'Putting your child's name down' at a preferred school

Christie_L

Hi all,

My son is currently 16 months old and MIL/OH/everyone with an interest in my baby are telling me I need to 'put his name down' for the local primary school. The school is literally a 5 minute walk from our house and is considered one of the 'better' schools in the area.

MIL says that other mothers she knows have put their babies names down for the school before they were even born and can't understand why I don't seem bothered at the moment

The thing is I used to work for the County Council and as far as I know you can't apply for a school place (primary, that is) until the year prior to their 4th birthday.

Am I wrong in this, and do you think it's only an issue because of the 'better' school status? The 2nd & 3rd preference schools I would have in our area are in slightly more deprived areas, and areas with a higher ethnic minority intake. I can't see the problem with this personally as from what I can understand from the OFSTED reports all 3 schools perform equally well, although some do better in some subjects than others. Is this snobbery do you think? And should I be somehow reserving him a place at only 16 months??

C xx

bestpud

I don't know if this is the case nationally, but individual state schools are not permitted to hold a waiting list here.

Every parent applies via the LEA and they just tell the schools who they will be getting, based on a set criteria.

The exceptions are church schools but the applications still go through the LEA and parents can only apply at the 'proper' time.

Maybe telephone the school and ask, if only to stop them going on at you about it? Better still, get your OH or mil to do it!

demonicangel

Does this school have an attached nursery? If they do then that could be why people are asking if you've put their name down.

clairec79

My kids school advised everyone to put names down early (ds did get his name down at about 6 weeks old, dd1 had just started and they told me to make sure dd2's name was down so I put both the younger pair down). Eldest, we put her name down the summer before she turned three (expecting her to start the following September)

I think it may be more to do with the nursery attached to the school though.

I know when ds started (aged 3) we were told then that if people had younger children to put their names down soon as for the school year Sept 2008 they already were 3/4 full (and this was for kids under 1 at the time). It is a popular school and Welsh speaking which may mean that exemptions such as for church schools apply

liney

In Shropshire, all school and preschool places are allocated by the LEA dependent on catchment area, distance, older siblings. There is a date to apply by, and as long as you apply by that date it makes no difference if you apply when the child is a baby or a 4 year old as they are not allocated places until the year before they start.

Individual schools have no say in which children they take (apart from religious schools who have their own critera but they are still administrated by the LEA), they are given a list by the LEA.

I understand it was different when i was a child 20 odd years ago, but that's how it is here now. Perhaps your MiL's information is outdated.

galvanizersbaby

Hello there

As others have said I would imagine that you put the childs name down if there is a nursery attached to the school.

If you are in the current catchment for the 'better' school and are still living there at the appropriate time then your child should get a place depending on the LEA/school criteria guidelines.

Perhaps call the preferred school in question to check - if it is your preferred school!

Janepig

Have you looked on the website for your LA? That should tell you. We have to apply to the headteacher of the school, then they hand the list to the LEA by January for them to sort out admissions for the following September. DD had her name down for her school virtually from birth, as has DS. Although it doesn't make a difference, as long as the names are in by the January. The headteacher was saying last week that they already have names in for 2012.

DS is due to start next September and I'm holding my breath because they've got 120 names for 60 places!!

Jxx

milliebear00001

Hi there

You can put names down for nursery, but not for school. When a school asks parents to 'put their child's name down', what they mean is 'register an interest'. It means that at the appropriate time, the school can send you a prospectus/LA application form etc. It also helps the school keep an eye on how many kids they are likely to get for each reception intake. At application time, the length your child spent on the 'waiting list' will have no bearing on whether or not they get a place. Only voluntary aided schools (mostly church school) are allowed to use other criteria for selecting intake, and even with those, time spent on the list is not a criterion used.

Hope that helps.

Surfbabe

Second what Millie bear says. I work in a church aided primary school. We hold a list )of which the youngest child is 10 days old at moment!) of children whose parents are interested in them coming to us when they get to the right age. We just use this list to send notifications to parents of open days, meetings re admissions etc. It has no bearing on whether they get a place or not as even though we have our own admissions policy it is administered by the local edeucation authority. It also give sus an idea of how many interest parties there aginst places availbel for budgeting purposes.

clairehi

can I just tell you a story about school admissions. we moved to our current area when my kids were 3 and 5. my DS2 started in nursery school and DS1 was in year 1 at a a separate (oversubscribed) primary school.

One day a few weeks into their first term, I was glancing at a school newsletter brought home by DS1 and realised that the deadline for applying primary admissions was THAT DAY and no-one had told us or sent a form for us to fill out to get DS2 a place!

fortunately I was able to register DS2 online via the LEA website or I might have ended up home educating!

Moral of the story, dont assume that once they are in the nursery, you will be reminded about school admissions.

Bitsy_Beans

We have had a form from my local LEA about nursery place for my son who will be 4 next year. I didn't request the form so I guess that's what most LEA's will do. On this application form they will decide whether my son gets his chosen place.
I think at 16 months registering an interest is pointless as it won't ensure you get a place anyway.