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My Grandaughter...advice Please


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Hi everyone, not sure if this is the correct forum for this query. Please help! I am a R/Y1 teacher myself but I would like some unbiased advice. My grandaughter will be 4 in May, my son has applied to 2 of out of catchment schools , as they were head and shoulders above the local school. They are now devastaed to find out that she hasn't got either of the first twos school and not even her catchment school! The school that she has been offerred a place at is in and out of special measures on a regular basis. My son is adamant that she will NOT go to the'speecial measures' school. He is now considering keeping her in preschool for another year. I would be very interested to hear other teachers opinions on this idea?? Do you think that it would be detrimental to her socially? I have really mixed feelings about it but I feel to closely invoved to give them unbiased advice. She is a bright little girl and her preschool is excellent but I'm worried that she may get bored .......HELP !!! the other question I have is would she be higher up on the list for the original two choices for next year? Thanks Kazz

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question to ask is would she get into school requested next year...there is no guarantee that situation will change....in our area over subscribed schools rarely have spaces to start in year 1 - so what will be gained?

 

Inge

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question to ask is would she get into school requested next year...there is no guarantee that situation will change....in our area over subscribed schools rarely have spaces to start in year 1 - so what will be gained?

 

Inge

 

I agree with Inge. If it is anything like Essex there can be children dropping out of the other schools before September, is there any way of finding out about a waiting list for any of the schools actually wanted?

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question to ask is would she get into school requested next year...there is no guarantee that situation will change....in our area over subscribed schools rarely have spaces to start in year 1 - so what will be gained?

 

Inge

 

Same in our area. If she stays in pre-school for an extra year, she would miss doing a Reception year and may still not get a place in Year 1 in the school of her parents choice. We are always over-subscribed but occasionally have a place or two in September in Reception if a family moves between being offered a place and the child actually starting school. If the decision is made to keep your grandaughter in pre-school, it's always worth contacting the school of their choice early in Term 1 to see if they have any spaces then.

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I think it is well worth making an appeal - often or not appeals get through - with regard to the pre-school you say is great, then if she does stay there, I am sure they would be able to extend her, hard one - if only every school was a good school. Good luck with it all Dot

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poor you and your grand daughter- it is such a hard and emotional time for everyone

we recently had a child who should have gone to school last september but didnt get into her first or second choice school - she stayed with us for a term and a half and has now gone onto school- however it was another school as the two first choice schools were still full and both had active waiting lists.

i do think she missed out on socialising with children her age and with making new friends as these are made quickly on entry into school.

it could be that there still wont be a space after a term as in our case - and also you should ask where she is on the waiting list as that couild give you an idea of the likelihood of getting into the school.

it also depends on your grand daughters age as she has to legally be in school by term after her fifth birthday so if she is one of the older ones she will have to be in school by january.

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Like the others I would appeal. We are awaiting to hear about what school my niece has got into and so can completely empathize with your situation. However, with my teacher hat on and having worked in oversubscribed schools, I know that situations can change between now and September, people may move out of the area, parents change their mind and places become available - even on the day before the start of term! I would investigate what the process is for getting on the waiting list for the schools of choice and pursue that. Contact the LA directly and then follow the procedures to the letter and in the time frame they set out if the information hasn't been sent out to you in the pack they have been set out.

 

Good luck and keep us posted :o

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I would also advise going to visit the school that she has been allocated- then yourn son can make an absolutely informed judgement (if he hasn't visited it already) That way in his appeal, should he choose to, he can do so with the knowledge that he has got from his visit.

I would also check where on the waiting list your grand-daughter is and inform the preferred school that you wish to be kept on the waiting list. At our infant school we are often over-subsribed. Those families that named us as a preferred school but didn't get in are contacted in September to see if they want to stay on our waiting list (in September the waiting lists are handed over to the schools, until then they are kept with the LA). By contacting the families on the list we can assetain if they are still interested should a place come up.

Those who have siblings or live closer or who ahve a statement will get in over all others.

Keep trying but do go and see the said school to get a better understanding of where they are going- you never know it may not be as bad as reported!!

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My advice would also be to appeal - we had a similar situation with one of our little boys last year. the family in a really peculiar position of being exactly mid point between two primary schools and listed our village as first preference as that was where he had attended pre-school and the other village school as second choice - unbelieveably was offered a place at a school about ten miles away - also a 'problem' school. They appealed and were sucessful. Hope it all works out for them.

 

Sunnyday

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It's worth seeing if there is any point in appealing before you make any decisions.

 

What you also need to bear in mind is that she will only get Nursery Grant funding for Preschool, so not full-time like Reception would be. I have been in this position, and in spite of appeals by the parents, the County would not 'cough up' the money they would have spent on her in Reception to come to the Preschool. (Not that we expected that they would - but Parent got bee in bonnet about it)

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Thankyou so much for all help and advice . Iwill be speaking to my son and daughter in law tomorrow and pass on your comments to them ......I think now that they should appeal, nothing to lose really . Thankyou everyone :-)

I'll keep you posted

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(in September the waiting lists are handed over to the schools, until then they are kept with the LA).

 

In our LA that doesn't happen until the end of Sept/beginning of Oct.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's me again, I asked advice about what my son should do regarding his daughter not getting either of her choices of schools . They ARE going to appeal but are not sure on WHAT grounds ......both of their preffered schools were outside of catchment , they are really looking for guidance ......any help would be appreciated please Kazz

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it is a tricky one as i know from experience that infant schools are harder to get into through appeal - i think you need to visit the schools and look at what they will offer her which the other one cant. you need to write down all these reasons so you dont forget any of them on the day - talk about the distance , how you would get her to the school, what positves it will have on her . it is a very emtional experience as i found out some years ago. good luck and keep positive

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