Renata Hamvas

Hi Gocha, as DVI admissions operates with two admission routes, Open criteria and Foundation criteria, roughly speaking, you are looking at a pool of 45 places. Its last place offered distance is larger than you may expect for 45 places, as some of the applicants would be eligible for places under both criteria, faith and distance. I don't know what tends to happen with the waiting list for DVI, but going from experience of other primary waiting lists, I would think it is unlikely (but not impossible) that you will get a place there. Remember if new families move into the area over summer and live closer the school that you, you may find that you go lower on the waiting list. Renata

Hi Sammi30, I'm glad that you have a school you are happy with. I have had alot of postive feedback about Harris Boys. Something to consider when applying to schhols far away, if you child ends up going there, they may find it difficult during weekends and holidays when they can't meet up with friends from school as they live miles away. I do suggest that parents go in year 5 and visit schools. That way you can whittle down a larger pool to a manageable one to visit in year 6 with your child in tow. With all of Southwark's secondary schools being Academies/administering their own admission's policy, there is such variation on admissions that unless your child is a younger sibling or has a statement, it may be very unclear where they may get a place. This is why it is important to find 6 schools for your form. With the Harris schools, it is worth remembering that from age 16, the boys and girls will be attending a mixed sixth form. Renata

There is no swim school on Monday. Renata

Party socks instead of bags. Buy multipacks of socks, filled them with sweets, pencils, rubbers etc and hung them on one of those multi-peg contraptions for drying small items of washing. Each child chooses a pair of socks, ie they can wear their "party bag" at a later date :)). Renata

Hi ????, thanks for the update (and the rest of your post!) I'm delighted that you now have a suitable primary school place for your child :)-D Renata

NJC97: I've heard back from Aske's. The application for the primary school is lodged with the D of E, the outcome of this will be known in July/August. It is planned to be a 2 form entry primary, opening in September 2013. Renata

Hi NJC97, I'm waiting to hear back from admissions about the free school (it was planned for 2013) urchin, it is worth going on to the chelwood waiting list. St Marys's details are: St Mary's Pre School St. Mary 's Church Hall 63 St. Mary's Road London SE15 2EA Tel: 020 7277 6255 it was rated as a good nursery by Ofsted last year. Renata

Hi Molly, well spotted! Two years ago when I was a shiny new councillor and primary school allocations came out 3 days after I was elected, I think everyone got Ivydale who had it as their first choice. Last year I helped a few families who didn't get it, but Ivydale wasn't their closest school (some did get in from the waiting list, later). This year the school has bulged for September 2012 entry, so the last place offered distance is significantly larger than it would be otherwise. Always after bulges, due to extra siblings, for the next following 3 or 4 years there is a last place offered distance smaller than there would have been if there wasn't a bulge. I wish I could magic up extra places for 2012 for Nursery and 2013 reception, but unfortunately I have no magic wand to make more space on the Ivydale school site:(. Renata

Hi Penguin, I have no idea what type of trees are to be planted, I know that they are not going to be tiny saplings, but larger ones which may help with the contrary British weather conditions. I shall pass on your sensible comments re drought etc. Renata

Well done to Jane Fletcher, her staff, pupils and parents! :)-D The link to the report is here Harris Girls When I visit, it always strikes me how happy and enthusiatic the pupils are. Renata

Dear all, I had a meeting with the Headteacher of Ivydale, Helen Ingham to get an up-to-date picture of the situation with Ivydale admissions. There are eight current nursery children who are remaining in the Nursery after summer as they are too young to start reception (5 in the autumn). This left 42 places. 41 of these went to siblings and children with special needs and one was allocated to the closest resident. It was then discovered that 4 families forgot to tick the sibling box on their form, so the nursery has gone up to an admissions no of 54. There are no facilities for the Nursery to bulge further than this. (Kirdlemcfirdle, I did ask, unfortunately they can't do it, also please be aware that gaining a Nursery place has no weighting on securing a place for reception.). It is possible that there will be a little movement if families move out of the area, but this cannot be guaranteed. Using this years applications for the Ivydale Nursery and considering the distance that the last child would be living if these were applications were for reception places indicates that Ivydale could have a last place offered distance as little as 200-250M for 2013 (ie similar to Heber this year and DKH last year). This is assuming no movement of families within immediate area of the school, which could move this figure up or down (ie this is a rough estimate from this yer's nursery applications, but I hope it gives some idea for parents what to expect next year). Having discussed with the Head about space availability at the school, as it is, the school can just about fit into the main hall for assembly etc, there are no unused classrooms and there is not a large amount of outside space. The assessments for 2013 entry bulges have not yet been done, however, this would indicate that the 2012 bulge is likely to be a one off. With the increase in the number of families moving into the East of the Rye/Nunhead area it appears that primary admissions situation may be becoming similar to the current one in the Peckham Rye West/East Dulwich area. I would suggest that families on the East of the Rye/Nunhead do use their six options on their primary CAF forms next year. I think Urchin that you live too far from Ivydale at around 600M, kirdlemcfirdle, you are a little closer at around 450M. I would suggest you look at Rye Oak, St Mary's Pre-school or Cherlwood for Nursery. Rye Oak, Hollydale, Turnham and Goose Green as well as Ivydale for reception. If you live in the streets to the south or east of Nunhead Cemetery, think of Turnham or John Stanier or Haberdasher's Aske Free School. East Nunhead, close to Telegraph Hill, think also of Edmund Waller. East Dulwich to the West of Forest Hill Rd (Marmora/Colyton area) consider St Francesca Cabrini for your list (does take non-Catholics on distance, but Catholics have priority). Most of the schools I have mentioned have Nursery sections (except Hollydale). Cherlwood and St Mary's Pre-school are stand alone nurseries. Renata

