SamBe

Monkey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Do you work for Southwark, SamBe? No I don?t. My first post in this thread questions Southwark not being able to publish distances as they manage the pan London admissions process. I just find posts in this thread a little condemnatory to be honest, even when posting information from schools websites of their published distances it seemed accusatory for some reason. Apologies if not the intent. On a personal note I have experience of 3 local secondaries and I read the quite clear information that is published on the Southwark site, so I felt that your ?crumpled letter in school bag? was a complaint about your primary schools communication in Year 6 not against Southwark nor secondaries. The government implies there is choice, and parents consistently feel aggrieved when they realise that doesn?t mean you get the school you want. It?s choice over what you put on your list not what you get. It doesn?t matter how much you want a school, or how clever or talented or anxious your child is, or what the distance was last year, it only matters who is applying this year and which admissions criteria applies to them.

Monkey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I?ve asked several times whether Southwark had > actually approached the schools to publish these > data and no answer. I?ve come to the conclusion > that the schools and the council are against > publishing this info. > > Generally speaking, Southwark is not very > proactive when it comes to school admissions. > Lewisham sends email reminders throughout the > process. Southwark sends a simple letter which I > found crumpled at the bottom of my daughter?s > school bag. Southwark has a lot to learn from > Lewisham in terms of good practice. For someone who has actually quoted school published distances in this thread your accusations of some great collusive cover up seems odd tbh. I?m not even sure how published distances help that much when populations change year on year. The admissions process and information is fairly well published on Southwarks website, https://www.southwark.gov.uk/schools-and-education/school-admissions/secondary-admissions Look it up and put it in your calendar.

Soylent Green Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think the difference is that Southwark does not > have any local authority secondary schools. All > the secondaries in Southwark are academies, who > manage their own admissions criteria and waiting > lists. Southwark council just assists in the > allocation process - then everything goes back to > the schools. I don?t believe this is true, the pan-London admissions process means that Southwark are responsible for allocating school places up to the start of the academic year, No doubt they liaise with schools in the borough with respect to rankings in line with admissions policy, but they will hold all the information for all the schools and it?s disingenuous to suggest they can?t collate and provide the information.