Primary school place allocation chaos has started!

[tallgirl]

I'm really angry and frustrated,as the Lid Dems decided to defer the Southwark primary school allocation results by a month this year (conveniently after the elections) those of us who live near the Lewisham border need to decide about whether we want the school Lewisham has offered us (5th May deadline), before we get the outcome of our Southwark application. This is particularly going to have an impact on parents living in East Dulwich, Peckham Rye and Nunhead Wards. Interestinbgly, East Dulwich and Peckham Rye are both marginal wards. Are any other parents in this situation?

[Vik]

Could you not accept the Lewisham School offered, then if you prefer what Southwark offer when the time comes, contact Lewisham and decline?

[prdarling]

Crikey lucky you if you're going to get an offer from both anyway. I am on borders and have not got into anything in Lewisham so am banking on Southwark

Must be nice to have the luxury of choice...you are a minority around here

[toast]

We live on the border and didn't get into any school in Lewisham. Banking on southwark too but the fact that they have put it off until after the election is not a good sign!

[tallgirl]

We are on the borders too, we didn't get the Lewisham school we wanted, but one lower down our list. I think it's bad that due to the delay in the Southwark results that there will be alot of parents holding places in Lewisham while they wait for the Southwark outcomes. If many of the boundary parents get Southwark places, there may be a sudden wave of Lewisham places becoming available later. This is so unfair on parents who didn't get sny local school place for their child. I know that next year there will be a common application form for primary school applications, but by deferring it this year, the Lib Dems will have extended this stressful time for parents. The government has given the council 12 million pounds to help with the shortage of primary school places which particularly affects East Dulwich and Peckham Rye, Honor Oak and Nunhead so I'm hopeful that the situation ought to be better than last year, we shall see-after the election!

[prdarling]

Not much help to us though :(

[toast]

Hi

Had some feedback and looks like they have done LOTS!! So I am going to put off panicking and goto the park. prdarling, think i may know you? I will PM you. Would be nice if Lewisham did publish sooner, pleeeeeese.

Toast

[Fuschia]

toast Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi

>

> Had some feedback and looks like they have done

> LOTS!!

who has done lots of what?

[nunheadmum]

Would be good to know what has been done. Not moving the date back to after the election would have been a welcome step.

I've got a place in Lewisham - not my ideal - but I'm going to have to hold onto it till Southwark announce just in case the Southwark situation goes mad and I don't get my first choice. I feel that I'm being really unfair to those in Lewisham who may not have got into the school I'm holding onto but Southwark haven't really left me with any option due to the delay to their announcement date. It seems like Southwark are being crap but it's Lewisham who have to pay. I imagine that most of the parents around our way are in the same boat - which probably amounts to quite a few places being held simply as insurance.

[Fliss]

I'm in the same situation as nunheadmum. Have been offered a place in Lewisham (our last choice, but at least it was a choice) who want us to accept or decline by 4 May. I was hoping we might still be offered our first choice (in Southwark) but I phoned Southwark Admissions to ask if we could be offered a place in a Southwark school as well, and was told no, you only get offered one place - mind you the guy I spoke to had to put me on hold twice while he sourced that information, so I don't really know if it's correct.

Am I the only person who finds the application system absolutely bewildering??? And *why* do they take children into the nursery class if they are not then going to get a place in the reception class??? My son will be heartbroken if he has to change school.

[prdarling]

Fliss it's really out of order that Southwark results haven't been released. I have messaged James Barber on his page but am sure I'll get no joy. They are utterly useless.

I'm afraid I don't know the situation for sure but I did think you could be offered something from both boroughs...can anyone clarify this please????

As far as I know, the reasoning behind the nursery class situation is that many people who would be at the front of the nursery queue based on distance citerion etc, may not take up a place because they ned more than 2.5h nursery provision a day. However they still need a school place and are entitled to that place based on the normal citeria. Does that make sense??

What I mean is that if I worked full time and my son couldn't take up a nursery place because of short hours, it wouldn't be fair to lose my school place because it's filled by someone who may be further down the list than me, but who doesn't need full time nursery care.

Stop me if that sounds double dutch!

[toast]

Back from park

Met up with lots of parents who are in the same boat, and to put it politly, not happy bunny's.

It would make parents, esp Lewisham parents lives easier if places in Southwark were released sooner. It would be a show of cross borough support and of confidence by the lib dems. If, as they are suggesting the problem has been resolved by bulge classes they could allocate early, before the election and put pay to the idea that they are acting out of self interest.

[Fuschia]

Fliss Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm in the same situation as nunheadmum. Have

> been offered a place in Lewisham (our last choice,

> but at least it was a choice) who want us to

> accept or decline by 4 May. I was hoping we might

> still be offered our first choice (in Southwark)

> but I phoned Southwark Admissions to ask if we

> could be offered a place in a Southwark school as

> well, and was told no, you only get offered one

> place

Really?!! That is AWFUL if it's true... you will have to give up the chance of a Lewisham place in the hope that Southwark will come good. Makes Southwark's decision to delay their offers look thoroughly negligent.

[toast]

I have lost so much faith in 'the system', over this whole thing. If this is true...

...........no.... totally lost for words

[Fuschia]

Fliss Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm in the same situation as nunheadmum. Have

> been offered a place in Lewisham (our last choice,

> but at least it was a choice) who want us to

> accept or decline by 4 May. I was hoping we might

> still be offered our first choice (in Southwark)

> but I phoned Southwark Admissions to ask if we

> could be offered a place in a Southwark school as

> well, and was told no, you only get offered one

> place - mind you the guy I spoke to had to put me

> on hold twice while he sourced that information,

> so I don't really know if it's correct.

