high school application...what to put

brians_daughter

my son is startng high school next year and the high school i want him to attend is a church school, so i am required to fill in a form for each of his choices..basically stating why i want him to attend.

I am usually great with words but i am at a loss as to what to put.

The high school is not 'fed' by his junior school and is not the nearest Catholic high school to us, but only by 1/2 a mile or so. (we moved recently so i left him at his junior school, its 7 miles to get him there and the high school that his junior school feeds to has an unforgiving ofstead report,and in my opinion terrible GCSE results)

The high school i wish him to attend is the best in the Borough and over subscribed, its the high school i attended and the reports are fantastic.

So, i need ideas.... I have so far got that its the 'best' academic school in the area, that it is important my son attends a catholic school, that we attend Mass, that i attended the school and gained good foundations for my life as well as the school helped to grow and nurture my faith and i want the same for my son etc...but what else, if anything should i be including...and is there anything i shouldn't be including??

TIA

Courgette

Hi

You need to be really specific about why your son needs to attend that particular school rather than the other Catholic school or any non-dem school. Obviously being religious helps and I'd assume you'd need to get a reference from your priest. The thing not to do is insult the other school even if they are completely rubbish; ficus on the positives of the school you wnat him to attend.

Does he have any particular skills that the school would cater for? For example is he ace at a sport the school does well at? Does the school have a specialist status? How does that meet the needs of your son?

I must warn you though, from what you've written I don't think your chance of getting in is that high if it's oversubscribed and not your nearest Catholic school. I didn't get any of the places I wanted last year for my son. I appealed them all which involved 3 very stressful days infront of a panel and reps from the ed authority and lost them all. I managed to save my son (who is gifted and talented in two subjects) from the school with a 12%GCSE pass rate but the school he's at is not exactly ideal. The point I'm making is not one you'll want to hear: appeals are extremely difficult to win and if you really think there's a chance he'll be sent somewhere awful I'd advise giving an estate agent a call.

Good luck in the mean time

brians_daughter

Hi thanks for the advice. I value it a lot.

The more local Catholic High school has very simular GCSE results and OFSTEAD reports. But the main reson i want him to attend is indeed due to the ethos of the school not just the results.

I have considered moving in order to secure him a place. me and my (ex) oh split in may and i am staying in the house until it sells - i could easily let him move back in and rent local to the high school until we manage to sell the house... His Dad actually lives about 500 yards from our 1st choice school, but i doubt that is taken into account as our sons main residence is here with me, not with his dad... house swap maybe! lol

As for a 12% GCSE pass rate...how can we allow this to happen..12% is shocking. I am worried about 46%. The 2 catholic high schools that are 'in the running' so to speak have pass rates of 78% and 76% so there isnt much between them at all.

Also, if I put the school i wanted him to attend as 1st choice (even tho he has less chance of getting into it) would this impact on the 2nd choices decision... ie are they less likely to accept him as it wasnt 1st choice?


Sorry for all the questions but our LEA seem as useful as a chocolate poker

Courgette

brians_daughter wrote: »

The more local Catholic High school has very simular GCSE results and OFSTEAD reports. But the main reson i want him to attend is indeed due to the ethos of the school not just the results.

I know exactly what you mean (different places just feel different, don't they) but I think you'd need to be far more specific about this on your application form.

I have considered moving in order to secure him a place. me and my (ex) oh split in may and i am staying in the house until it sells - i could easily let him move back in and rent local to the high school until we manage to sell the house... His Dad actually lives about 500 yards from our 1st choice school, but i doubt that is taken into account as our sons main residence is here with me, not with his dad... house swap maybe! lol

I would very very seriously consider this, you can bet a lot of other parents will be doing exactly this. Could he maybe live with dad 'on paper'? So dishonest I know and until last year I would have thought this was OTT but experience now tells me otherwise

As for a 12% GCSE pass rate...how can we allow this to happen..12% is shocking.

Yes and what's worse there was even a posting by a councillor on the Ed Auth website saying how low the standards were at the school at that something had to change urgently

I am worried about 46%. The 2 catholic high schools that are 'in the running' so to speak have pass rates of 78% and 76% so there isnt much between them at all.

Also, if I put the school i wanted him to attend as 1st choice (even tho he has less chance of getting into it) would this impact on the 2nd choices decision... ie are they less likely to accept him as it wasnt 1st choice?

