landsberger

redjam Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So, landsberger, from what I can gather, those > stats relate to the offers made on National Offers > Day only, so presumably the percentage of kids who > actually end up going to a school they want is > higher once the waiting lists have shaken down - > is that right? Yes, in the main. People whose kids are going to private schools also apply for school places "just in case" which are then released into the pot. As they often apply to the "more desirable" schools, this frees up spaces at these schools. That's the good news. The "bad news" is that people applying late with good reason are treated as if they made an on time application. So you will get a parent who is 2nd or 3rd on the waiting list who suddenly drops to 5th or 6th.

Fill yer boots, Tomskip https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-applications For 2015, for secondary 59.6% got their 1st preference, 77.3% got first or second, and 86.6% got first, second or third. 93.1% got one of their 6 preferences (i.e 6.9%, or around 1 in 12, did not). For 2015, for primary 80.0% got their 1st preference, 88.7% got first or second, and 91.9% got first, second or third. 95.6% got one of their 6 preferences (i.e 4.4%, or less 1 in 20, did not).

Again, I ask the question, with a finite number of places and applications for some schools far in excess of these, what should schools who are oversubscribed do - particularly if they have no room to expand, and particularly, in SOuthwark's case a) they don't actually run or are the admissions authority for any of the secondary schools and b) space is at a premium meaning that finding land for s secondary school to be built on won't be a decade long struggle with NIMBY residents and all other schools objecting at the prospect of losing star pupils? Answers on a postcard from parents and journalists please...

I would assume that's all they have funds for, unfortunately mama79 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks. We got some help from them to finally get > her diagnosed but not much else available. > Southwark unfortunatelly seems to think that 12 > hours of SALT for the whole 2015 will be just > about enough for my little one...

You run the same story, year in, year out and it's completely toxic; it perpetuates myth after myth about schools, admissions and the role (or lack of it) of local councils - you never, ever address the issues such as pseudo-selection by certain schools, the fact the government doesn't fund mainstream schools to expand, but is more than happy to fund places in academies and free schools where there is no discernible need. The fact that the majority of parents get the place they ask for and the vast majority, one of their first 3 choices is sadly of no interests to hacks. emc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Oh for goodness sake - I work for an ITV breakfast > show where national offer day will be one of the > top news stories on that day (as it will be on BBC > Breakfast, other breakfast radio shows, lunchtime > news set) Based on last year's (and previous > years) stats of (the sizeable) percentages of > people who miss out on their first choice schools > in London and various other parts of the country, > it is a story. We're just trying to make two mins > of TV, that's all. Please PM me if you think you > can help. Thank you

Try these people http://localoffer.southwark.gov.uk/education/specialist-services-offered-by-the-council/early-years-autism-support-team/

Try http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200279/parenting_support_and_courses/1700/southwark_information_advice_and_support_team/2 at Sunshine House 27 Peckham Road London SE5 8UH

LondonMix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think its a bit irresponsible for ITV to comb > for the few potentially upset parents before > evaluating how many people got one of their top 3 > choices so they can weigh if there really is a > scandal worth reporting. Makes for good copy, though, and allows the Daily Express and Daily Mail to bash local councils, once again. Even though they do not do the admissions for secondary schools !

Turnover in heads is not unknown - you'd need to know what the circumstances were.

Sounds like the ITV story is already written, if truth be told. If a school gets over 1000 1st choice applicants, and there are 180 places, then there are going to be a lot of disappointed parents. What are ITV and the concerned parents suggesting - that the school expands to take 1000 pupils in reception? Where would they go ? How happy would parents be to be in a school with 30 odd forms of entry ? How would other schools react to this ? It's the same story, year-in, year out for primary and secondary admissions day, and yet no-one actually explains what they think would be a fairer and more equitable way of allocating school places and meeting demand. They are solely concerned with their own child, and sod the rest. emc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks for this - we are doing the item on the day > AFTER the results too so would love to hear from > any parents who are upset at not getting their > first choices (I imagine there will be many) - > this would to be live on the show, only for a > minute or so. I'm going to be going through it > next year and am not looking forward to it...pls > PM if you think you can help. > > Thanks so much

Cora Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Offers come by email in the evening, after 5pm I > think? That's what happened last year. So I imagine ITV may be disappointed.

You could always try Harris corporately...

There was another thread on this forum that was broadly supportive of the move. I'm personally not quite sure why having a double decker bus passing your house is any worse than a single decker in terms of noise or disturbance, but there you go.

