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"Big school" school application Help!!!

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Well Reise has been given her booklet about the transfer to "big school" - couldn't believe it, she only went into Y6 about 2 weeks ago! We live just (less than a hundred yards) out of the catchment area for the feeder school which is Handsworth Grange.

 

Is it just me or is the application process really complicated? You need to have your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices, with reasons to support it all. You have to waffle a bit but only have two tiny wee lines to fit it all in.

 

Your then left till March next year before being told if you've got any of the choices you've made or if they have to go to the catchment area school (Reise's in Sheffield Park Academy which the league tables are terrible for)

 

So between now and March I'm going to be worried! Arrrgggghhhhh:confused:

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It's a nightmare, totally agree.

 

The only advice I can give you, is to fill the forms with every reason you want/need your child to go to your preferred school (even if it means continuing on 5 extra sheets of paper!!!!).

I didn't do this with my sons app for primary school and it resulted in us not getting a place and having to appeal.

When I spoke to the education representative at the appeal she said that had we put all the info on the 1st form he would have been given a place and the appeal wouldn't have been necessary.

Appealing is a whole load of trouble and many more weeks of stress for you:(

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Hi, I went through this last year with my eldest daughter. Her feeder school was Notre Dame but our catchment school was Ecclesfield. We then went through the awful process of her not getting into Notre Dame but all her friends did. Went to appeal but to no avail. One thing that a parent said to me after the event was that if you want your child to go to a particular school i.e. notre dame - then just put that one school down. don't put other options down because then you have no reasonable excuse for declining them.

I had all the tears and trauma that went with the knowledge that she had no friends moving up with her all through the summer holidays but now she couldn't be happier. And to be perfectly honest I prefer her to be closer to home than having to travel on those bloomin notre dame buses where the kids are just so unruly.

You need to go to the open evening of Handsworth Grange - if that is the school you want them to go to - and find out what the subscription rate is, cos if its over subscribed you're unlikely to get a place but if it's not then that's when they broaden their horizons so to speak.............good luck.

But yes I do agree the wait between handing the form in in October and the final decision in March is way too long..... and if it goes to appeal expect to wait another month.

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The open evening is on monday and we'll go to that. The other choices I've put are much more subscribed to (All saints being 2nd choice) so they'll prob give her 1st choice for ease of their work load - well thats the hope anyway.

 

If it comes to it, we'll move and she can go to Silverdale - which is an amazing school.

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I did my young ones online last week, his catchment school, he'll be fine. Its not the school that teaches the child, its the family :D

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The open evening is on monday and we'll go to that. The other choices I've put are much more subscribed to (All saints being 2nd choice) so they'll prob give her 1st choice for ease of their work load - well thats the hope anyway.

 

If it comes to it, we'll move and she can go to Silverdale - which is an amazing school.

 

I know where you're coming from, but its not as easy as that. You would have to move now in order to be in the right catchment area for Silverdale before the forms went in. Moving after the fact won't give you automatic entitlement if the school is over subscribed, your child could end up at King Edwards or King Egcberts instead - cos they'll just shove her where they've got space. They're really impersonal about this. As for All Saints - again I understand your logic but unless your child is baptised catholic or at least goes to one of the catholic junior schools eg St Theresa's then you absolutely won't get a place there.

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She is catholic and on the form I put the only reason she didn't go to catholic primary school was due to know places. We take her to mass often so that would help.

 

It's such a minefield and you worry all the time that your doing the right thing. Why is being a parent so flaming hard!

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I know where you're coming from, but its not as easy as that. You would have to move now in order to be in the right catchment area for Silverdale before the forms went in. Moving after the fact won't give you automatic entitlement if the school is over subscribed, your child could end up at King Edwards or King Egcberts instead - cos they'll just shove her where they've got space. They're really impersonal about this. As for All Saints - again I understand your logic but unless your child is baptised catholic or at least goes to one of the catholic junior schools eg St Theresa's then you absolutely won't get a place there.

 

King Ecgbert's is a great school!

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Not saying it isn't, its just at the other end of town so it was travelling distance I was thinking about.

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I understand that if you move house into a different catchment after the forms are in, unless that school is not already oversubscribed, your child is put into whichever school has free places. This also applies to anyone moving into Sheffield who has a Secondary age child. Last year the two schools were Abbeydale Grange and either Springs or Newfield.

 

Do not put down any school on the form that you will be unhappy with, especially not the catchment one if you do not like it!

 

If your child is already in one of the feeder schools then you do stand a decent chance :thumbsup:

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I know where you're coming from, but its not as easy as that. You would have to move now in order to be in the right catchment area for Silverdale before the forms went in. Moving after the fact won't give you automatic entitlement if the school is over subscribed, your child could end up at King Edwards or King Egcberts instead - cos they'll just shove her where they've got space. They're really impersonal about this. As for All Saints - again I understand your logic but unless your child is baptised catholic or at least goes to one of the catholic junior schools eg St Theresa's then you absolutely won't get a place there.

 

They have to accept however many % of kids that aren't catholic and haven't been baptised at All Saints, seen as they aren't allowed a totally catholic school.

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