Southwark Primary School Admissions for Sept 2013

[James Barber]

Gina,

Just to reiterate lightweight - please do call Southwark School Admissions ASAP 020 7525 5337.

[lightweight]

Re: lack of suitable buildings in ED, what about the empty school building that used to house the New Hope Christian Academy, on East Dulwich Grove?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-property-to-let/property-36267784.html

[Abney]

GinaG3 Wrote:

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

> Posting my question again from page 6 in the hope

> anyone can offer me an answer.

>

> If I reject my offer and start homeschooling my

> daughter until a place is found is this a viable

> option and are southwark still obligated to find a

> place if I'm homeschooling? I'm a stay at home mum

> so I'm able to do this as an option. If a place is

> never found, what am I to do then, if I didn't

> intend to homeschool for the whole of primary

> years?

>

> If I leave the offer open with Langbourne, it will

> be as though I've accepted. I understand that I

> will remain on my top 6 waiting lists and see if a

> place gets offered. Come September when she will

> be due to start Langbourne but doesn't turn up

> what will happen? I have every intention of

> homeschooling as my ONLY option until another

> place is offered, I don't want to send her to a

> inaccessible and frankly unfeasible school that

> she will either a) have to remain in, as there as

> no other places or b) move from within the first

> year due to another place being offered.

>

> I understand the deadline to reject an offer is

> this Thursday?!

>

> Any help hugely appreciated.

Hi Gina, I am in exactly the same position (but in Lewisham). They had no advice for me, just told me to accept the place and that was it. I really don't know what to do either. Please let us know how you get on! Thanks.

[GinaG3]

Pre-school are supportive and advised me today that my daughter is able to do an extra term there if needs be but there will be no place for her past the January term. I didn't know this, so feel a little more relief now but still really frustrated at the situation. Calling Southwark now - eek!

[GinaG3]

Well now I don't know if I'm more confused or not!

Admissions say I can reject the place, my daughter will remain on waiting lists for all preferences. When questioned about the obligation to find another place after rejecting a offer the lady said she will definitely remain on school lists that were originally on the 6 preferences. She has passed me to homeschooling to chat to them about everything to see if it helps me clear my mind and rest a little. I need to let southwark know by email if I'm rejecting my place by Thursday.

I explained to her I don't want to homeschool long term just as a short term arrangement until a place is found within a better distance to our home, or on a direct bus route. She completely understood and was sympathetic with the situation.

Getting 8 buses a day - to school for drop off, back again then to school for pick up and back again is ridiculous. In the winter if it snowed (but school was open) I'd barely be able to get my child in to school. Let alone the cost to me, and the travel times to and from school.

So now what would happen if I never got a place from my positions on the waiting lists and was homeschooling on the basis that it was short term? Will southwark just leave me high and dry and tell me to get on with it?

[James Barber]

Hi GinaG3,

Your short term home schooling idea does carry the risk that you might not find a suitable school place in the timescales you need or want. If I were you I'd ask the schools you're most interested if places typically come up much later than this September from people moving etc. And thewn base your decision on the probabilities.

Not an easy decision.

US friend who home school rate the experience for kids and parent highly but it is very demanding.

I hope this helps.

[GinaG3]

My mother homeschools my brother and I've been out of mainstream education since I was 14. It is something I wouldn't like to do for the whole of primary years, but is something will mean I have family members a phone call away that can advise me easily on the 'ways'. This is a really tough decision. I am completely, 110% against the school I have been selected and have found the process completely unfair and illogical. I should be on 7 waiting lists now, but know I'm hoovering around 40-70 on all southwark lists, still waiting on Lewisham wait list release on Thursday. Heres to hope, and luck!

Can I just ring the school reception directly to ask about probabilities?

[James Barber]

Southwakr Admissions have updated me on the numbers who didnt get one of the preferences - instead of 138 it's actually 145:

Brunswick Park 3

Camberwell Green 4

Cathedrals 1

Chaucer 3

College 31

East Dulwich 7

East Walworth 1

Faraday 2

Grange 7

Livesey 8

Newington 6

Nunhead 7

Oval 2

Peckham 6

Peckham Rye 27

Riverside 6

Rotherhithe 4

South Bermondsey 5

South Camberwell 2

Surrey Docks 1

The Lane 5

Village 7

Total 145

For our East Dulwich area 72/145.

[kamath]

Gina, you can call the Horniman . I called and they were lovely and very helpful. Sadly I am miles down the list and found out today that I have moved down the list at Goodrich so even further away ! It is a total nightmare !

[MisforMama]

Gina, you probably researched all your transport options but journey planner site doesn't seem to show a lane that goes from Dulwich Woodhouse pub to Sydenham hill station. You can take bus 363 to Wellspark road, then walk down the lane, to the left along the path near the church and Langbourne is just inside the estate.

[ticket2ride]

Harris Academy Peckham Park - places available.

Harris Free School Peckham - places available.