There's a (liberal) synagogue in Streatham with seemingly quite an active social calender http://www.southlondon.org/contact.html

spanners45 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thank you all. I think my friend is just keen to > have her daughter to live in England and attend an > English school in the hope that this will improve > her language. Like you, I am concerned about the > GCSE exams and the timing of it all as it is so > different to the Spanish curriculum. > > I will pass all this on. Hugely helpful, thank > you. It may be worth them coming after 16, to be honest, where I think they would get the best of the education system that is most similar to the Spanish experience. A highly academic atmosphere with a strict uniform policy might seem superficially attractive to someone as some kind of proto-Hogwarts experience, but the first year in a sixth form would perhaps ensure they didn't have such a torrid time of it.

steveo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks landsberger, that's a half hour playing > with flightradar I'll never get back It's great if you're picking someone up from London City Airport and want to know how late they'll be ;-/ Or whether their plane departed on time.

DaveR is right, you're an hour from the beach in Rome by train (which is an adventure in itself) if that's what they want to do. Obviously I don't know your kids or their interests or ages, but, like the Spanish, the Italians love kids and particularly off the beaten track, will treat them very well.

What kind of course are they looking for ?

If you ever want to see the identity of a flight travelling over your house, head over to Flightradar24 Flightradar24.com is realtime information and shows the progress of flights across the world. I can, for instance see at this instant that an Alitalia flight AZ216/AZA216 from Milan to London City has just flown over Dulwich Village at an altitude of 2,475 feet, is 8 minutes early, has a registration of EI-RNA and is an Embraer ERJ-190. Useful if you want to cite a specific flight.

The eason I posted the list is because I. I wanted to show all high performing schools within 9 miles, some of which are non-selective Ii. i thought the OP might find it useful - which, apparently, they did. I personally am not a fan of selection, but I try and be helpful where I can. Makes the days go by quicker, generally. Sadly I didn't have a chance to go through the wide variety of catchment areas, and selection policies of the schools concerned, but it appears other posters will.

midivydale Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Landsberger, interesting. Thank you both for your > comments Check out https://www.gov.uk/guidance/changes-to-education-inspection-from-september-2015

Or you may wish to consider a high performing non-selective or partially selective school? Top 65 schools within 9 miles of SE15 sorted by percentage of 5 or more GCSEs including Maths and English with results above 70%. * are completely selective *The Henrietta Barnett School 100% *Newstead Wood School 100% *Sutton Grammar School 100% *Wallington County Grammar School 100% *Wilson's School 100% *Wallington High School for Girls 99% *Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School 98% *Beths Grammar School 97% *Bexley Grammar School 97% *Woodford County High School 97% Ark King Solomon Academy 95% Bethnal Green Academy 90% The London Oratory School 87% Twyford Church of England High School 87% Coloma Convent Girls' School 87% The Grey Coat Hospital 85% Langley Park School for Girls 85% Sacred Heart High School 85% Graveney School 84% La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls' School 84% Harris City Academy Crystal Palace 83% Mossbourne Community Academy 83% The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School 83% St Thomas More Roman Catholic Comprehensive School 83% The St Marylebone CofE School 82% Ursuline High School Wimbledon 82% St Catherine's Catholic School 81% Bishop Thomas Grant Catholic Secondary School 81% Bullers Wood School 80% Coombe Girls' School 80% The Charter School 79% Kingsdale Foundation School 79% Alexandra Park School 78% The Ursuline Academy Ilford 78% Central Foundation Boys' School 78% La Sainte Union Catholic Secondary School 78% Hayes School 77% The Camden School for Girls 77% Brampton Manor Academy 76% Langley Park School for Boys 76% Fortismere School 76% St Angela's Ursuline School 76% St Philomena's School 76% Darrick Wood School 75% Glenthorne High School 75% Sacred Heart Catholic School 75% Harris Girls' Academy East Dulwich 75% Swanlea School 75% Sir John Cass Foundation and Redcoat Church of England Secondary School 75% Fulham Cross Girls' School and Language College 74% Holland Park School 74% St Michael's Catholic College 74% St Mary Magdalene Academy 74% Oaklands School 74% Lady Margaret School 73% Harris Academy Falconwood 73% Walthamstow School for Girls 73% The John Fisher School 73% St Ursula's Convent School 73% Woolwich Polytechnic School 72% The City Academy, Hackney 72% Morpeth School 72% Seven Kings School 72% Prendergast School 72% Dunraven School 71%

Also, schools have been Ofsteded and the reports are not on the website - the lag can be as much as 3 months (and more if the school is quibbling the result)

James Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Lots of evidence of cost-cutting by these train > companies. But with our ridiculously inflated > fares, where is the investment? Peckham Rye > station seems to get dirtier and more overcrowded > by the day. Apparently Govia has a massive hole in their finances and this goes some way to addressing it. Interestingly, this reason is why Connex lost their contract...

gingerchris Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Seems sensible, I cant remember the last time I > bought a ticket from the ticket office. With the > prevalence of Oyster cards and the fact the ticket > office can't top them up they seem increasingly > pointless. Except that...there are quite a few tickets you can only buy at a ticket office...there are times when the ticket machines break down...the ticket staff will be redeployed as revenue control staff, and will have no access to live running information (they do at the moment). In the past, the latter has been done by a private firm on a target contract.