Local State Schools - Give us a clue Post Reply

[asouth]

Hi All

After reading lots of the posts about who has been offered what schools in the area it has got me thinking. We will be going through the process next year so I thought I would do a bit of research.

We live 'in between the commons' and would be ever so grateful if anyone who lives the clapham south end of Canford Rd, Muncaster Rd, Alfriston Rd, Culmstock Rd, Winsham Grove area could let me know what local state schools they were offered.
I assume we are being realistic that Honeywell and Belleville are out of our reach??

From reading the posts, it sounds like Falconbrook and Alderbrook where offered to families close to us - does anyone have any thoughts about those schools?

Many thanks to any replies

[Annavholt]

Sorry to jump in on this thread.... We are in the same position as you so would be VERY interested to hear a response!! We are mid way up culmstock road, and like you, think this would be out of catchment for Honeywell and Belleville. Sooo where would we be likely to be offered ( as these are the closest schools to us, followed by wix and Macaulay which I understand to be over subscribed?!) very anxious as to where we might get placed this time next year! I have twins so private school not really an option due to cost!

[breakfastattiffanys]

asouth
Regarding what schools were offered to those living in the area you mention, part of it may have depended on whether they actually utilised their full six choices rather than just applying for Honeywell and Belleville.
Those we know were offered Falconbrook.

Not sure about top end of Alfriston, but Honeywell would have been out of distance on most if not all of those roads for some years to my knowledge.

Belleville on the other hand prior to the changing of straight-line distance varied from year to year. Some years you got in; others not.

I believe the change of measurements have reduced that possibility considerably for both schools judging by the below:

You only have to look at the stats this year: furthest distance offered a place thus far shows:
Honeywell 232m
Belleville 274m

Last year:
Honeywell 366m (450m)
Belleville 402m (469m)

NOTE:- First figure on initial offer in April 2012; subsequent entry in brackets the figure when the booklet for 2013 admissions was published.

[emfletch]

we live just by Macaulay - does anyone know what it is like. It seems nice when I walk past, but would love to hear a more informed view.
thanks

[klw]

We're Wakehurst rd, very close to muncaster rd and Canford rd (400 metres from Belleville). We were offered falconbrook primary which is near York rd, not realistic walking difference. We are 25th on Belleville waiting list and in the 70s on Honeywell. I'm sorry it's not better news- all my neighbours kids go to Belleville (including getting places in reception last year) so things are much worse this year for our location.

[izzye789]

everyone gets offered falconbrook my daughter did 2 years ago. last resort dont evan go there over crowded dump.she got him into christ church in chelsea exellent school if you can get in .

[excitera]

Falconbrook? oh my... in so nice 'local' area..
were are also Muncaster/Wakehurst end, all our neighbours kids are going to Belleville, but I guess it won't happen for us - better be saving up for private...

Luvnyrick - christ church in chelsea is it catholic or private? t

[LauraBrown]

There is no need to be rude about Falconbrook. Actually last year its results were better than Belleville's: 93% got level 4s in maths and English compared with 92% at Belleville. And yes, Falconbrook is in a less affluent part of the Borough but so what, clearly an excellent school achieving brilliant results (with much higher value add score than Belleville too).

[supergirl]

I absolutely agree with you LauraBrown but unfortubately for some sending their children to a good or excellent school in the "wrong" side of the railway line is a no no... I suspect keeping with the Jones has a lot to do with it?

[klw]

To be honest I don't at all care about keeping up with jones. What I can't do is walk almost 8 miles ( round trip) each day with a young four year old and a younger child in tow- it will just take hours. There are about 7 schools closer to us and my child will have no kids round the corner to play with.

I went to a state primary school where all the local kids went. It was a real mix and my childhood was all the better for it. This is not something my children are going to experience.

I don't begrudge others their place at belleville or Honeywell, nor do I think they are the only good schools in the universe, but they are both under 5 minutes walk away for us, so it is difficult to accept that my child is so far down the waiting lists!

[livegreen]

Shortage of excellent school places remains the real issue.

The Council are consulting on increasing the capacity in 6-7 of the primary schools in Wandsworth that have enough space to expand eg Broadwater School.
However some very selfish parents at these schools are campaigning against any expansion. If these schools were forced to expand (the funds are being provided by central Government), they could also have the size that enables them to provide the all round services provided by BV and H. People would then have less need to get into these schools and then move to the Heaver estate for example.

