Belleville & Honeywell Distances Post Reply

[hjm]

Can anyone help me please. We are trying to work out whether we need to move house prior to my daughter going to school.

I just phoned Wandsworth Council to find out the distances that you needed to live from the school in order to get in to Belleville and Honeywell. I was told that in September 2011 the distances were 381m at first offer for Honeywell, which moved to 393m after appeals, and 550m for Belleville at initial offer, which moved to 589m after appeals.

The guy I spoke to said that those were the distances on day 1 of term in September, but that would mean that the lists hardly moved between March - September. My understanding was that the distances move quite a bit between when the offers and made and the first day of term.

If anyone's child got offered a place at either school in August last year, please can you tell me how far away you live? Any help much appreciated.

[sezwedz]

Helo,

My daughter was offered a place at Belleville on the second round just before the end of the school year end of June I think. Our distance by the shortest walking route with street lighting for Belleville is 582 metres. We were offered a place at the new Meteor site. I think we started at number 13 on the the waitlist so there is quite a bit of movement.
Hope that helps. Good luck.

[MGMidget]

I think it varies from year to year, so in some previous years the distances have been quite a bit further. Last year was a bit of 'tight' year so it seems. You might be luckier, then again you may not. I think there is a current proposal to change the distance calculations as well? Therefore, I would be careful if moving house not to rely too heavily on previous statistics.

[hjm]

Thanks, we are about 480m from Honeywell and 750m from Belleville. Does anyone know if we'd be likely to get in to either based on those distances? I am happy to hold my nerve until the day before term starts if that's what it takes

[tgjmummy]

This is a topic close to my heart too. We are about 450m from Honeywell but over 800m from Belleville. It is a few years until we will be applying but I am already concerned that we will end up without a place at a nearby school. In the recent Belleville consultation they mentioned the lack of provision for children south of Broomwood Road, but I am not aware of any action being taken to resolve this or if this is an issue that Honeywell are interested in addressing. Grateful for any information.

[erinisle22]

I think things are going to be "tight" going forward with all schools. I went to the proposed Tooting Primary School consultation last Friday and they said there that Wandsworth Primary schools would be oversubscribed over the entire borough by 60 places by 2015 so I suspect things are going to get tighter for all good schools over the next few years if more aren't opened up.

[beanzmeanz]

If you are considering moving, please be aware that the council is proposing a change in how distances from school to home are measured.

Therefore, for entry 2013 onwards it is proposed that If there are more applications than places within any category, applications will be considered in order of nearness of home to school measured in a straight line by the Council’s Geographical Information System.

This proposal is currently at the consultation stage, but I think the council is keen to get it through as it will make catchment areas much easier to define (ie so many metres as the crow flies, rather than so many metres by a lit street - which can be open to challenge.
HTH
ps will also effect secondary school catchment areas if it gets through

[hjm]

Ok, so I have now spoken to both Belleville and Honeywell schools and I have been told that on day 1 of school in Septmeber 2011 the distances were as follows:

Honeywell - 440m
Belleville - 700m

I live 702m from Belleville according to the council. Gah!

[willowshonker]

I would imagine moving to "as the crow flies" measurement of distance will be passed as many other ed authorities in and around London have taken it up. It does make it less open to discussion and therefore avoids the ed authority (and parents) wasting a lot of timing challenging which route is the shortest.

Also the maximum distance from school of those offered places does change considerably year to year - demographics and even small changes to things like sibling rules can make a massive difference year to year.

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