Primary School Admissions Nightmare!

Unfortunately this is happening all too often and parents are taking drastic steps to guarantee they get a place at their chosen school. ALL schools should equally be as good but in my area this is not the case. The government are allowing so many people into this country but are not providing schools/hospitals to cover this.

A friend whose daughter was in a similar position with her little girl recommended this book Parent Power by Francis Gilbert. There is one chapter towards the back of the book which deals with Appeals, I understand. Good luck.

My D is looking around for a school at the moment. The catchment school is substandard so off they go, looking everywhere. All the schools (including catchment one) are miles away as it is a rural area. What is needed is high quality schools so that parents do not need to search around - they can just go to their local school with no problem.

vert - I am totally amazed that you your GC cannot get into a school that is 200 yards away - how much nearer can you get?! I hope they succeed in getting places - good luck!

Hi vert

Sorry to hear about the disappointment about the school allocation.

I advise the family to make a visit to the school allocated and to go with an open mind as possible and have (another) look. If they really think the child/ren will not thrive there then OK go for appeal. But make sure that children's needs and not parental needs are foremost. I know that sounds odd but sometimes the pressure for parents to get into the 'right' school is a real social pressure and sometimes the kids will do just as well at the less popular school.

When making appeal stick to the guidelines and criteria and do not be tempted to go on about other issues as it cannot be considered.

All though this try hard not to let the chid/ren know you are not happy with the allocated school..they may still go there and a negative attitude will have a negative impact on a child's progress.

If things cannot be resolved then there are waiting lists (but no guarantees) , the option of home education (plenty of websites & GN previous forum). Personally I would go with a school place and see how child/ren get on. It takes a few years for a school's changing performance (good or bad!)to get to street level so it may be perfectly OK!

I appreciate how stressful it is ..they are precious those children, so good luck

mishap agree re good local schools. But also think successive governments have conned parents into thinking they have a choice when in reality they do not! I do not think the increase in 'variety' of school makes it any easier for parents either. I think too that the big media focus on education has undermined parents confidence in the system.

I know there was a survey of parents, from across the country,a few years ago that showed that the majority of parents were happy with their own child's school /education but felt that education elsewhere was on the decline! They'd read it in the press!

Ideally all kids should be able to go to a school within 15 minutes travel from their home. If only!!

Anyone noticed that the OP was a year ago? Poor vert got no responses then. How very different it is a year on!

annobel had not discovered GN a year ago!

That's what I meant! GN was just getting under way. I think I joined just a little later.

Oops! I see what you mean now I have looked properly

I'm sure I would have replied because we were going through hell this time last year thinking that my grandson might not get a place at his village school and would have to travel miles to another one. By the time my daughter got the letter to say he had a place we were both jibbering wrecks as it would have been impossible for us to do the school run between us. A nightmare for parents these days.

Oh dear, I hadn't looked at the date, but the book recommendation is there for anybody else who might need it. It has now worked for both families. the one who recommended the book and the friend I passed it on to.