Hi Yorkie, I'm sorry to hear that you have not got a place at Ivydale Nursery. There were 43 places offered to siblings out of the 50 places available. The person at the top of the waiting lives 100m away. This has never happened before at the school. Of course with 30 more reception children going in, this has impacted on Nursery places. I would expect the last place offered distance for the school to be much reduced over normal over the next 3-4 years due to additional siblings following the bulge anyway, but with potentially this number of siblings (or even more, as some will be in full time Nursery elsewhere) applying for the school next year, it could have a very small last place offered distance. I would suggest anyone living in the area to do apply to six schools. Other schools in the area include Hollydale, Turnham, St Francesca Cabrini (Catholic but takes non-Catholics too, as St William of York, Honor Oak is bulging this will increase the chance for non-Catholics to get into StFC), Edmund Waller, Haberdasher's Aske Free School (a new school), John Donne and Rye Oak, all of these are good schools. Renata

Hi Sanne Panne, you can definitely hold on to an offer of a school place while waiting in case a place comes up at a higher ranked school on your CAF. I would recommend it as it is better not to turn down a school place until you are certain of a place at another school. If you wish to go onto the waiting list for other schools you didn't initially apply to, you can do that too. If you get an offer from a school waiting list, at that time you can decide which school to send your child to, the one you were originally offered or the school that you have now been offered. Hi Pasta, are you moving into or out of or within Southwark? With Southwark's community schools in this area being oversubscribed, it's not worth applying until you move. When you move, the determining factor will be how close you are to your nearest school. This is because waiting lists for in-year admissions follow the same criteria as for applications for reception. There are often some places coming up over summer even in the most oversubscribed school, but these will go to the children who live the closest to the school. It is the addition of new children to waiting list in conjunction with children being recharacterised under the school's admissions criteria which causes that people can move down as well as up waiting lists. If one of your children secures a place at your school of choice, than the sibling will jump up the waiting list to the top end. Siblings are ranked in distance order above non-sibling applicants. If you are applying to a church school, than ranking is done on fsith and then distance from the school. You don't need to be religious to attend a faith school, it's just that people who follow that faith have priority. If you contact me by email with more details of your plans, I would be happy to help you. Renata

Hi Yorkie, It's worth trying St Mary's pre-school on St Mary's Rd (Evelina Rd end) this is open Monday-Friday from 9.15-12.15 during school term time and children tend to move from there to Hollydale, Ivydale, Edmund Waller and other local primaries. Renata

Hi Jane, a conprehensive tree survey was carried out and many of the current trees are to remain. Some are to be removed, mainly due to type or weak root structure. Many new trees (there will be more than at present) plus shrubbery along the boundary with Wood Vale is to be planted. The site therefore won't be uniform like a virgin cemetery (fitting plots around trees) and greenery will be along the boundary with Wood Vale. Renata

dharamsala, I know from our correspondance that following some late applications that you made, you now have a place at a school closer to you. I do find it odd however why you were offered John Donne in the first place as there were people who applied for it and weren't allocated it, and also, it is far from your home. Melrose, I am glad you have now have a place at John Donne. However, when a school bulges, the first people to be offered those places ought to be those who are at the top of the waiting list and not others who have been unsuccessful in securing a place at one of their chosen schools. I know that you are now sorted, but I would like if you could please email me your details as I would like to investigate this further. For those of you on the waiting list for Heber. With such a small last place offered distance and large number of siblings, please be aware that they may be less movement than usual for this school from the waiting list. As people (without a child at the school already) who have been offered the school live so close to it, they are not very likely to turn a place down unless they go down the independant school path or move house. Any closeby late applicants (and also anyone who forgot to tick the sibling box and newly assessed under social or medical need) will cause current people on the waiting list to shift downwards in rank order. Renata

