Renata Hamvas

Hi Uncleglen, Academies set their own admissions policy, so they can operate a random allocation/lottery system if they wish, following consultation. Hi Wonderwoman, parents are notified of their application outcome by email only. https://www.southwark.gov.uk/schools-and-education/school-admissions/secondary-admissions/offer-of-a-secondary-school-place Bill is correct, if you move your elder son and the school has a sibling category as part of it's admissions process, then your younger son will have that criteria applied to their waiting list position. You'll need to make sure Southwark knows that they are siblings! Sorry Shaggy and Kristy, this has been running for a couple of years. Kingsdale do this too, banding plus random allocation. It's a bit odd that the point that is used to allocate the places on distance isn't on the school premises but is at the junction of Shelbury and Colyton. Renata

No, the secondaries are all academies/free schools or voluntary aided so they set their own admissions policies and progress rules. Renata

I am hoping that the St Olave's situation will stop this happening in other schools. I would suggest you or your daughter asks the questions of the schools she has applied to.

Hi Monkey, I know it's very difficult for parents. It's because each school can set it's own admissions policy and they do! Hi Kristy, the system was new for this year, but was consulted on a couple of years ago. I guess if they find they have turned away applicants on their doorstep, they may decide to consult again and go back to the old system and as you correctly point out, there has been a change of Head! For a few years, Harris Girls was more popular overall with parents in Peckham and Camberwell than in Nunhead and East Dulwich. I am definitely seeing far more local interest for the school than a couple of years ago, so hopefully they will change it back. I will make an appointment to see the Head and discuss it with her. Another school which has become popular, particularly with parents to the east of the Rye is Deptford Green in New Cross. This is easily accessible, either by train from HOP or the 343 bus to New Cross Gate. Renata

Hi Monkey, if you live close to the school, you would be likely to gain a place on distance, 1/3 of places left after siblings/SEN/looked after etc are allocated by distance and 2/3 on random allocation, ie by lottery. This is a new system for 2018. Renata

Hi Hammerman, if you google St Olaves School in Bromley, there is some press about this practice. Schools used to accept pupils who passed 5 GCSES C grade or above (including English and Maths or allowing them to resit these in 6th form) into their sixth forms. Now the bar is getting ever higher for pupils to be able to stay on and additionally, some schools only let pupils stay on from year 12 to year 13 if they do well enough in assessments by the end of year 12. Where you have different levels of selection at year 11 to 12 and again at year 12 to 13 between different schools and colleges it will affect the final results seen at year 13. This is why when looking for a sixth form, the A level results should not be the only benchmark, but also the proportion of year 11 pupils staying on and the proportion of year 12 starters completing year 13.

Hi Monkey, I've made enquiries and it's not this year. It has a split selection of distance/lottery. Harris Academy, Peckham and Ark Globe Academy (has reasonably good results and good Ofsted) close to Elephant and Castle have vacancies. Lewisham Schools Deptford Green and Forest Hill Boys were undersubscribed this year. You get slotted in to waiting lists at the appropriate place according to the admissions criteria of the school. Renata

Hi Sol, yes this was a year with a high number of applicants, 141 more than than last year and the highest number since records were kept in Southwark, 2009. As everyone has been offered a place, there are enough places to go round in Southwark, but some schools are very popular and oversubscribed and others far less popular. I've had a couple of enquiries in relation to the Kingsdale scholarship scheme. In order for a scholarship award to count in terms of admissions, your child needs to have one of the top scores. There is no limit to the number of scholorship awards the school could make, just a limit of the number that can be used for selection purposes. Unfortunately, I don't think that when parents get informed that their child has been successful in their scholarship application that they are told their position in the ranking list. Other schools such as Prendergast Hilly Fields and Haberdashers do tell parents their child's rank for the music scholarships, so parents know how likely it is for their child to be admitted through the scholarship scheme. The only thing I would suggest, that parents who wish to know their child's ranked position for music/sport prior to submiting the CAF, ask the school for it under a FOI request. Renata

Hi Bill, it was from the Cabinet Member for Children and Schools, my colleague Cllr Vikki Mills. Renata

charter Ed offered 180 places.

Hi Tulip, the Kingsdale Scholarship list is in score Order, so yes full scholarships would be above the half.Good luck for Monday. Renata

Yes, you can appeal, but you are very very unlikely to win unless you fit the criteria for winning the appeal!