@laurabrown - the results you point to are level 4 but BV and H perform much better at Level 5 than the other local schools, but it is not just this that makes everyone want to get in. Both are outstanding and have been so for a long time. Both have a fantastic PTFA and community spirit raising large sums for both the schools (new minibuses) and charities, both offer a fantastic array of before and after clubs, extra curriculum, both perform well in sport, music, drama. Both have the pupils, families and communities at their heart.
It is the jobs of all other local schools to attempt to achieve similar standards both in academic and non-academic criteria.

[LauraBrown]

No problem at all with people wanting to go to HW and BV - I'd be v annoyed if I lived 5 mins from a school and couldn't get in. I was responding to the rude comments about Falconbrook as it obviously is a good school but understand that it is a trek for some.

On the topic of opposing the Broadwater school expansion, I tend to object to the accusation of being selfish parents on the grounds that this area is not like HW and BV, there is not a queue of people unable to get into local schools at all. The Broadwater admissions distance actually increased this year! So, we're unsure that it's needed. I think those BTC should be looking for a new school site in your area for a new primary school. Expanding schools in Tooting is not going to ease the congestion in your area! But it will fulfill the Council's statutory responsibility to provide a school place for every child - anyone fancy a trip on the G1 down to Garratt Lane....?

[FraggleRocks]

Livegreen you are right that Honeywell does very well at Level 5+, not a major surprise given the numbers of children who are also being tutored for 11+ exams, however Belleville isn't at all streets ahead and as with all these things the data demonstrates the complexity. High View gets 36%, BV 38%. When you break it down by High/Middle/Low attainers the results are even more interesting. At High View, 100% of 'high attainers' got Level 5+ last year. At Honeywell this number was 76%, which suggests (doesn't it?) some high performers are being let down. Belleville 82%. At Falconbrook 11% of LOW attainers achieved Level 5+ (compared with 0 at Belleville and High View) which surely says a lot of positive things about teaching standards.

Some of the % making expected progress figures for Belleville and Honeywell would concern me if I was a parent there - although there may be a reason I don't know about behind the figures.

I find it quite unlikely that Falconbrook is an 'overcrowded dump'. As it is not oversubscribed like BV/HW it is reasonably likely class sizes will be smaller. I've met some really lovely (and bright) kids from there and I know that there's a level 6 extension maths club run by the head of a local independent school.

I quite agree that more school places are needed in this area though. There are true black holes, which is rubbish and the birth rate isn't reducing. However, do look at the data and see a school before dismissing it out of hand. There are definitely some gems around.

[LauraBrown]

Great post Fraggle

[papinian]

I would also like to say that you wrote a great post Fraggle.

I have two comments to add, one supporting what you say, one disagreeing with you slightly.

My first comment is that the issues you are discussing are not the primary ones for Belleville/Honeywell obsessives. For many parents who would not consider High View or Falconbrook the issues are social. Quite simply, they want to be in a school where the large majority of parents are "people like them". And, speaking honestly, I can understand that, even if I don't agree with it. The nature of the SOME of the people who move to live BTC is because they want to be in a middle class ghetto (and there is nothing wrong with middle class ghettos) and it's not unexpected that they aren't keen on sending their children to school outside their comfort zone.

In my ways its like the parents who sent their children to independent school even though they don't believe it is better educationally than the good state (incl. grammar school) alternative - those parents do think that their children will make more useful contacts at independent school (e.g. if they go to Oxford or Cambridge or LSE or wherever the children will fit in better with the large number of students there who are the product of independent school.

Trying to get these parents to focus on educational outcomes of schools will not work, because these parents (correctly) recognise that test-based educational outcomes don't cover other things that schools impact on, like their child's accent (I'm not from London but I remember my mother being worried that I was picking up an inner-city accent at primary school - I was sent to public speaking classes straight away), the wealth/contacts of their child's friends' parents, the social activities of their child's classmates (e.g. skiing).

My second comment is that I would be a little wary of relying too much on the KS2 results data, in particular the breakdown of low attainers, middle attainers and high attainers. That categorisation is based on performance at KS1, so if children do badly at KS1 more of them will be classified as low attainers or middle attainers. Sometimes better grades for a particular cohort (low, middle or high) may reflect poor categorisation or poor results at KS1 level.