Sorry, but I have a feeling it does but ring your Ed Authority to ask them about this as I may be wrong. Certainly when it comes to the waiting list stage preference does have an impact on where you go on the list.

Sorry for all the questions but our LEA seem as useful as a chocolate poker

No problem at all! I would seriously consider the house move thing, appeals are hell. I'm a teacher, very articulate, fought bl00dy hard and still lost. I think we're meant to think we have a chance of winning them and that we'll be listened to but experience tells me very different.

brians_daughter

hum...good point re the living with his Dad, we do have 50/50 custody - completely joint. He goes there Thurs-Monday am one week then Mon pm - Thurs am the week after. In effect doing a week at both houses. This works fine at the minute as we are all on speaking terms and often do things as a family ie we have homework night where his dad will come to ours or we go there, at least once a week we all eat together, if we go out for the day we ask Dad etc - but obviously this will all change when one of us gets a new partner - i cant see someone buying into how our family runs tbh (thats a whole different thread tho!) We split the child benefit and go 50/50 on any expenses for our son...

I may actually ring the school and see what they say about it all.

I am actually did a lengthy placement at the 1st choice school very recently as part of my degree (i too hope to teach, although my spelling and grammar on here leave a lot to be desired!) so i do know a lot about the school and its values. My uncle taught there until last year so i may pick his brains as well once he is back from holiday.

Thanks once again, i feel a little more relaxed about the whole thing now - funny isnt it how by writting stuff down and gaining opinions you sometimes geta much clearer picture. Its such a lifechanging decision that we are making/assisting our kids in making its quite scarey

Courgette

brians_daughter wrote: »

I am actually did a lengthy placement at the 1st choice school very recently as part of my degree (i too hope to teach, although my spelling and grammar on here leave a lot to be desired!) so i do know a lot about the school and its values. My uncle taught there until last year so i may pick his brains as well once he is back from holiday.

Sorry to keep being the bearer of bad news but I did part of my teacher training at my 1st choice school and had a very lenghty conversation with a head of dept prior to the appeal, and my 3rd choice school was where I work as a full-time, permanent member of staff!

I'd say an address switch is the way to go

The good thing is you've got plenty of time!

Let us know how you get on, and keep asking questions if you need to

silvercar

Address switch definitely.

Read the criteria carefully, it should tell you the exact date that you have to be resident.

As for choices, in London and Herts, so I presume everywhere else, but couldn't guarantee, the schools you put as choices feed back to the LEA whether they would accept you under their admission criteria, the LEA then allocates you the school highest up your choice list where you have been offered a place.
So if you put school A above school B, you will always get school A if it is a place for you even if school B could also offer you a place.

Savvy_Sue

brians_daughter wrote: »

Also, if I put the school i wanted him to attend as 1st choice (even tho he has less chance of getting into it) would this impact on the 2nd choices decision... ie are they less likely to accept him as it wasnt 1st choice?

It's not so much that they are less likely to accept him if it wasn't 1st choice, as that they might not have spaces if it's not first choice.

It could be worth ringing the second choice school and asking them how many children for whom it was not first choice were admitted this year.

If you put Dad's address down, I'd put Dad's name as primary carer and get him to sign the application. The way you describe things, that wouldn't be fraudulent. But everything will go to that address rather than to yours, so you will need to carry on being civilised with each other.

As you've moved, it would be worth making the point that it's not appropriate for him to go to the 'normal' school his current school feeds to.

Anastasia

I would mention any involvement with activities he is involved in at church e.g. youth groups, serving at mass. If he is not involved then this is the time to do something. It would help if the Priest knows him fairly well. Good luck.

brians_daughter

Hi all thanks for the advice...

Re this...

"I would mention any involvement with activities he is involved in at church e.g. youth groups, serving at mass. If he is not involved then this is the time to do something. It would help if the Priest knows him fairly well. Good luck. "

My son serves as an alter boy twice a week and our parish Priest we have known all our lives, he is actually coming to share Christmas dinner with us this year as his only relative died in April time. He has offered to write a ref for him to say how involved in the church we all are. I do the parish newsletter, and assist in getting the elderly to Mass when they cant get therre alone etc

Although, the Church we attend is not in the Parish of either of his High school choices...does this matter? I assume, maybe sillily that attending Mass is attending Mass, and living as a Christian is still living as a Christian- regardless of where you do it