Sol

Sydenham school is a good school and I know girls who are very happy there.

Agree reg the schools being understaff and lacking resources; in particular the SEN departments, I got a child at Dulwich Hamlet and eventually got the support I needed for my child. There are some good teachers and the current SEN person has been very helpful; but not school is perfect and I do feel they are over stretched. You also need to push for your child. I was put off by Kingsdale exclusion unit where they send kids who don?t behave/are having trouble as they learn very little there and get further behind. I also heard Majority of mainstream schools just want the best children with not issues who can bring the best results and keep the school reputation.

Thank you very much. These are all very positive comments apart from a few issues regarding the temporal premisses which hopefully will be sorted next year.

Thank you very much. This is very helpful. We have accepted the place. I don't think we have much chance in the other two choices as we were 160 and 64 on the waiting list a few weeks ago. I believe we are about 1100 meters from the school as the crow flies. I mean from the new premises.

My daughter has been offered a place at this school and I would be grateful for opinions from parents with children there. We did not go to the open days unfurtunately. It wasn't our first choice as were concerned because the school is not yet fully established.

Hi James and Renata, Thank you both for your replies. I am hoping the school will sort it out, I will contact one of you next week if I need your help.

Hi Renata, I will Pm you Thanks

Edited

Things have certainly changed and are as per Lorraine said at the moment. Everyone has a chance to play an instrument, but you need to pay for the lessons, it is cheaper than independently though

By the way, I know someone who moved from the independent sector to DHJS for a year and went back to the independent sector as she felt her child was learning what she have already learned and was not pushed academically and she wanted her child to go to one of the top independents in year 7. Her child got into a good independent but not the top independent she wanted to so I think going back to the independant made not difference and she would have probably got the same school going to the Hamlet wih some tutoring.

I called them and they didn't want to tell me, but I guess around 1000 as we are just above it and 12 on the waiting list.

I have been very happy with the education my children have received at DHJS. They have very good sports and music provision and they focus on a rounded education not just the academics so children enjoy school as well as their childhood; they have lots of other fun opportunities to learn like trips and enrichment activities. About 10% to 15% move to the independent sector for year 7, I believe this is more to do with how expensive it is and because we have very good state secondaries around. The majority move to The Charter North Dulwich which is the closest state school to the Hamlet. Children who are sitting 11 plus get tutored and move to JAGs, Alleyn's, St Dustan?s, Sydenham High, and Dulwich College. As the previous poster said only a small proportion move to top independent because they are highly competitive. You may want to look at this school too http://www.honeywellschools.org/ which is another very good junior school in Clapham.

redjam: Apologies; I found the email and it was in July 2017. They gave me 2016 information and they said they couldn't give 2017 as there was still a lot of movement happening. For that year it was 2793. Apologies for the confusion. I guess you can email the school directly.

redjam: I emailed the school directly last year around October I think and the second round went up to 2743. I will look for the email. redjam Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sol Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Sydenham School > > distance was shorter this year. I think the > school > > is gaining more popularity; It is a very good > > school and the new facilities also help. I > think > > last year it was 2200 meters in the first round > > and went up to 2743 by beginning of September. > > > > > Where did you get this info, Sol? I'd heard that > last year the maximum Sydenham home-to-school > distance was 2.2km but I'd assumed that was the > final distance offered, not just the initial > first-round offer. On the Lewisham website they > phrased it as 'last place offered' (see > https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/education/s > chools/school-admission/applying-to-start-secondar > y-school/Documents/SecondarySchoolAdmissionsTable1 > 718.pdf). So I'd be interested to know if it > actually ended up extending out another half a > kilometre beyond that. > > I think we're too far away this year anyway given > that the catchment has shrunk this year - and I'm > not too bothered as luckily we're extremely happy > with our second-place offer. But I'd be interested > to calculate the likelihood that we might get > offered a last-minute waiting-list place.

kristymac1: is it Harrys Girls East Dulwich or Peckham you are talking about?

Thank you Renata. I will ask Southwark admissions to add my daughter to the waiting lists of other schools. It is a bit crazy, even with 60 more places in Charter East Dulwich and we didn't get a place; we are 1100 meters away. Does this mean we are still short of secondary school places in Dulwich or is this a difficult year? I guess the 390 places in Kingsdale do not count with the complicated admission criteria and kids applaying from all over London. I must admit the person who set that admission policy is a very clever one. Nobody fully understands it.

Thank you Renata I will email Southwark admissions. Sydenham School distance was shorter this year. I think the school is gaining more popularity; It is a very good school and the new facilities also help. I think last year it was 2200 meters in the first round and went up to 2743 by beginning of September. Do you know the distances for Charter ED and North Dulwich?

Don't know but we are just a bit over 1000 meters and did not get a place

Brockwell park seems very popular

Hi Renata, how do we find out about distances and waiting lists. Have been calling the schools without much luck. I imagine they are being bombarded so they are not answering the phones.

Edited

Thank you Renata. I just wanted to put school we were happy with. I guess it is a risk we took.

3 more hours to wait. Can't wait to find out what we are getting even though I am convinced it will be a school not on the list.

Thank you very much Redjam.

Thanks a lot. How many children are Kingsdale and Charter East Dulwich taking this year? Can't wait for Thursday.