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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Grey Coat Hospital - waiting lists

176 replies

davisson · 04/03/2020 10:42

Anyone ever had any success on getting into Greycoats via the waiting list - CofE place - and if so what was your position on the waiting list to start with. Just when we get the letter from them, want to prepare myself and not have any false hope (which of course I can't help but have at the moment)

OP posts:
JoyceByersWasRight · 04/03/2020 12:55

Hi OP

Have you put your DD on the waiting list yet? If so, do you know where she is on the list? I would imagine there will be a lot of movement once the deadline has passed for accepting/rejecting offers - a couple of weeks?

A girl at our local church was on the waiting list, and did get offered a place before she was due to start Y7. I think she is Y8 now, so fairly recent. I will ask the mum if I see her on Sunday and let you know.

I do know that a friend of ours was offered a church place at GCH this week, but has rejected the place in favor of an independent offer. Im sure she wont be the only one, so there will be movement.

Fingers crossed for your DD.

Original poster
davisson · 04/03/2020 13:19

Thank you so much @JoyceByersWasRight, I'd be really grateful if you asked your friend with a daughter in Y8. Haven't had a letter from GCH yet and I don't think you get sight of the waiting list position for a couple of weeks so all a bit up in the air. Always encouraging to hear that there is some movement already with your other friend!

OP posts:
tiggermummy70 · 04/03/2020 15:18

we declined a GCH offer this week.
I actually notified the school the week before so they could notify a child rather than wait list them. As well as meeting sibling & faith criteria DD2 had a top 15 language spot. So not sure which wait list would gain from it.
She got an independent offer we could not refuse.
When DD1 was in Yr 7 she had 3-4 girls move into and out of her class right up to half term.

Fingers crossed for you

sleepingbag · 04/03/2020 15:33

Hi we were 5th on wait list ( C of E place), got offered a place end of march, they don't tell you what band you are in.

Original poster
davisson · 04/03/2020 19:21

Thanks @tiggermummy70 - good to know - and @sleepingbag that's interesting - how far away were you distance-wise?

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JungleTripa · 04/03/2020 19:50

We were offered a place at the other CofE girls school, 4 days after the new school year had started! My daughter was just settling into her 3rd choice school (and first uniform) when I got a phone call saying a place had come up. She was at the new school the next day in a borrowed 2nd uniform! Don't give up hope. Lots of movement in the waiting lists happen. We are around 6km away from the school, despite the 3 or 4 km cut off distance for first round offers for her band/religious status being listed in the Westminster Brochure. Another girl got a place a few days after my daughter... Good luck!

Original poster
davisson · 04/03/2020 20:10

That's good to know @JungleTripa - thank you! Looking at how places were offered this year at GCH - in one of the non-C of E bands it was siblings only, not even a catchment area. Can't help feeling if it was so oversubscribed for open places, the CofE places must also be really narrow catchment....help!

OP posts:
JungleTripa · 04/03/2020 20:48

I made various email enquiries about DD's GCH waiting list position between Feb & May. I was told what band she was in, but never what position I was on the waiting list. I was told each time that there had been no movement on the waiting list. Last email communication with them in May was a very direct "Give up, you have no chance!"

Original poster
davisson · 04/03/2020 20:51

Well I suppose that at least lets you know where they stand...!! But I have to say the rather abrupt sounding nature of it does sound like my experience of their admin :)

OP posts:
JungleTripa · 04/03/2020 20:59

I wanted to edit that comment after I posted it to say that was actually my interpretation of their message!!! Shouldn't have used quotation marks. They were lovely!

Original poster
davisson · 04/03/2020 21:06

@jungletripa hahaha! I'm glad to hear that....

OP posts:
sleepingbag · 04/03/2020 21:28

@davisson approx 7 miles!

Original poster
davisson · 04/03/2020 21:29

Really? Oh my goodness!!!

OP posts:
tiggermummy70 · 04/03/2020 22:10

@davisson
we are 8.5miles from school! - we are in Diocese of Southwark which when we went to open evening was their limit.
We are in south London.
DD1 & 2 both went to C of E primaries but in central London not local to home.
This was for two reasons

  1. We wanted a faith school and we live one road too far away 0.125miles outside catchment for closest one.
  2. Husband worked away from home. Left on Sunday came home Friday. so had to do all school stuff on my own. DD1 found out about GCH when she was eight and decided that was where she wanted to go. (No pressure!) Still keeping fingers crossed for you.
Original poster
davisson · 04/03/2020 22:22

Thank you! Your kindness much appreciated. We only applied on faith place - didn't get language place - so will need to be much nearer than you I think, but as a fellow south Londoner am pleased to hear of your experience...!

OP posts:
tiggermummy70 · 05/03/2020 08:16

@davisson we only applied on faith for DD1 she did the language exam but didn't qualify for a top spot.
Girls travel in from Grove Park, Hither Green, Blackheath & Eltham that we know of.

stclair · 05/03/2020 16:02

I’ve just opened the letter to say we are number 50 on the WL. Has anyone been that far down before and got in, I wonder?

Original poster
davisson · 05/03/2020 16:18

I'd be interested to know too. Our letter hasn't even arrived yet which is filling me with dread :(. How far away are you roughly from the school @stclair?

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stclair · 05/03/2020 16:46

I think we are about 3 miles as the crow flies

Original poster
davisson · 05/03/2020 16:54

And you're on a CofE place? We're absolutely doomed then..... :(

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stclair · 05/03/2020 17:13

Yes we are. Gosh are you? How far away are you? Even by a great stroke of luck we eventually got a place we wouldn’t take it though as have accepted an independent offer. Even though I loved it I couldn’t cope with the uncertainty any longer Confused! So that is one less place potentially in front of you!

Original poster
davisson · 05/03/2020 17:17

@stclair - thank you ;) I appreciate that! But given we are 5 miles away, I think we must be way way down below you. Do they tell you which band you are in?

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stclair · 05/03/2020 17:27

No, but it does say for c of e allocation: band 1 24, band 2 49, band 3 24. If you are applying on an open place they take from band 1 0.632 miles and band 2 0.306 miles!!

Original poster
davisson · 05/03/2020 17:32

oh yes - and I saw on the Westminster website that Band 3 for open places was siblings only this year! Is this year a particularly tough year with lots more kids demographically? (I mean generally not just GCH)

OP posts:
stclair · 05/03/2020 17:38

It feels like it doesn’t it. Population explosion! GCH say they’ve had over 1100 applicants!!

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