landsberger

Actually, the data wasn't there to prove the need, as overall (at the time) there were enough - there presently are enough places in Southwark secondary schools.

Why would *Southwark* Council tell you about LEWISHAM admissions ? INMCD Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My daughter didn't get a place at Sydenham Girls > this year due to distance - our application was > dealt with purely on that criteria. We had no > idea that was going to happen as other girls near > us have got in before. Southwark came to school > to speak with parents and they never gave us any > indication that applications for Lewisham schools > would be based on distance! Pretty disasterous > really. x

It has indeed been a definite expansion, but it looks as if the school are having 2nd thoughts.

INMCD, I wouldn't hold your breath, they haven't even worked out the admissions policy yet, and the numbers - like Ivydale's may be less in the early stages than later on.

confusedbyitall - I know the general area where they will be (Dulwich Hospital site) but where the school will be on this particular site is important - it could affect people's ability to get in. The admissions criteria puts siblings above medicals, which is highly unusual (I hope it's a mistake). And how many will be there in the first year. Some are saying 240, some are saying only 120, who is right ?

Remember Charter 2's admissions policies are different to Charter 1's. They haven't announced where they will be situated permanently or temporarily (the DH site is big). They haven't announced whether they are opening in one go, and whether then school will be on the existing Charter site before moving onto the new one. And, remember, they and not the council are responsible for the admissions. The council just co-ordinates them to stop schools picking children or some children getting more than one offer. So distance is probably mostly irrelevant in this case until the previous points are clearer.

Won't this depend on the number, geography and demography of applicants and the number of places offered ? There will be no absolute distance. colabottle Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Simon, > > Have you been able to get the admissions distance > figure yet? I think it is important information > to be considered as part of your consultation. > > Thank you

Ivydale was never due to expand for September this year. Whether it expands the following year is for the governors and the council to slug it out over. From what I hear, it's not the council who are holding things up.

And I say to you, Councillor Barber - you absolutely do not know what you're talking about. That'll be Southwark Council who invite Harris along (but who rarely, if ever, attend) to all primary and secondary heads gatherings ? Who regularly engage with Harris at an advisor level? Who admissions speak to on a regular basis ? Harris are the dog in the manger here, ask their CEO - why the first time we hear about proposals is usually via Southwark News?

simonethebeaver Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I've noticed that the proposed admissions criteria > unusually puts children with an EHC and > social/medical needs below siblings. I've heard > about some remarks made last night about this > that, as the parent of a child with SEN, I find > worrying, but obviously I wasn't there. Can > someone clarify whether Charter explained the > reasoning behind the priority order? This is highly unusual, but perhaps not as serious as at first glance. Firstly, there will be no siblings in the first round of admissions. Secondly, I have never known a secondary school fill up with siblings and medical/social etc etc. It's distance that fills the schools up. However, it doesn't send a good signal, and is out of step with almost all other schools in the borough ("real" Charter included!). Let them know your thoughts!

I get annoyed when people blame the Council - who have nothing to do with secondary admissions, other than in a coordination role. Face facts, all schools would probably be selective if they could, and the kids who don't pass muster - tough.

Southwark secondaries score above the national average and are all either good or outstanding rated by Ofsted. So, if I had a secondary school aged child in Southwark, I would fret not about secondary options in the borough.

I can echo Renata's views. Too many people go to appeals without actually stating a case. All the school needs to do to win is to prove they applied the criteria correctly. It's no "case" to say you wanted to go there but didn't get a place. All they need to do is to provide a list of 180 people either with siblings or closer to the school than you, and that's it.

Who knows? I think Harris are not impressed with the local population and are seeking to get a "better class of pupil" like Kingsdale have by introducing random allocation, though rumours persist that the latter's "random" is not random at all, but based on whether you are likely to produce good results for the school. If it "works" for the girls, presumably they will roll it out for the boys. Harris get away with it because...well, look at Lord Harris and which party he belongs to.

I'm interested to know how they are going to open this school by September 2016, given that no works have started, the amount of room on the existing Charter site is small, and getting hold of 8 (?) portakabins for the 1st tranche of admissions will not be that easy. Where will the children eat/play/socialise/be collected to and from?

Be aware this is a controversial issue amongst the school community and there are a number of opinions floating around - on the governing body, the staff, and parents.