Hi tulip, these figures may be for two different waiting lists. One for the scholarship waiting list and one for the random allocation waiting list. From what I understand of the complex Kingsdale system, those who have reached scholarship standard, but are not highly enough ranked can be allocated a place from the lottery system, if they do, they will get the scholarship once at the school. They are limited to 58 entrants directly from the music/sports selection(15% of intake). Hi Sol, I don't know about the Charter Schools. Charter ND was almost exactly 1km last year. Renata

Hi Crazycitychick, Southwark admissions co-ordinates and manages the admissions system of Southwark schools. The admissions system is co-ordinated across London. Southwark does not set the admissions criteria for any Southwark Secondary schools. It's pointless appealing unless you have good reason to do so eg maladministration of the admissions system. You can appeal without relevant reason but you will loose. It's very very rare to win an appeal. I can think of only two in the last 8 years. One was on very specific SEN grounds and another on faith grounds, (one primary and one secondary) both with supporting documentation. There is some movement on waiting lists, but it isn't massive as school pupil numbers are set by their published PAN. As your friend's child is no 1 on a waiting list, they have a high likelihood of being offered a place at their preferred school. To get offered a school place from one of your choices, I would suggest the following: Visit as many secondaries as you can in September and October, including the less popular ones. Read the admissions criteria for each school. It's fine to have some long shots. Schools do not know the order you put them in. You will be offered the highest school on your list that you have fulfilled the admissions criteria for. Please use all six choices, and place the schools in true order of preference. If your preferred schools are popular, oversubscribed ones, put a couple of safety net schools in the lower positions on your form. Ensure you submit any extra paperwork as required by your schools of choice. It's better to have a place at a school you're not delighted with than one you haven't visited and you definitely don't want that is miles away and has been allocated to you by the council! Renata

hi Hazel, to confirm you would remain on the waiting list for 1,2,3. If then offered no 3, you can choose between school 3 and 4 and you would still remain on the lists for 1 and 2. Renata

As well as looking at results, look at entry requirements. Some of the local schools are asking for grade 7 or A to do an A level in that subject, that will lead to higher results than those establishments that let pupils take an A level with a 5/6 (approx B). The other thing to ask is what proportion of year 12 starters actually finish and take 3 A levels. Some of the local secondaries cull after year 12 if they feel a child isn't heading to a high grade at A level. This also leads to a higher A level outcome for the school!!!

Hi Carly, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. The last place offered by distance at Sydenham Girls this year is 1.75km. Sydenham is in the London Borough of Lewisham and they always leave it about 3 weeks to release waiting list information for schools in Lewisham! You will only win an appeal if an error has been made of if for some reason one school only would be suitable for your child and you can prove this eg with doctors' letters. I would suggest you look at other schools you didn't initially apply to and ask Southwark to be added to their waiting lists. I have just seen that you have emailed me , so I will respond further there. Renata

Hi all (I am Renata :) ) Sorry, I was tied up in meetings yesterday. I did manage to speak to a couple of you who contacted me, let me know if you have any more questions. I will now try and answer all your questions. Hi Kristy, yes you automatically go on all waiting lists and will remain there until the 1st of September unless you accept a place at a higher ranked school. On the 1st of September, waiting lists get transferred to the individual schools who will then be administrating them. They make ask you if you wish to remain on the waiting list at this point. Sydenham Girls last place distance this year was 1.75km. Hi Sol, contact Southwark admissions, give details of your admission number, child's name and address and DOB and which schools you are interested in. You can also ask to be added to the waiting lists of other schools. Southwark will do this quickly for Southwark schools, but from previous experience Lewisham won't release information on their schools waiting lists or add children to lists for 3-4 weeks. Hi HPSaucy, there is always data released by Southwark on the primaries under Southwark's control, however all the secondaries are free schools/academies/voluntary aided/faith so such centralised secondary data doesn't exist, unfortunately. You would need to get this information from the individual schools. I know that after waiting lists etc the final place for Charter last year was 1km. Hi Nunners, Kingsdale can take up to 15% of their intake from their Scholarship list. The Scholarship list is score ranked rather than the lottery of general admission. From what I have gathered of their system, you could gain a place from either the scholarship waiting list or from the relevant banding, random allocation waiting list for your child. Due to the other music linked entry opportunities for both private and state schools, I would expect there to be more movement on music than the sport list. Kingsdale has a huge 390 entry this year, it means, however, that 59 children will have been offered places under music and sports scholarships in total. There is usually little movement on waiting lists until later March, once all the initial allocations can be dealt with. If you are unhappy with your allocated school, do look at other schools you could apply to. You can have your child's name to schools you didn't initially apply to, contact Southwark admissions to do this. This won't affect your current waiting lists/preferred schools. Think for example about Harris Girls/Boys or Forest Hill Boys and Deptford Green. I don't think there will be entry onto the Lewisham lists for about 3 weeks. Thomas the Apostle is oversubscribed this year. Hi Lola, I'm sorry to hear this, I'm not surprised you are gutted when you live so close to a school with 390 intake! Keep in mind that they may re-rank their waiting list at a later point if, for example, they have in year applicants who have good reason for not having sat their banding test eg moved to the area, but have equivalent banding information from elsewhere. If you want any help/advise please contact me, the best is to email me with your address and the schools you applied to. I will also check on here. Renata