Lewisham Admissions booklet just says

" If you accept an

offer of a place in another borough, please advise

Lewisham Admissions Team in writing." So it doesn't look they mind you continuing with the admissions process elsewhere up until you get an offer (or not)

Southwark's booklet says "Your offer of a primary school will remain

available unless we are informed by you in

writing of any alternative suitable arrangement

for education that has been made for your child"

Prior to the Common Application Form it would have been quite easy to hold on to an offer frpm one LEA while waiting for the other. But I don't know if under the new onlone process, if you accept a Lewisham Place, will it delete you from the system with regards to your Southwark application? Totally nonsense if that is the case!!

[BeccaL]

Last year we accepted places in both (4th choice) and only rejected the lewisham place when we were given a place in the goodrich bulge class. Agree not fair on others wanting that place but we were allowed to so we did. Hope you all get what you want - wouldn't have wished what we went through last year on my worst enemy...

[clux]

Last year Southwark and Lewisham definitely didn't link their systems as I rejected a place in Southwark and then later accepted one in Lewisham, and then I still got a letter 6 months from BOTH schools thinking we still wanted a place.

[Fuschia]

BeccaL Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Last year we accepted places in both (4th choice)

> and only rejected the lewisham place when we were

> given a place in the goodrich bulge class. Agree

> not fair on others wanting that place but we were

> allowed to so we did.

THis year is the first year of the common application process though, isn't it?

[Fuschia]

clux Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Last year Southwark and Lewisham definitely didn't

> link their systems as I rejected a place in

> Southwark and then later accepted one in Lewisham,

> and then I still got a letter 6 months from BOTH

> schools thinking we still wanted a place.

THis year there is a common system for the first time. As long as that doesn't mean accepting a place somewhere removes you from the other LA's request list, it's OK...

[Fliss]

"As far as I know, the reasoning behind the nursery class situation is that many people who would be at the front of the nursery queue based on distance citerion etc, may not take up a place because they ned more than 2.5h nursery provision a day. However they still need a school place and are entitled to that place based on the normal citeria. Does that make sense??"

Yes prdarling, I see what you mean. The nursery 2.5 hours is quite tricky - we've had huge childcare problems since he started nursery class because the excellent childminder he had been with for 3 years couldn't do the pick up and drop off, so we had to leave her and it was very difficult finding someone else. But we thought it was worth it because I thought he'd stand a better chance of getting into the school if he was in the nursery class, and also I just felt he was ready for "mini school", and he has been loving it and learning lots.

Also - I wish I knew for sure whether or not you can get offers from both boroughs - can anybody clarify??? His current childminder says yes, but then the man at Southwark Council said no. Should I start a separate thread asking this question?

[Fuschia]

Fliss Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

we thought it was worth

> it because I thought he'd stand a better chance of

> getting into the school if he was in the nursery

> class, and also I just felt he was ready for "mini

> school", and he has been loving it and learning

> lots.

The latter is true but the former is expressly not, and the admissions booklet states that.. there are even schools like the one where I work, (not SouthwarK) with 80 part time nursery places but only 30 reception places! (Though we will have a bulge class and are going up to 60 this year)

>

> Also - I wish I knew for sure whether or not you

> can get offers from both boroughs - can anybody

> clarify??? His current childminder says yes, but

> then the man at Southwark Council said no. Should

> I start a separate thread asking this question?

[Fliss]

And yes I agree that it's terrible if there are lots of parents holding places just as insurance - makes a nonsense of the whole system - but parents are going to have to do that since the boroughs are not announcing outcomes at the same time. I gather you can go on a waiting list for your preferred school, but in that case you relinquish any place you have been offered. So if the waiting list doesn't come good, you could get sent *anywhere* that has a spare place! Chaos!! There must be a better way of doing it!! And then of course there's round 2 in June - late applications and appeals. I'm soooo confused.

[Fuschia]

Fliss Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I

> gather you can go on a waiting list for your

> preferred school, but in that case you relinquish

> any place you have been offered.

I don't think that is the case. Not in the LEA I work, for sure.

And not in Lewisham either - http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/Schools/SchoolAdmissions/PrimarySchoolAdmission/PrimaryAdmissionFaq.htm

[toast]

Fuschia Wrote:

> THis year there is a common system for the first

> time. As long as that doesn't mean accepting a

> place somewhere removes you from the other LA's

> request list, it's OK...

I think the common system starts this year, so families finding out now went through the old system.

Also it would be mad if you could stay on the lists of schools in one borough but not other. In the scrutiny they discussed talking to lewisham and finding out which parents were holding accepted offers in both which seemed fair. But not staying on the list of both given the shortage of places on the boarder would be unfair. One has my nearest school, the other my second nearest school etc.

[prdarling]

Fliss

I'm afraid having a nursery place bears no relation on a reception place. This is why you apply to the school for a nursery place and the local authority for a reception place. I think they try to hammer it home in the literature but it's obviously not as clear as they think.

I do feel for you, it won't be nice if you have to pull your son from the environment he's familiar with but many of us will be dealing with the same issues - all of us whose kids go to non-school nurseries for example.

The whole nursery/school business is heart in the mouth stuff! At least it should be straightforward for siblings (frantically trying to pin a rusty old silver lining to a looming black cloud)