Ofsted inspectors are a varied bunch, and include existing heads and staff within and outside the borough. They GENERALLY get the overall impression of a school right (i.e. it's rare to find a school that is failing being rated as outstanding) but I think the details often go awry and there is certainly pressure on Ofsted to constantly raise the bar and fail more schools. I've known schools go into special measures on technicalities, and ended up joined to an academy chain as a consequence. The new government will automatically convert any school which gets Requires Improvement into an academy - though quite what they will do with the academies present in the same category is anyone's guess.

Try an email to them via the office. He's called Jeremy Hayward. [email protected]

Personally, I'd just be happy with (some) parents holding their end up on schooling and education - the presents can wait.

Ask the Chair of Governors - they are the ones kicking up.

Doesn't happen at most state schools either - most teachers would be mortified if it did

Norfolkvillas Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I was at the termly parent forum evening yesterday and Jo confirmed 57 out of the 60 places had confirmed and they > were working through their waiting list. There's a fair bit of churn, as people find other places and appeals elsewhere are successful bith inside and outside the borough. > Landsberger you'll be able to see this of course > when you attend the welcome evening for new > parents this week, won't you? Oh no, hang on - you > won't be there, as you're not a parent at the > school So, only people in your rather narrow band of stakeholders are allowed an opinion ? And, seemingly, a positive opinion only. > So all your confident claims > about undersubscribed this and failing that are > nothing but fabricated trolling. I can assure you they are not. The roll of the school - a matter of public record - in the year of opening was less than 50. > It seems a funny > way to enjoy yourself, but whatever floats your > boat, I guess! No-one goes onto a forum to 'enjoy themselves'. There are also people who cannot brook another opinion, sadly.

The school was certainly nowhere near full on primary offer day, that much I do know, but may be being filled by lates and people who did not get in elsewhere. This, on occasion, has made for an unstable school cohort. I do hope there is some clarity around the planning decision - as far as I am aware, the council's perspective is a cautious yes with a fairly extensive list of caveats. Councillors will be wary of the situation that arose in Bromley where the same sponsor didn't manage to get planning permission to opening, and this was certainly nothing to do with ideology - Bromley are not known for their antipathy towards free schools and academies. I think Harris felt they were somehow immune from normal considerations and one hopes they have learnt from this episode.

It's a bit naughty for the mods to go around hiding/deleting all the anti-Harris comments and leave the comments slagging people off who have issues with Harris on there. Wasn't the idea of the original OP to get an idea about the schools? And a bit remiss of people to say they "aren't helpful And are clearly from people who have no real facts about the schools". I can assure you I personally have more than enough facts about the school(s). This is classic forum behaviour - also posters slagging off people making "negative comments" - well a comment can be positive, neutral, r negative, if people don't want to hear negative comments, they should say so in advance. As for people 'scouring forums to make comments on and being weird" - don't we all look at forums and occasionally make comments where we have some views of knowledge on? If you check my comment history, you will see I do not make a habit of making negative comments at all. The OP DID ask what people thought, but obviously had already made their mind up. Which is fair enough, but that's not what the original post said. In terms of the building work at the Police Station, I don't actually think Harris want to proceed at risk. They presumably want to ensure they have full planning permission before proceeding with any major expenditure. This is the application http://planbuild.southwark.gov.uk:8190/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=_STHWR_DCAPR_9557974 It was submitted just prior to Xmas, but has not been determined by the Council yet - the consultation expired in March. There are a number of issues to be addressed, not least traffic and parking - it would be a highly unusual place for a primary school, not that necessarily is a bad thing, but there will be a circle to be squared long term on Lordship Lane if the school is to move there, as I presume the residents and/or businesses there may also have a view - positive or negative. The school has underrecruited again this year - one would hope a permanent site may address the popularity issue.

It all depends on a) the 12 people in front of you and what they do and b) the number of late application ("lates") The guidance directs the admissions authority - in this case the school governors - not to treat a late application any different from an on time one, although not all schools do (the Council does - it has to). A late could be for any reason - people too feckless to apply on time, or more commonly, people who have recently moved into the area. This is why you can move up or down, so it's a bit of a misnomer to call it a "waiting list", as such, more like a "priority order" list, as the date of application is usually irrelevant. It all depends on the popularity of the school as well. If it is massively oversubscribed, the likelihood of waiting list movement is small. For 14/15, there were over 200 applicants for 60 places (I asked).