1 year old son, thinking about reception/school place.

chelseablue

shiny76 wrote: »

There isn't a waiting list for schools but there could be for breakfast/after-school clubs. If these are over subscribed you may be able to get your child(ren)s name down so they secure a place when they start school.

Our eldest had to wait for a place with us having to juggle working hours. We have our 2nd child on the waiting list despite him only being 2 years old.

This /\ /\

The day we found out our sons school place I went to the after school club that afternoon to apply for a place :rotfl:

Kynthia

Go on the school website to find their selection criteria. For most schools I looked at it is:
1st Looked after children (tends to be fostered and adopted children I think)
2nd Siblings of current students
3rd Distance from school (as the crow flies and not route/street based)

So generally if you don't have a child at the school already the places left are given to those nearest the school. The council website should publish each year the distance the furthest child to get in lived, and the map to calculate the distance of your house. You can use past years data to get an idea if you have a chance or not but the distance of children accepted can change if there's a surge in applications. When our school became rated excellent the increased applications reduced the typical distance from 1.5km to 0.9km leaving many distraught.

Schools can differ their selection criteria though. Religious schools can put church attendance above distance from the school. Some might not prioritise siblings or siblings who've left the catchment area. Others might give priority to those attending the nursery, but many don't. So you must check each school's individual criteria.

Generally the best thing to do is live as near as possible to the school. However I know someone just 80 meters from a small school who didn't get a place as they were all taken by siblings.

Kynthia

Go on the school website to find their selection criteria. For most schools I looked at it is:
1st Looked after children (tends to be fostered and adopted children I think)
2nd Siblings of current students
3rd Distance from school (as the crow flies and not route/street based)

So generally if you don't have a child at the school already the places left are given to those nearest the school. The council website should publish each year the distance the furthest child to get in lived, and the map to calculate the distance of your house. You can use past years data to get an idea if you have a chance or not but the distance of children accepted can change if there's a surge in applications. When our school became rated excellent the increased applications reduced the typical distance from 1.5km to 0.9km leaving many distraught.

Schools can differ their selection criteria though. Religious schools can put church attendance above distance from the school. Some might not prioritise siblings or siblings who've left the catchment area. Others might give priority to those attending the nursery, but many don't. So you must check each school's individual criteria.

Generally the best thing to do is live as near as possible to the school. However I know someone just 80 meters from a small school who didn't get a place as they were all taken by siblings.

Cash-Cows

Forget thinking about junior school. You need to be thinking of secondary schools. Check which is your catchment secondary school and if your chosen junior school feeds into this. If it doesn't then you might have issues later.

Spendless

Kynthia wrote: »

Go on the school website to find their selection criteria. For most schools I looked at it is:
1st Looked after children (tends to be fostered and adopted children I think)
2nd Siblings of current students
3rd Distance from school (as the crow flies and not route/street based)

Completely and utterly depends on your area. In the town where I live all the (non faith) schools put catchment after looked after children. Faith schools, here tend to put attending church before their next criteria, which *might* be siblings.

The only way you're going to know is by looking at each school as to the way they are doing it - and bare in mind that can change. My son's Secondary moved siblings down a category and 'attending a feeder Primary' up.

Spendless

kingfisherblue wrote: »

As others have said, it's far too early to put down your son's name, and the school may no longer be outstanding when the time comes for him to attend. However, I would also like to add that an outstanding school is not necessarily the best school for your child. What about pastoral care? The ethos of the school? What about their work with higher or lower achievers, if your child should become either? What if you child has special needs and requires extra support?

One school that was outstanding for many years was actually a poor choice for pupils with special needs - several parents over a number of years have had bad experiences. The same school suddenly failed it's OFSTED, which surprised many local people.

One school that I visited had a reasonable reputation and had been rated Good. The atmosphere was not a happy one when I visited, at least in my opinion.

