought-after that they will ahve long waiting lists for in-year places.

Greycoats would be an example of the latter, I'd have thought, as would Graveney etc. People get obsessed with particular schools and will move their dc mid-year to get into them, but there are really good schools that don't take from such a huge area which won't necessarily fill places that become available when people move out.

As others have said, you can't do a formal application until you're ready to take up the place. What I would be inclined to do is find out which schools have places in the year group you're looking for within reasonable distance of the area you want to live in - you may need to speak to the individual schools as well as the LEA to get this info. Then you can work out which of those schools you'd actually like your child to go to, and then as soon as you've got an address you can put in application/s. AFAIK in-year applications are formally dealt with by the LEA, so you should be able to get a place for the start of the next year if you move over the summer.

I suspect there'll be more places available from September, as families move out of London and schools won't necessarily be able to fill the places