Oh, all of this got me worried (I kind of thought I was done with the school decision for several years...)

Belleville is an excellent school and no the quality doesn't drop off in year 3. It's just private school fees can be huge. So parents set on a private education for their kids use the state system for when it suits them and then shift over to the private system when they feel it counts. The kids are older and need prepping for further private education.
It is sad as folks are desperate for state school places around here from reception and private education isn't always a financial option or a personal choice of education and yet they may well miss out on a place at a preferred school with spaces only then turning up again in later years.

Ooh - papinian got there before me but yes, prep schools start at 7+ and are called prep schools to prepare children for onward private education at 11 or 13.
What I am surprised at is there isn't the otherway turn of kids that go to pre-preps then taking up the spare capacity in the 'sought after schools' afterwards? I suppose the expectation is if you have spent the money at pre-prep you may as well keep spending.

FrenchMummyInLondon wrote:Is the move to private school is that massive? why?

My daughter is at Belleville and I was thinking that (due to the amount of "fighting" to get in) the kids will stay until moving to secondary school... but it doesn't seem to be the case?
Are the schools not as good for Year3 and above then?
what decided parents to move the kids to private?

Because to get into private/independent schools at 11 you need to be on track before then. It's not necessarily about the quality of the education it's about the focus of the education. It's similar to the idea that if you're learning a subject it's not just about learning it generally, it's also about being prepared for the exam.

I think you have things the wrong way around re parents fighting to get their children into Belleville. Those parents are doing that in part because it saves them the money they need to pay the fees later on for prep school (8-11).

Is the move to private school is that massive? why?

My daughter is at Belleville and I was thinking that (due to the amount of "fighting" to get in) the kids will stay until moving to secondary school... but it doesn't seem to be the case?
Are the schools not as good for Year3 and above then?
what decided parents to move the kids to private?

Private schools or people move out of the area.

Hi
sorry, don't want to derail the topic - but why is there so many places available in Year 3 and above?
Where do the reception/Year1/year2 pupils go??

Not sure where you are, but we have been extremely happy with Henry Cavendish in Balham, which also, as of yesterday, has an outstanding OFSTED in all four categories. Both our girls are happy (year 6 and year 1), supported and challenged, with great friends and sensitive enthusiastic teachers. There are obviously many aspects to choosing a school, and everyone will have different priorities, but in terms of your expressed areas of interest, the report (not yet on the OFSTED website) particuarly praises its art, as well as its ability to challenge children of all abilities. On the academic side, our eldest did the level 6 papers for all of the SATS as did several others in her year (no results yet though..........) and is going to one of the local independent day schools in September, with only one hour's tutoring a week for 9 months (may seem a lot, it did to me at first, but is actually less than many others at that age). Several of her friends are going to Graveney on the basis of the Wandsworth exam. Hope that this helps.

Contrary to the previous post I know a number of Ravenstone year six pupils who are going onto Alleyns and Emanuel in September. Not sure I would agree with the snowflake and hell comment! I'm sure you'll find a number of good Wandsworth primaries feeding some excellent private secondaries. Even the top prep schools only send a couple of kids every year to Westminster, St. Paul's etc. Granted there is more chance than if you are in a state primary but it is certainly not a given !

When my son was born I had three neighbours on my road alone and a neighbour's daughter all telling me to get my son christened at St. Anselms so he could get in for the school when he was older. I did ask my CofE christened, now agnostic husband if he wanted to go for it but he wasn't interested so in a few months we will consider our options of sticking with the private school he is in for nursery or 'somewhere' else.

Good luck with your decision and welcome back to the area.

Thanks so much for taking the time to apply. Both St Anselms and Beatrix Potter are local for us, more so than Hwell/ Belleville so i am delighted that those schools are mentioned. When I spoke to Wandsworth council yesterday they told me that most schools in the borough had space in Year 3 (currently 2 at BP) but it is Year 4 it really drops off - there are 10 spaces at BP at the moment for example. I would certainly consider St Anselms too - but I think they are one of the schools that very rarely has space.

With regards to Papinian's point about moving school inter year (which luckily does not apply to me as we are coming 'new' to the process), I would not hesitate to move my child to a 'better' school if I was not delighted with how they were getting on at their current school - even if it was difficult with regards perceptions of other parents. Moving schools once or twice during the primary years really isn't a crisis, kids adapt and thrive in new environments. Many of our frieds on the international assignement circuit move their kids every 2-3 years as their jobs move and their kids are fine, indeed they learn adaptability and flexibility.

Belleville. Lovely school, great head and teachers, nice parents and a committed PTA. It is also a feeder for The Bollingbroke Academy.
If you prefer a small school then apply to the Meteor site, if you think a bigger & busier space will work for your kids then the main site.
My daughter loves it and I'm really pleased with her social and academic development.

Honeywell or Holy Ghost, in that order. Might consider Belleville but if I didn't get either of those, which I'm sure will be the case, it would be the private route for me.

I doesn't seem as though this is relevant in your case. Medway, but if I were to have a choice for my kids at any school but I had a younger child due to start reception in the next few years, I would also take int. consideration whether the younger child would automatically get a place. So if I got a place at BP but lived outside their defined catchment area, I would think twice about sending my eldest children there because my younger children would be unlikely to get in. Same applies for some of the church schools.

One point that I wanted to pick up on in your original post but which I didn't have time to address earlier is your question of whether one would move a child to be in a preferred school.

This is where the difference between in-year admissions in higher years and admission at 4 becomes relevant. If you're applying for in-year admission and a state school has an available place then the school has to admit you. In addition, we all know that, as you mention yourself in your original post, on average primary schools in Wandsworth, whether good or bad, tend to have empty places in higher years. One reason is that parents move children from state schools to private prep schools at 7 or 8 (the "state 'til eight" approach discussed on this site previously). Another reason is that parents move out of Wandsworth to get more space / somewhere with better secondary schools and this is more likely to happen when children are that age. There are a couple of other reasons also, but not worth me going into now.

It's a very different decision to move your child from one state school to another than to send your child to a particular state school in the first place. There's an element of "better the devil you know" and an understandable reluctance to disrupt friend groups etc. There's also a fear for parents of addressing the question that will get asked by other parents in the existing school as to why they are choosing to move their child. Other parents don't want to be told that you think that another school is better than the one their children are (staying) at. It's better to have some sort of reason (true or not) that is not based on a comparison of the schools, e.g. to have moved house (even if only a few streets) or to have changed jobs (so drop off at other school more convenient) or to be Catholic/CoE and prefer to sent to faith school (with the excuse that didn't get in at 4 originally b/c had missed church attendance) or that you're doing it b/c of secondary school admission policies (I know of a move from St Anselm's to St Boniface that was done at year 6 so that the child would get into St Philomena's for secondary, as St Boniface was a linked school for St Phil's but St Anselm's wasn't - now no longer relevant as St Phil's has got rid of the linked schools concept).