This is very true. My experience of an outstanding school is it has become so obsessed with its results, everything else has gone out of the window, so when a serious (non exam) issue has come along they've not known how to deal with it and haven't done so either at all or adequately.

My daughter is now thankfully at a school that puts emotional well-being before everything else, which makes sense, you can't study if you're MH isn't good.

Dark_Star

I'd add that if you're choosing a faith school & suddenly turn up at church several times a month for the next 4 years in order to assist your application, then please have the decency to keep attending...


Our local church schools require a letter from the vicar to confirm that you are a regular attendee though I doubt it pulls rank over siblings/looked after.


If however, 2 of you in the same street are fighting over the one final place for a church school & one of has attended regularly & the other never attends, then the attendee would be placed higher up the list.


You can attend a church of your choice & get that vicar to write in, if for some reason you don't like the church attached to the school. E.g. you attend one several miles away that umpteen generations of your family's bottoms have always warmed the pews in.


Or save up, go private & yes, you can put their name down now.


If your school of choice is a small school with lots of future siblings in your child's year then it's quite possible you would NOT get in as the places would be filled by siblings. Yo cannot predict how many there will be as people come & go. A family could move in when he is 3 with triplets & there goes 3 of your spaces already.


Yes that does happen. Several sets of twins due to join local schools in the next couple of years so that is 4 spaces down...as they have older siblings in school.


The savings plan, however, can be started now!

Fireflyaway

I used to work in school admissions. It's not uncommon for parents to obsess about how to get into a particular school but I'd relax a bit. Some of it will be out of your hands. Admission criteria is different in different areas and for different types of schools. Where I live most schools will offer based on distance. The person closest is offered first and then the next one and so on. It can mean you might live in catchment but still not get in if all the places are filled by those living closer. There isn't anything much you can do to maximize your chance.
Then the reason I say relax is schools change. When I was working in admissions there was a particular school that everyone wanted. Parents even protested outside the council as they wanted more places made available! Fast forward around 4 years and parents being offered the school were declining their offer. Parents were even withdrawing their kids and moving to other schools!
Also don't obsess over ofsted reports! Outstanding schools are typically inspected less frequently. It could mean a significant change between inspection. What you read as being an outstanding school might not be performing at that level currently if the inspection was some time ago. Also an individual teacher might not be the right fit for your child's personality ( or the other way round) There could be a particularly disruptive child in your child's class of your own child might not like school or behave differently to what you expect.
Don't stress too much. A loving supportive home is the most important thing and you can control that.

buildersdaughter

The system is different for state schools to private nurseries, so the same situation won't arise. What can be confusing to newcomers is that 'nursery' can mean a private day nursery, a nursery class at a private school, or a nursery class (3-5) attached to a state school. There are also a few state nursery schools.
The funded hours that kick in at age 3 (earlier in a few areas) were really developed because of patchy state nursery education, and that standard nursery school hours don't really fit working parents. So you can use those hours either to get a 'school hours' place or simply offset those hours at a day nursery.
Some infant / primary schools that have nursery classes do look kindly on children who have been to their nursery class, others regard it as completely separate. So it might be worth looking to see if the school does have a nursery class.
Otherwise, concentrate on enjoying your child now, and enhancing their experiences. Resilience is an important quality to nurture in children, so is the ability to make friends and get on well with others. Both help them to cope with a school that isn't the 'best' or ' most suitable'

Kaye1

I echo lots of earlier posts.

The best rated school may not be the best for your child. The first school we visited, all they wanted to talk about was results. My daughter was really, really quiet and I knew it wasn't for her.

She went to another school and didn't speak for the first term. Apart from 'Good Morning!' The teacher didn't pressure her, just basically took care of her until she felt brave enough to speak. She eventually became Head Girl- and the school was brilliant. They saw she was quiet and timid and they didn't push her to do anything they didn't want to but they encouraged and praised her when she needed it.

So what I am saying, is don't just pick the school because it has been assessed by the government as outstanding- pick the school that is best for your child.