Waiting for that secondary school letter (1st march?)

[Enchilada81]

Is anyone else waiting for that letter with bainted breath? I'm terrified DS won't get into his first choice and don't know what we'll do if he doesn't.

[gorionine]

Very best of luck to ALL of our DCS!

Would it not be nice if all the schools were of the same good standard and we did not need to worry about it one bit?!

[newpup]

Horrible time.

DD1 took the entrance exam for an academic private school at the end of January and we had to wait 2 weeks to find out if she had got in. Found out last Friday.She got in!

The relief was enormous so I can imagine having to wait months must be agony!

We also applied for a space at the local High school which is much fought after. We will definately get a space as we live very close to it. I have friends who have no idea whether they will get a space as the boundary changes every year depending on numbers they are living on tenterhooks!

However, I will be turning my place down and I know of one other doing the same. Hope this gives hope to some of you that even if you do not get a space at first they do come up. Definately worth going on a waiting list.

Good Luck to all!

[blackrock]

DS is on the list for the local school which is in special measures...so no need to worry about getting in....what would you do? There are no other close choices where we are.

[stealthsquiggle]

newpup - us too - DS got offered a scholarship at one - now waiting to see if we get a bursary (no scholarships available) offer from the other and then we need to decide by 8 March. DH keeps telling me there is no wrong decision as both are good schools - I am not so sure and am thoroughly .

[OneMoreMum]

As I've been whittling on about elsewhere (am really boring myself now), DS has been offered a private place but also sat an aptitutde test for a good out of catchment state school.

Am driving myself crazy wondering if he's got the state place, if we should take it if he does, if we can afford to keep paying private, what it will mean for DS2 who is only 1 school year behind etc. etc.......

Aaargh am about to lose my mind!!!!!

[teamcullen]

Blackrock - I went to visit an outstanding school for DS. I was a vocatianal college, specialising in teaching DCs a vocation such as plumbing, plastering, electrics. I thourght it would be perfect as DS is not good at acedemic subjects and thorght if he could leave school with a trade it would stand him in good stead for the future.

I hated it.

The SENCO classroom was shoved in a corner out the way with tatty mis-matched furniture (while the school has had a multi million pounds makeover.) It literally had failure kids written all over it. Then when we went to see the teacher about vocational courses. He basically said its only the thick kids who choose my subject. DS was standing right next to us who he didnt know from Adam. Then I was told that they would drop DS from spanish. DS has done spanish in primary school since nursery, they were not concerned that they would be excluding him from a lesson he is actually good at.

My whole approach of looking for a school for DS has been on how they help those children who are not expected to gain 10 GCSEs and move them up the leauge tables. I just want a school who will get the best out of my son without making him feel that he is thick or stupid and wont ammount to much. I dont care if he leaves school and works in a shop as long as he has the right attitude to work and feels good about himself.

[MrsBartlet]

gingertoo - it depends which education authority you are in. In Essex we could log on to their website from just after midnight on allocation day and find out which school dd had been allocated but I think other authorities do it differently. This was a couple of years ago and the system crashed a few times leaving some people knowing and others not! I think they managed it better last year!

[GrimmaTheNome]

We're supposed to be able to get the allocation online on March 1st - which is just as well as that is also the deadline for accepting places at private schools. DH is on tenterhooks; I'm not really because there's nowt more we can do about it. Whether DD gets a place at the grammar is entirely out of our hands - she's passed the 11+, and she's high on the reserve list for an out-of-catchment place. We don't hear from her preferred backup (selective private) till the very end of this month either, but she's been offered a scholarship at another private school - not so academic but a lot closer, and mixed rather than all girls, so I'd actually not be too sorry if she ended up there.

I know, its easy to be philosophical when none of the options is bad - I do hope things work out for all of you.

One thing which is good in our LEA is that they no longer weight an application by the position in the form. You don't have to hedge your bets and not risk putting your favourite school first because its oversubscribed - if you don't get your first preference then you're considered for the second etc with no penalty for not having put them first.

[busymummy3]

that is the same as our lea you could put 3 choices ( i think you could tecnically put more it said something about continue on a seperate sheet but we were hard pushed to put 2 never mind 3)it did not matter in which order you put the schools down on the form the school had to consider each application on an equal preference basis regardless of which position they were put on the form. I think personally this is a good idea as at least you know if you dont get your first choice hopefully you will get your second or third so at least you know your child will be going somewhere of your choice while you make an appeal (unless thats me being a bit naive as some of the more cynical parents in our school seem to think that equal preference is what is supposed to happen but does it?) at this point I tend to put my hands over my ears and try not to listen as they could drive you mad with doubts over whether you have done the right thing etc

[OneMoreMum]

I think the equal preference thing is supposed to be the same accross the country now, after some LEAs had their knuckles rapped for some rather dodgy admissions criteria which amounted to selection by the back door.

Old wives tales still abound, such as in our area the rumours are that if you apply to the out-of-area grammar schools the LEA will assign you an in-area school even if you have it third on your list to avoid the 'brain drain' to the neighbouring authority. The result of this is lots of people using all 3 choices for grammar schools before they even know if they've passed the 11+.

The local authority, however, denies this completely and I really can't imagine they could get away with it, but most of the parents seem to believe it's true!

[gingertoo]

OneMoreMum loads of tales flying around here too!

