Secondary school allocation

[Sol]

I have some questions regarding secondary school allocations:

I am thinking that we are not going to be allocated any of the 3 schools we put on the list on the first round; however I believe we will get on the waiting list for our first choice. My questions are: will Southwark give us any other school we didn't put on the list? And will my daughter be put on the waiting list for all the schools we put? Can we keep her on all the waiting lists?

[Coach Beth]

Yes they will give you any other school in Southwark if you don?t get the ones you put on the form. It will likely be a school which is undersubscribed and had places - I think they try to do the nearest school that still has I allocated places so probably you will get Harris Academy Peckham as that has tended to be undersubscribed. You should be put on the waiting lists for the schools you did put on the list. And yes you can stay on all the waiting lists.

[Sol]

Thank you

Can I then just decline the place if I am not happy with it.

[Coach Beth]

Sure. But there is no point. It won?t get you another place as Southwark have dischargered their duty by offering you a school. It also will have absolutely no bearing on your place on the waiting lists. So if you turn it down and your daughter doesn?t get into another school on a waiting list place she could end up with no place at all. Then I suppose you could apply for a place at another undersubscribed school even further away if you ended up in that situation.

[Sol]

Thank you very much. That's very helpful.

[Coach Beth]

You'll probably get a waiting list place although remember that this this is a tricky year as it's the year that many of the primary schools have an extra class in year 6 due to the bulge classes put on when these year 6 classes were in reception. So there are more children needing secondary places than ever before although the new ED Charter addresses some of that. And there are undersubscribed schools and you can be allocated a school outside Souhwark so you won't be without any place... I knew someone who only put 3 very popular schools last year and they ended up being allocated a school they had never heard of in Catford .. Sedgehill I think. I believe at the last minute - beginning of September they got a waiting list place at a school nearer to Ed. Good luck!

[redjam]

As Coach Beth says, there is a huge amount of movement on waiting lists over the summer each year, so try not to worry if you don't get one of your preferred choices immediately. Also bear in mind that Charter ED are taking more kids this year and also Kingsdale is taking in another bumper crop of Year 7s. So that will alleviate the pressure.

Definitely don't turn down any place offered - there is no tactical advantage and if the worst came to the worst you'd end up with nothing.

Good luck for Thursday, everyone! The usual nail-biting time...

[Sol]

Thanks a lot.

How many children are Kingsdale and Charter East Dulwich taking this year?

Can't wait for Thursday.

[redjam]

I believe 390 for Kingsdale and 180 (up from 120 last year) at Charter ED. Happy to be corrected if anyone knows better.

[Sol]

Thank you very much Redjam.

[lolasid]

The waiting is almost over, thank goodness.

Get the apps myUSO and ParentComms as apparently the results come through these quicker than emails. Definitely do not decline a school but go on waiting lists for the school you want. Hope everyone gets their first choice. Can?t say I?m too hopeful for mine, but fingers crossed.

[Renata Hamvas]

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

[Sol]

3 more hours to wait. Can't wait to find out what we are getting even though I am convinced it will be a school not on the list.

[Sol]

Thank you Renata. I just wanted to put school we were happy with. I guess it is a risk we took.

[Renata Hamvas]

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

[Sol]

Edited

[Renata Hamvas]

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.

[kristymac1]

Hi Renata, can you confirm whether you automatically go on the waiting list of schools listed above that allocated, irrespective of the Borough you are in? Eg, we're in Southwark, would we automatically go on waiting list of sydenham girls?

Many thanks

Kristy

[midivydale]

Hi Kristy, clearly I?m not Renata but this is what happens to us ar primary. We ended up on the waiting list for a primary in Lewisham (and got offered a place 2 weeks later).

[kristymac1]

M hiidivydale Wrote:

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

> Hi Kristy, clearly I?m not Renata but this is what

> happens to us ar primary. We ended up on the

> waiting list for a primary in Lewisham (and got

> offered a place 2 weeks later).

Thank you! The emissions website just says we'll be placed on waiting list of higher placed Southwark schools - I'd feel tons better if Renata could confirm too (no offence obv!) x

[Sol]

Hi Renata, how do we find out about distances and waiting lists. Have been calling the schools without much luck. I imagine they are being bombarded so they are not answering the phones.

[alethea]

Hi there,

I sent an email to the Southwark Schools admissions, as I didn't get any of my choices, they advised me where I was on the waiting lists. I am having to email the schools with regards to how the waiting lists move. They can only advise you on the southwark school on your lists.

Hope that helps.

[alethea]

[email protected]

[tomskip]

Kristymac - I'm not Renata either, but I had exactly the same question as you when I was waiting for a place in a Lewisham school a few years ago. If you leave it a day or two I don't think there would be any harm in you phoning Sydenham School and seeing if you are indeed on their waiting list. They are pretty on the ball and (I think) have dedicated staff for this sort of question. If you aren't there then you can take it further.

[hpsaucey]

Sol Wrote:

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

> Hi Renata, how do we find out about distances and

> waiting lists. Have been calling the schools

> without much luck. I imagine they are being

> bombarded so they are not answering the phones.

Or trying their best to take as many calls as they can esp. given the weather?

Think you can see Lewisham?s last year furthest distances on their website. Don?t think there is an equivalent for Southwark. Pretty sure someone -maybe Renata - posted how to get these in last year?s thread.