This says to me that these schools are unpopular in their local area.

If the plebs of Peckham dont want their kids at an 'Arris primary school, it's a pretty safe bet that the "mummy groups" of East Dulwich wouldn't be rushing to enrol the darling sons & daughters at one.

Perhaps it would make more sense to look at over-subscribed schools and find out why these are popular.

Heber, Goodrich, Fairlwan, Horniman, Ivydale seem to be the names coming up. I havent heard anyone say, "I want my child to go to a Harris school."

[Renata Hamvas]

The updated numbers of people who didn't get one of their choices would now include late applicants. Ticket2ride,the oversubscribed schools you mention are all LA Community schools.

Renata

[Fuschia]

The involvement of academy chains in prinary education is rather unproven.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/mar/25/education-harris-academies-curriculum

'The only two Harris primaries to have had inspection verdicts published as of last week were Harris primary academy Peckham Park, in south London, and Harris primary academy Chafford Hundred, in Essex. Both have received "requires improvement" judgments from inspectors.

The Peckham Park school is the only one of Harris's five primaries to have been open last academic year and therefore to have Sats data to report. Yet its results fell sharply compared with the year before Harris took over, from 90% of pupils achieving level four in both English and maths to 65% after a year under Harris.'

[James Barber]

Hi Renata,

No, the number has been revised because of an error. They had 11 people not allocated to a ward. In resolving that the numbers changed.

Hi Fuschia,

Yes, those Ofsted verdicts arent inspiring. The "requires improvement" grade replaces the Satisfactory grade. But their Director of Primary Schools is Sir Robin Bosher who led the Fairlawn success but more importantly led the London Challenge programme for school improvement http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18459553 - that's what he got the Sir for. So they should be great once they've established themselves.

[Fuschia]

I wouldn't choose for my child to be part of a politically motivated experiment of the scale currently underway in education. More places are urgently needed in a number of areas, and local councils can no longer open new schools - it's left to the likes of Harris and the various free school groups. None of it inspires confidence. Even the academies commission is incredibly cautious.

I am so unhappy with the whole Harris edifice, and likely to get place only at Harris boys, we are moving ou if the area this summer, hopefully.

It shouldn't be necessary.

Every child should gave access to a nearby prinary and secondary place, planned in a coordinated fashion

[BellendenBear]

I agree with Fuschia.

We are 'Peckham plebs' and the open evening that we went to for the Harris Free school was one of the most uninspiring and depressing evenings I've had in a long time. I suspect that many of the supporters on James' previous threads for a Harris school in ED are actually saying that they support a Harris Free school so that other people's kids go there to free up more places at the popular community schools rather than that they actually want their own kids to be part of this experiment which 'should be great once they've established themselves'. That's just not good enough.

I also didn't like the fact that in the Harris propaganda for their new free school they implied that because the school was starting from scratch there would be a higher ratio of staff to pupils. When I questioned them about this they acknowledged that this wasn't really the case. They would employ new teachers as the school grew and the school wouldn't get its own head teacher until it reached critical mass. So in face the pupils would have the same number of teachers as any other school but no head so if anything less and not more. This is very dishonest.

James, you continue to manipulate figures for political point scoring rather than to provide any helpful information. The number that you give for the children in the ED area who didn't receive any of their choices presumably includes parts of Peckham, Camberwell and Nunhead, when in another post you suggest that Peckham is a long way from ED. And then when you talk about the plans for new schools and school expansions you only mention the ones in ED itself and not the wider area. I find this very misleading.

[LondonMix]

.

[LondonMix]

Does anyone have the furthest distance information for Dulwich Hamlet which was missing off of James' list?

[etta166]

The Dulwich Hamlet School manages its own admissions because it's an accademy. You would need to contact them for the information, not Southwark Council.

[huit]

LondonMix,

Dulwich Hamlet told me the furthest distance for Sept 2013 first round offers was 799m.

[LondonMix]

Thanks!

[GinaG3]

Has anyone called Lewisham today to find out where they are on waiting lists? Also, has anyone offered Langbourne rejected their offer?

Edited: I was informed Lewisham wait lists were due to be released today, now they are saying not until after the bank holiday. This is all so frustrating. Emailing southwark to keep the advice I was given yesterday is correct, and update on my wait positions.

Should I be appealing to every school in my preference? Appeals deadline is 17 May?

[James Barber]

Hi GinaG3,

You need a reason to appeal. So if you think a wrong address or status for your child - special requirements of somekind - then do appeal.

[GinaG3]

Just found out we are 14th on Bessemers list. How likely is that? Hmm, will have to think about appeal. I do have valid reasons, I feel.

[number 2]

gina i would say that 14th sounds hopeful in a school with a big intake like that. fingers crossed.

hmmm, we've gone down the ivydale waiting list :( soooooo not happy. i bloody well hope whoever has overtaken us has a good reason other than just forgetting to apply!!