The rumour here goes that if you apply for a place at the faith school, you should not put a non-faith school down as second or third choice because then you won't get into the faith school There is a slight flaw in that theory though as there is only the one faith secondary in the area so that would mean putting down just one school...

Even so, I did take the Headteacher of the faith school to one side on the open evening and ask him whether or not my second and third choices of school would affect my son's application to his school and he said no. In fact he went on to say that it would be 'most foolish' not to put a second or third choice down.

Still fretting about it though

[LynetteScavo]

I've decided I'll be happy with any of the top three schools I've put down.

But because Ds took the 11+ there is no knowing which school it will be.

It's the not knowing which is killing me. i'm so impatient.

[busymummy3]

gingertoo that is exactly why you should not listen to any of these rumours and old wives tales. pick your 3 schools put them down in order of your preference on form submit your form forget all about it until approx 1st march (national offer day ) every time you hear one of these tales walk away from the huddle at the schoolgates! do not partake in the conversation as you will end up full of doubts and worries. that is what i did with my dd1 who is now in secondary school and what i am in process of doing with ds. not long to go now!

[gingertoo]

busymummy3 - wise words!

You are quite right, we should all really try and forget about it until offer day - no amount of worrying is going to make any difference now!

[admission]

The rumours are just old wives tales that may have happened years ago. The current process of equal preference means that no school( including those schools that are their own admission authority) knows where else you have put down as a preference or in what order. The only people who know are the LA as they will allocate a place at the highest possible preference school where you are within the number of available places.

What that means is that you should put down as your first preference the school you most want but that you should include in your preferences the local catchment school. Even if it is your last preference you will be higher up the list on this school than potentially others and you should, with luck, get a place at the school. However if you are also able to be offered a place at one of your other more favoured preferences then this is what the offer will be.

[BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny]

Ds sat the 11+ equivalent for a private secondary last week, he did really well aparantly, had an interview with the head of year 7 on Friday and was asked to come back to have a look around (it's been nearly a year since we went to have a nose, he admitted he couldn't remember alot) and to have another interview with the headmaster. They didn't have any bursaries left as he sat the exam late and scholarships are at the head's discretion so we will have to wait and see. It's nerve wrecking though, no grammar school here.

I really do hope you all get the right schools for your children

[SparklyGothKat]

I was here last year, we knew that Ds1 would get our first choice as he was accepted under 'medical and social needs' and we were informed in the feb that we had been successful, and he would be allocated a place, but there was still the 'what ifs'

Someone asked about online applications, we recieved the email at about 12:40pm. I sat refreshing my email inbox from 12 noon.

[gingertoo]

That's interesting, admission and reassuring

It's strange, as much as you know deep down that it is all community gossip, you can't help worrying whether any of it is true so it's good to be reminded how the system really works...

SparklyGothKat 12:40pm I will have paced a hole in the carpet by then! I was hoping for an email at 1 minute past midnight!!!

[Babyonboardinthesticks]

And as someone with 3 children now in their 20s... it really doesn't matter anything like it seems at the time. In some ways they are born how they are, at least 50% in my view. I'm certainly more relaxed about my younger twins.

The comment above about trying to find a good vocational school is very interesting. There are private schools for the not so bright. It's been aruged if you have a bright child and aren't very well off they will probably do okay in many places but it's the not so bright for whom it perhaps most pays off to pay fees or educate at home or some other plan like music scholarship to choir school or whatever.

[teamcullen]

Xenia- That is very true. If I could afford to put one of my DC through private education it would be DS1 who is the one who finds learning hard.

DD is very bright. We have only one school in our LEA which is a grammer school. I considered applying to it for DD, but as there are roughly 600 DC going for 120 places she would have needed some tuition on how to do the tests to stand a chance at a place.

I could not justify paying for lessons to "coach" my DD to pass an entrance exam when my DS was struggling to read and write. DD is very happy in her state school, and as she is banded in top set, the majority of her lessons are taught at a faster pace anyway. Maybe her GCSE levels might have been slightly higher if she had gone to the Grammer school but I believe she is getting a good education.

Ironically, DD is in an all girls school otherwise I wouldnt be worrying about DS, as the sibling rule would apply.

[BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny]

Ds was offered a place, we recieved the letter this morning.

[LIZS]

any news Soup - have a friend whose ds was hoping to get in to one of same I think . Letter due today/tomorrow.

This will be us this time next year for 13+ - eek !

[OneMoreMum]

Aargh nearly there now.

We have decided definitely to go for the state school if we get a place, but that has upped the stress even more and am now worrying myself stupid with what-ifs?

Apparently we will find out mid-afternoon on Monday, not sure if that means by email or some method of logging on to the council website (where the hell did I write that password down.....)

[creditcrunched]

I am jealous onemoremum. Apparently here in north london we have to wait until Tuesday. They said the notifications would be sent by post on monday, but emails only on Tuesday

[OneMoreMum]

That's rubbish creditcrunched. Here they used the carrot of finding out earlier to encourage more people to apply online.

It's a bit stupid really because I still had to post my council tax bill and a utility bill to the council to prove my address ( since the council tax bill comes from the council) plus an aptitude test form direct to the relevant school so was hardly a paper-free system!

Can't imagine me getting much work done on Monday afternoon anyway!