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Secondary education

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

Original poster

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

362 replies

Enchilada81 · 12/02/2010 07:10

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.

OP posts:
Mimiso · 01/03/2010 12:22

I am in London too and am wondering why we have to wait till tomorrow. I am so stressed about it just like everyone else. Am sure my DS hasnt got into any of our choices and we will now have to go private aaaarrrgggghhhh

MsDav · 01/03/2010 12:33

Lol deaddei, I wish we could just get told when they know. This national offer day is a load of arse. Due to a glitch in the system Kent and Birmingham have known for a few days online, elsewhere some get to find out today and some not til tomorrow. Why don't the LEA's just release the info when they have it? I know it's prob to do with not all boroughs having the info at the same time but still, its not as if we are all finding out on the same day anyhow.

SpiritualKnot · 01/03/2010 12:38

Really feel for all of you still waiting. We got to know at the start of February.

My daughter didn't get into her and our first choice. "Fortunately" neither did her best friend.The school they're now going to is within easy walking distance for them both, whereas they would have had to have lifts to the "better" school..

I won't be appealing though, her brother went to the school she'll be going to and it's ok. Just her first choice was an all girl school with such a good reputation. Quite a few people are appealing. Some people ring up apparently and plead and that works at that particular school.

Good luck to you who are still waiting!

SK

RoseWater · 01/03/2010 12:43

Ifyoucould have you managed to logon yet?

There's a document on the CC website detailing how places have been allocated for a lot of the schools and showing which has places free.

The site crashed at 10.00 and lots of people I know haven't been able to get online - we got our local school which I'm happy with.

2boys - depends if you're in town or elsewhere in the county as to which seem popular or not! Long ago when I was at school Kingsthorpe was viewed as fab and NSB was seen as poor, nowadays NSB and NSG ofsted outstanding and massively (x4) oversubscribed. DS not academic so didn't feel NSB was right place for him so he's going to our 1st choice (catchment) school

BAFE · 01/03/2010 13:27

Got my first choice. Am well pleased. Good luck to those still waiting and those planning to appeal.

2boys2 · 01/03/2010 13:52

Rosewater - our catchment would be northampton acadamy - what did you think of that? is it time to think of moving !!

Are you pleased with your allocation?

Ifyoucould - any news??

OrmRenewed · 01/03/2010 14:02

DD got in. We thought she would but still good to know.

RoseWater · 01/03/2010 14:23

2boys I didn't look round the Academy but I'd heard it wasn't popular when it was known as Lings but now is oversubscribed and has really improved in the last few years.

welshandproud · 01/03/2010 14:40

In Cardiff we have to wait til NEXT monday 8th March....wtf???

deaddei · 01/03/2010 14:41

Cymru am Byth welshandproud....

RoseWater · 01/03/2010 14:45

And sorry thanks for asking - yes we're pleased - although as he is statemented we named the school and just got allocated - gotta be some benefits to having SN .

May need to name change as waste so much time on MN wehn should be working and end up making myself identifiable

RoseWater · 01/03/2010 14:46

welshandproud thats really harsh and unfair

mercytt · 01/03/2010 14:56

Hi all, i sympathise with your situation. last year my son was not offered any of the schools that we wanted. we ended up going through the appeal process and after a bit of a nightmare we lost our first appeal.

A friend of mine then recomended that we get some professional advice and he gave us the number of a company who helped us with our second appeal. This time we did it properly and won the appeal, thanks mainly to the help and assistance provided by Matt Richards of School Appeals services.

i have just checked Matts website - www.schoolappeals.com - and he has lots of free advice and tips on his site. hope this helps and best of luck

deaddei · 01/03/2010 15:05

Nice bit of advertising there mercytt.

UnquietDad · 01/03/2010 15:09

These people are really good if you need to appeal.

Advisory Centre for Education

No connection with them on my part - just found them really useful when we had our appeal (which we won).

Jux · 01/03/2010 15:13

Hi, we got ours by e-mail, but I didn't realise and only just downloaded them. We knew dd had failed the entrance exam for her first choice, but she's got into her second which we are absolutely delighted about. She is chuffed to b....

The first choice was "one of the best grammars" in the country and very pressured (and had ridiculously expensive school trips to boot!). By the time we got the result she'd changed her mind about going there. I had thought how lovely it would be to turn a place down there (can't happen to them often, can it?).

Second choice should have been first choice really. They had 17 places for artistically talented kids, and though I had no idea whether dd was particularly good/talented I thought it worth a go. It's a much nicer school for a start. Over the border though, and "they'm strange over there" apparently!

I think we might see how much a decent easle is and give her a permanent art corner somewhere.

creditcrunched · 01/03/2010 15:19

Has anyone in London who applied online received their email yet?

Jux · 01/03/2010 15:20

Fluffy! I just saw your boy got offered a place. Congrats!

frogs · 01/03/2010 15:26

Won't be till tomorrow, I think, creditcrunched.

[nailbiting]

OneMoreMum · 01/03/2010 15:33

Aaarghh still waiting for my 'late afternoon' email here, do you think that means '5.30 once we've all gone home'??

Congrats to all those who've had good news and commiserations to the not so good news

BigTillyMint · 01/03/2010 15:45

cc, on the e-admissions site it says 7am, but DD just brought a letter home from LEA saying 8.30 on their website

People keep texting me, asking how DD got on - thanks to the bbc news!

DD insisted on looking on both of the websites when she came in, just in case!

creditcrunched · 01/03/2010 15:47

Frogs - Tomorrow??!! I can't wait until tomorrow. I have had 1st March ingrained on my brain for so many months, I can't change it now. Don't they realise what they're doing to me?

[Beathes and attempts to calm down ]
Dammn, somehow though that we would get an email this afternoon when they post all the snail mail letters.

creditcrunched · 01/03/2010 15:53

BigTilly - Did the letter mention emails? I know the online results are published tomorrow but what's the sense in not sending out the emails today?
Sorry, just realised I used the word "sense". How silly of me.

frogs · 01/03/2010 16:05

Yup, 'sense' was the rogue word in that question.

Surely if they want to encourage people to apply online they should give you the advantage of at least knowing the day before the snail mail people.

I just have a horror vision of trying to log on blearily at 7am tomorrow morning along with umpteen thousand other parents, and watching the website crash. Which is what happened last year, by all accounts, and the year before that...

[valium]

issysmilkbottle · 01/03/2010 16:27

well i am definately going to appeal!

The school ds has been allocated to is a very bad one that they've rebadged to try and make better... Boys who've bullied him for years are going there - There is no way on earth ds is going there!

It annoys me, why ask for three and then totally ignore personal statement and send to school explicity named as being out of question to go to!