Hi Nymom, you are correct in supposing that the last place offered distance is for national offer day. There are no distances available for after that as the waiting lists move continuously and basically whoever is at the top of thee waiting list is offered a place when one comes up. Those getting places from the waiting list could live closer than the last place offered distance if they are late applicants (there are many of these in Southwark eg through relocation). Also, some families may have forgot to tick the sibling form and those children move up to the top of the list, the same as those designated with social/medical need after the offer day. As there is continual movement on the waiting list going into reception and beyond, it is not possible to generate this information. If there are alot of new applicants living close to a school, the last place offered distance could shrink for these new applicants (as all applicants will be ranked and highest ranked candidates get any places available). Be aware that if you are on a waiting list, you can move down as well as up. I would certainly not rely on waiting list movements for primary school when applying for schools. Also, be aware that last distance offered places can vary alot from year to year (eg Heber's distance is significantly lower than last year). Bulging tends to cause last distance offered distances to expand for that year, and then shrink below the typical distances due to larger numbers of younger siblings particularly 2-3 years after the bulge. I would suggest applying for your closest schools, in order of preference and choosing 6 (and possibly putting down church schools even if you are not religious as if the don't have enough children of Faith, they go on distance). Also be aware that larger schools tend to have higher last distance offered distances than smaller ones. Renata

Yes, Helen, you can stick with the original offer and turn down the new one. Renata

Hi Dulwich Jon, please email me with the details of your address, child's name and DOB, schools applied to and the one offered. Please ask your friend to do the same. Have they received the letter from Southwark yet? Thanks Renata

I don't think it is up on the Ofsted Website yet, Renata

Hi ????, I am sorry to hear that you yet again have had problems over school allocation :(. I hope that the other problem you had has now been resolved. I would suggest that you accept the school you have been offered. You will be on the waiting lists of the other Southwark schools you have applied to. Accepting the school you have been offered does not have any inpact on whether you are successful in securing a place at one of your chosen schools. I would suggest acceptance as a safety net, as you risk September coming along with you child being left without a primary school place. You can request that your child is added to the waiting list of schools you did not initially apply for. I would suggest contacting Southwark admissions to see where you are on the waiting lists and how far out you are from the last place offered distances. Liam White (his details on the other threads) is a good point of contact and I'm still around! Kaska, I would suggest that you contact your local councillors to help you out with this. Renata Renata

I'd second Surrey Dock's Farm! You can feed goats etc and sometimes at the weekend there are donkey rides (call them to find out when). Also, a room is available to hire for birthday parties etc. Renata

Well done Goodrich!:)-D I posted this in the family room yesterday too. Renata

Contact your Local Authority admissions department or if you are in Southwark you can also contact Liam White, details above. Renata

pandd-I am surprised that you didn't get a place at Heber if you live 100m away. The furthest place offered distance is usually aroung 300+ metres or so and therefore, if this is correct, it would mean a huge number of siblings combined with a large number of applicants within viewing distance of the school. I would suggest you contact Southwark admissions to verify this. (My contact details are below) Damzel-Goodrich is 3 form entry and Heber 2. this means that Heber tends to have a significantly smaller last place offered distance than Goodrich. Reneet-If the schools you applied to were local community schools, than places are allocated on distance. This means that you lived too far from the schools to have beeen offered a place. You will have automatically gone onto the waiting lists of these schools. Do accept the offer you have and you may get a place from ahigher ranked school from the waiting list. Chantelle-Don't reject the place you have been offered, accept it. You will have automatically have been put on the waiting list for the other schools. Scotlass-This has occurred as St Francesca Cabrini will take non-catholics, only Catholics have priority. Since St Anthony's expanded in 2010, this has impacted on St Francesca Cabrin's admissions. I believe last year 12 non-catholics went there. It has Sats results in the 90's and about half the children get level 5 (Government age 13-14 target) and Ofsted has rated it as a good school on the last two inspections (full and interim). Next year there will be 180 Catholic places in a small area, so it may be taking some non-Catholics again next year, useful to think about if you are applying next year. I would suggest you accept the place you have been offered and you may get offered one of your choices from the waiting list. Kaska-As you have been allocated a Lambeth primary, I guess you live in Lambeth. Did you apply for your closest community schools? I would contact Lambeth admissions and check about your waiting list positions. You can also put in a late application to other primaries either in Lambeth or other boroughs Renata