Information sent by my ward Colleague, Cllr Victoria Mills Dear Councillors I am pleased to confirm that the LA has once again been able to offer a secondary school place to every on time Southwark applicant for the new academic year in September. This year, we received a total of 2,931 on time, secondary school applications from Southwark families which is an increase of 141 applications compared to last year and the highest number received since our records began in 2009. 2,701 (92.2%) Southwark families have received a secondary school place of their preference through the coordinated admissions process, the remaining 228 families have been allocated an alternative school place. At 5pm today (1 March 2018), Southwark families will have received an email from the eAdmissions system which will confirm their child?s offer and provide information on what to do next. The email will have been sent to the same email address that was used by the parent/carer when registering to apply online. Families will also be able to find out the outcome of their application by logging into the eAdmissions website using their unique user name and password from after 5pm today. Transition to secondary school is an exciting time for families - we recognise however, families that did not receive a school of their preference and have been allocated an alternative school, often have additional queries and/or support needs to help them through the change of school process. A personalised email from the admissions team with details of the alternative school allocated has also been sent today to each of these families, informing them that our phone lines will be open up until 7pm this evening should they wish to contact us to raise any queries or discuss their options directly with an admissions officer. Secondary school admission - 2018 headlines: The data below relates to Southwark residents only and will be used to produce London-wide statistics that form the basis of the Pan London press statement, coordinated by London Councils, that was released today. ? All 2,931 of Southwark?s on-time secondary school applicants have been offered a school place for September 2018 ? 2,701 (92.2%) applicants have received a place at a secondary school of their first to sixth preference ? 2,498 (85.2%) applicants have received a place at a secondary school of their first to third preference ? 1,749 (59.7% ) families received a first preference school ? 228 (7.8%) families without a preference have been offered an alternative school ? 2,921 (99.5%) of Southwark applicants applied online this year Please also note that our school admissions officers will be holding a drop in admission surgery for families that want to meet to discuss their secondary admission options face to face. The surgery will take place at Cambridge House on a first come, first served basis on 2 March 2018. Families can also find further information on waiting lists, appeals and a list of frequently asked questions on Southwark Council?s website at: www.southwark.gov.uk/schools-and-education/school-admissions/secondary-admissions/offer-of-a-secondary-school-place Best wishes Vikki.

One more thing, you can't turn down the allocated school unless you for example are offered a place at another school from the waiting list. Then you can decide to either stick with the allocated school or accept the place at the alternative offer. Renata

Hi Calsug, bins are not being emptied until the weather improves. Leave your bin where you normally leave it for collection and there will be a revised schedule of emptying. Renata

I would like to verify this is totally legitimate and a really worthy cause! I would suggest however that you post this in the family room or ask the administrative team to move this thread there so it gets more footfall. Renata

Hi Sol, why didn't you use all six slots? The situation is, if you aren't successful at securing a place for your child at the schools you have applied to, the local authority will allocate your child a place at the closest school which has vacancies. It's always better for you to choose back up schools to fill your CAF form rather than the council. You will automatically be placed on the waiting list for any schools higher on the list than the one you have been offered. You can request to be added to the waiting list of any schools you didn't initially apply for. Southwark admissions tend to so the pretty quickly, Lewisham in past years have tended to wait a couple of weeks until they open waiting lists for new applicants. Waiting lists do move. Be warned that you can move down as well as up waiting list positions as late applicants are slotted into position according the the admissions criteria for an individual school. Waiting lists do move right up to September and beyond, so if you don't get your first choice wait as long as possible before buying a uniform. You do have right of appeal if you don't get allocated the school you wished for. The grounds of appeal are for example if you think the admissions criteria were wrongly applied eg distance incorrectly calculated or if your child has a special need which could only be met by one school and not the other local schools. All the Southwark secondary schools are outside LA control ie they are free schools/academies/voluntary aided. This means Southwark administers the admissions process but doesn't set the admission criteria for a school. These are different for individual schools within Southwark. Good luck everybody. I am around if anyone needs some assistance, there will also be drop in sessions run by Southwark for parents, I'll post the details when I have them. Renata

I have seen a gritter at work, they are really out there! This information was sent to Councillors. Measures to mitigate the bad weather Gritting ? We have two gritters with an additional spare available at all times ? We have pre-treated at the following times and dates: ? Monday 26th 20.00 all major routes with a 12gm/m2 spread rate) ? Tuesday 27th 20.00 all major routes (8gm spread rate) ? Wednesday 28th 07.00 all major routes (12gm spread rate) ? Every time we go out on all major routes, we cover 168km (93 miles) ? Tonnage of salt used in last 3 days = 40 tonnes just on road treatments Please note that at these significantly low temperatures the effectiveness of salt is severely retarded. Below -7 degrees it will have little or no effect in preventing ice formation, it just slows the process down. Detailed info and the Winter Service Policy & Plan can be found at the following link: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/street-care/gritting Pavement clearance We have 230 staff working between 06:00 and 18:00 to clear snow from pavements across the borough and grit around schools, transport hubs and shopping areas. We have 331 staff working between 08:00 and 16:00 to carry out pavement clearance on our housing estates. Renata