Anyone else..

Stressing over primary schools??

Ellie's got 2 years before she starts school but we're really stressing about which one she'll get in.

There are 4 great schools near us all less than 1.1 miles away but there are loads of houses in my are and we live really really close to any so that we're guaranteed a place.

I know people in our area who've been given schools miles away in dog rough areas.

It's one of the many reasons we moving to this area, excellent schools :-)
It was something we thought about not just for rich, but for the babies too.
Choosing schools is stressful, hope you get the one you want xx

I'm stressing abuot being able to afford school for my two... and I DON'T want them to have to go into local greek school

I need to do research on our local schools but to be honest I don't rate ofsted and that's the only place you can get info!

Nope. Any school round us will be chavy

Kell. Read the Ofstead reports they are very factual and very accurate.

The problems here is that where we live is a really nice area but in others parts of the town there are gypos and I don't want Ellie playing with gypos. The schools in the rough area are grade 1 but so are the schools here so I want her going to school here. I think the only for us to get a local school is the RC route which is fine as Ellie is baptised but we are going to have start going to church regularly :-/

Kell Ofsted is normally fairly accurate. I wouldn't just base it on that though because the feel of the school, etc is important too

yep, stressing bout it too!

Not really that keen on the area we live and there is one school i def dont want her to go to because when i have been there for other child related events, there were so many foul mouthed mums and other mums obviously drugged up to the eyeballs! I dont want sophia around all that!

But then another of the schools not sure about because from their nursery recently the security was so lax that a child managed to wander out the school gates and cross over a main road, only to be found by a relative! I know that its prob a good thing (in terms of upping security now) because hopefully now they are hotter on this but it doesnt make me feel great bout the possibilty of her going there.

There are another two i have seen the children at play and it gives me a good feeling about the schools but one was on special measures just 18 months ago. although again a good thing as usually that brings big improvements.

Probably though i will go for the one where i access the childrens centre, but i want to go have a look round all of them before i go for it. OFSTED is great in one respect but doesnt give the full picture but like that it does work as a general guide.

All our schools are good not oustanding.

Mandy x

I'm beginning to think perhaps I'm a bit strange and should be thinking about it a bit more. I've no idea what the schools round here are even like

Tams you're not strange (well no stranger than the rest of us). I'm concerned simply because of the lack of schools in the area and kids been sent to rough areas. I have a friend who moved to our area at Christmas simply to get his little girl into one of the schools here. His little girl got allocated a school 3 miles away! The school is ok but he's pissed off that his wife has to drive past 3 local schools to get her there.

I was on phone to education other day or rich hen we move and I gave them a list of schools he couldn't attend, because I've removed kids from there... She thought it was hilarious, I thought it was necessary, stupid thing to need to think of when looking at schools, occupational hazard I suppose

We are extremely lucky where we live as all the schools are of a good standard. We got Immy into the one we wanted as we are on the border of catchment, so it would be highly unlikely/unlucky if Isla didn't get in too x

I worry about schools because we want to move house but can't do it till April 2014 because of the mortgage but by then we need to have applied for Stephen's school already We live next to a really good school but ideally we don't want to stay in this area, we know where we want to move to and which school we would like him to go to there, it's all very complicated !

We worry. Although the school near us is decent enough by ofsted standards I don't rate ofsted. The nursery I worked at was 'outstanding' and i would never send my children there and the school i worked at was 'good' but again it was awful from what i saw. Also and sorry but I'm going to sound really snobby here but the kids i see going there are so chavvy. I've met a lot of families at the children's centre and i know how horrible i sound but i do not want Imogen hanging around with their kids. There's two other lower schools so we're hoping to send her to either of those but we're far out so i don't think it will happen.

Andrew got my first choice so I'm hoping Sophie will get it too. Siblings are priority so would be unlikely not to get her in there.

I totally understand how you feel thugh as I was so stressed between Jan and Easter hoping he would get in! You can always appeal if you don't get the school you want.

Does the school you want her to attend have a nursery attached ? Sophie will hopefully get into the school nursery in Jan. They say it has no affect on the school application but it does give you a bit of an argument to appeal with if you don't get her in?

Xx

I don't know what to put down for 2nd and 3rd choice :?:

No vic there isn't a nursery attached. For the school we want there 13 appeals last year and none were successful. On a positive note out of the children who were accepted the furthest away they lived were 1.1 mile. We live 0 84 of a mile so we live in hope x

Is it your closest school ? It goes by radius though I think?

Around by me if you put your closest school as your top choice you pretty much always get it?

Pity about the nursery... I will have to keep evereytng crossed when the time comes!

Xx

Amanda it doesn't really matter here what your second is is because if it's filled with first choice kids it won't be an option. The problem with here is that there are more kids than school places in our local schools so it's a bloody battle.

Vic you're right. Most schools have distance as criteria number 2 or 3 so if you live close to a school youve a good chance of success . Siblings are first priority at most x

I think that's going to be true of most places soon Pen. There's been a baby boom and with immigration as well I don't think there's going to be enough

hmm, that has made me think, gonna check distance away from me now....

MAndy x

do they go by 'as the crow flies' or by actual door to door distance?

MAndy x

It is as the crow flies by me Mandy xx

so glad Scotland does it differently to England