Primary school offer day... Get the school you wanted? Post Reply

[Bama]

Impressive results. Catchment area have never been so huge.

What do you think is the reason?

[claphamite]

son, yourself?

Daughter!

Fab I am so eager to receive a welcome email from them! I want to start getting organised for September! Where else did you put down?

All the other local schools (except Wix given the Autumn Ofsted), but Heathbrook was first choice anyway, so got what we wanted!

[Alchemy]

I found this year's catchments on the Wandsworth Council website, very speedy! http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/downloads/ ... _allocated

Thanks, some surprising numbers there:

• Belleville went from 396m in 2016 to 985m (both years had five classes); and
• Honeywell went from 242m in 2016 to 420m.

Any idea what is going on? Not that I'm not pleased, just curious.

Also, the number of siblings at both schools has dropped massively, by about 25-30% at both schools.

[Nims]

I'm so surprised at that catchment especially for the first round - 985m for Belleville and I can't recall Honeywell ever being as much as 420m before (and they haven't even put an extra class on ...).

Could it be a clampdown on parents renting in the area short-term or the 800m sibling policy? They're the only reasons I can think of...

The catchment for both schools will widen by September as some people will inevitably tend to reject their places in favour of private schools.

Very interesting!

[this_is_cat]

Very surprised at the Belleville and Honeywell catchments!

I guess it shows just how many parents were scamming the system before, and shows how needed the overhaul of the sibling-out-of-catchment criteria was

[this_is_cat]

Nims, Alchemy,

The rules were changed last year.
Siblings only get automatic places in they are still within a certain distance of the school.

Those who live miles away (because the parents did the old 'rent-in-catchment, get-a-place-for-oldest-child-and-then-move-miles-away trick) now no longer get an automatic place

A much fairer system that was long overdue.

It was unbelievable that a school with a 200m catchment would be surrounded by cars at pick up time, because all the children lived a drive away

[claphamite]

I found this year's catchments on the Wandsworth Council website, very speedy! http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/downloads/ ... _allocated

Wow! I am amazed how quickly they got it up! Lambeth still to appear.

[Alchemy]

The rules were changed last year.
Siblings only get automatic places in they are still within a certain distance of the school.

But it shouldn't really affect this year's intake, because both Belleville and Honeywell have this exception:

Children with a sibling on the roll of the school on the date of admission living over 800 metres from the school will also receive priority where (...) the last sibling was admitted prior to 1st September 2017

[this_is_cat]

I stand corrected
Maybe some parents have also missed that exception and not applied for places?
The catchment extensions are definitely driven by a lack of sibling applications...

[Mum2Monkey]

I am not sure that "catchments are so huge" in all cases. Rutherford house is down to 407m with half siblings - so actually less than Honeywell and Belleville. Tooting Primary is also tiny as is Earlsfield Primary. As always, the nappyvalley split between BTC and non BTC!

Hope everyone is pleased with their results. I think we are really lucky to have a such large number of great schools in the area. We got our first choice, but would have been pleased with our 2nd, 3rd and 4th too.

[Vhopeful]

Some reasons for HW and BV catchment areas expanding
- more people BTC are going the private route by choice
- not as many people are selling/upgrading their houses BTC due to stamp duty/sibling rules & general economic uncertainty.

Either way I guess it's good news for a lot of people.

[isabella12]

Anyone get there child into Christ church Chelsea .I no someone that didn't all her other children went there when they were small she's always attended church every week not just to get her child in unlike those who go just to get there kids in then stop going .It's all about those who can afford to fund the school every month.to much sculduggerey going on there .!!

[Balham1981]

Hello

We live in the Balham area and got Henry Cavendish!

Did anybody else get this school?

[Habichuela]

Daughter!

Fab I am so eager to receive a welcome email from them! I want to start getting organised for September! Where else did you put down?

All the other local schools (except Wix given the Autumn Ofsted), but Heathbrook was first choice anyway, so got what we wanted!

Ah, excellent I'd put Clapham Manor first only because we are slightly closer and Heathbrook was second but we liked schools equally and didn't think we'd get into either. Our other schools were more towards Stockwell as we are in Clapham North.

[BalhamDaddy]

Heena - where do you live and what distance are you from Henry Cavendish?

We had that as our first choice but didn't get it... despite being located on the same road! (Hydethorpe Road).

We're also on the waiting list for Telferscot despite being only 340m away. Really stressing about it as we thought Telferscot in particular was a shoe in.

Fingers crossed for the waiting list. (P.S. Henry Cav is a great school so congrats)