Schools in Kingston upon Thames - I seem to be not eligible for any of them!

[Etiketten]

Hello!

I have a child in year 4 and I am trying to work out secondary options. Just had a bit of a fright as when I look on the council website I don't think he would have got in any of the schools this year. We live further than the furthest place awarded for all of them and he's not a sibling. WTF do I do? Do I need to move?! He might get into the super selective but definitely wouldn't want to rely on that.

Teddington School is just over the river and not far if you live next to Kingston Grammar. Take a look. It's a decent school.

I think Teddington is the answer thank you! Phew.

I think Teddington is your most likely and the best option, better that Holyfield from what others have told me. I know people who live where you are and yes it is a bit of a black hole for secondaries unfortunately. On the positives, however, I understand the baby boom years have passed on to secondary already 2008-2012 ish so you might find that the catchment changes a bit. Good luck

I know people with children at Teddington and past parents as well, and it seems like a really nice school.

@Etiketten there's some info on Richmond Borough distances in this thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/local/5019775-national-offer-day-distances-richmond-borough. Teddington is a fairly safe bet. It's a big school, with 240 intake. It had a much tighter catchment in the past, then had a few wilderness years, but is now back on track with a Good Ofsted report.

What's happening with the new secondary school in Norbiton? Last thing I saw it was due to open Sept 2025 so even if that slipped by a year would be an option for you.

What's happening with the new secondary school in Norbiton? Last thing I saw it was due to open Sept 2025 so even if that slipped by a year would be an option for you

The one planned for over by the football grounds? No updates that I can find so I am assuming it isn't opening next year but you never know. The last info I can find about it it hadn't had final approval. The site is further away from me than Teddington though. Will definitely consider it if it appears though! Would be weird to always be the oldest class in the school wouldn't it, although not necessarily a bad thing.

@postitnoat

Thank you for that info I will add it to my growing spreadsheet!

I'd suggest not fixating on the published cut-off distances from prior years, because they are only based on national offer day. Some schools have a lot of movement after national offer day, especially in an area like yours, where lots of kids go off to private school and just apply to state as a back-up. Some schools will tell you your chances of a place based on your distance, if you attend their open days or even just call up. Ridiculous commute can also be grounds for appeal if you have also applied tobyour nearest schools.

I noticed when a new secondary opened near us a few years ago, they started their 6th form when the first cohort went into year 9 or possibly year 10, presumably in part to support a better range of teachers for GCSE teaching? So the first students there (many of whom didn't have any real choice of alternative schools that year) weren't the oldest throughout.

?? are you not aware that they publish later also distance offered as a result of waiting lists???here
https://www.kingston.gov.uk/downloads/file/1020/kingston---furthest-distance-offers-2023-2021

So is the NC distance basically the longest distance by the start of term?

TKA has hardly any movement there sadly. I will see a few schools and look at whether it's worth moving. Not that there is much available near TKA!

By the time your child starts the distances are likely to be further as the birth year is decreasing year on year.
Don't overthink it.

So is the NC distance basically the longest distance by the start of term?

correct

E.g. if another school performa better at GCSE ot my draw more kids and TKA will have larger catchment.

This is what is happening with Teddington School now. Last year the NC distance was over 14 km (!) but because of worse results in another local school a lot of kids from local schools are now aiming to go to Teddington. The National Day Offer was smaller in distance this year and I know people who live less than 5 km are still on waiting list.
So if there is a shift like that in local schools it will also affect TKA catchment

"kids from local schools are now aiming to go to Teddington. The National Day Offer was smaller in distance this year and I know people who live less than 5 km are still on waiting list."

@Persimonne72 the national offer day distance for Teddington School was over 5800m (see link below) so if you know waitlisted children who live closer they must have applied late.

https://5f2fe3253cd1dfa0d089-bf8b2cdb6a1dc2999fecbc372702016c.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/15285/LBR_Notes_to_parents_following_secondary_2024_allocation.pdf

They live in Feltham. It is a boy in my son's class. I don't think they applied late, maybe they are less than 6 km and I remembered inaccurately the distance from my conversation with his mum.
But definitely, the school has more applications because on the day when heads of year 7 visited schools suddenly half of each class left the classroom to go to the meeting with the Teddington representatives. Teddington is def no 1 destination this year at our school followed by Waldergrave, Hampton High, Turing and then the random schools. In the past Hampton High was no 1

Christ I'm probably not going to get into Teddington by 2026. Although hopefully if people from that side of the river go to Teddington we might get into TKA.

Teddington is much bigger than TKA. also, TKA is Ofsted Outstanding, whereas Teddington School is Ofsted Good. The Outstanding badge attracts transient families into nearby rental properties.

So your biggest risk is that Teddington is upgraded to Outstanding before 2026. If it stays at Good you'll probably be fine, because the cohort size is declining.

Hampton High had a difficult year last year. Their head was ill and has now left, so they have a new one. They also had some timetabling changes that weren't popular with everyone. It'll get back on track.

Due to SATs being cancelled in Covid, none of the secondary schools will have GCSE progress results published in 2025 or 2026, so there will be a vacuum of information for a couple of years.

You mean Progress 8 will not be published because of that? The rest of information will be available like 5+ or 7+ grade at GCSE and so on

Judging by my conversations with mums I don't think the decision was that much affected by HH results etc but by the very successful Open Day at Teddington. Children really loved it and few decided to go there and the rest followed because they wanted to be together with the rest of their friends😀

If it was down to results they would all go to Turing

"If it was down to results they would all go to Turing"

Well that does assume they have the choice. 🙂 Turing's main catchment stretches into Hampton hill, but no longer stretches into Hampton or Feltham like it used to.

Teddington's catchment grew on the back of a few difficult years, but is now shrinking again.

The current Teddington head came from Hampton High, where they were a deputy. Also Teddington and Hampton are part of the same academy trust, so there may be a lot of similarity curriculum-wise. Teddington is bigger though.

Most of Hampton kids go to different schools located in Hampton such as Buckingham, Hampton Juniors and Richard forgot the name of that school. These kids are not in the catchment for Turing.
In our school may be only some from Hampton North.

What’s the birth rate like for that year ?

It's not just the birth rate that counts, it's also house building and migration, and percentage going private. The local school place planning strategies have the projections in them:
Kingston borough: https://www.kingston.gov.uk/schools-education/school-place-planning-strategy

Richmond borough: https://www.richmond.gov.uk/services/children_and_family_care/schools_and_colleges/find_a_school/school_place_planning_strategy