Putting Goodrich at the top of my list without having seen it - am I crazy?

[Norfolkvillas]

Ok so I've slightly messed up on the school front by not arranging to see schools early enough. The earliest Goodrich tour place I could get is AFTER the application deadline!

Am I crazy to put Goodrich as my first choice even though I haven't seen it? In reality, I think it's the only school we have a chance of getting into: Heber is a couple of metres closer to us, but we're a couple of hundred metres shy of their last-place-offered-on-distance so unlikely we'd get even a waiting list place. All other (non-Faith) schools are circa 1km away.

So as choice seems to be something that only applies in theory, should I just put Goodrich first anyway?

Would love to hear from Goodrich parents, and also from anyone who may know if there is any other way I could get a feel for the school ahead of 15 Jan - Christmas fairs or similar??

Thanks in advance!

[alieh]

If you would prefer Heber, it doesn't harm your chances of getting into Goodrich if you put it further down the list. It does mean that even if you get Goodrich you would stay on the waiting list at Heber. The schools don't know in what order you put them, if that makes sense.

I had the same problem with school tours last year!

[simonethebeaver]

Goodrich fair is 7 December?

[Pickle]

Go to the winter fair, it's a great way to get a feel for the school.

[Norfolkvillas]

Thanks all, that's helpful, I shall definitely go and hang out at the fair and I might go and have a nosey at the Heber fair as well.

I'm assuming you're all current Goodrich parents, so hope you might have some feedback on the thread I'm about to start asking for opinions on the school.... thanks in advance!

[Pickle]

When my children started in the nursery I had never been to the school. However, all of the kids in the surrounding houses of to Goodrich, and for us attending the closest school to home was important.

[Peachpie]

You should absolutely put your school choices down in the order you want them. We put down fairlawn, Horniman, Goodrich. We were offered a place at Goodrich and were definitely happy with it. But then they added an extra class at fairlawn at the last minute so we decided to change. We were going to put Goodrich first but in choosing to put it third then we knew if we would have got in to the other schools or not.