Do we stand a chance for Dr Challenors - need help for CAF

[dmaz]

Hi,

DD has qualified for Bucks, we are in Watford (OA - 7.312 Miles). Looking into last year allocation profile it was OA to 9.975 for Dr. Challenors. So, we seem to be within last year allocation profile. Are we safe to include Dr. Challenor's in CAF

[scary mum]

No-one can tell you as it varies each year, but probably worth a place on the CAF.

[BlueBerry]

dmaz - Please would you mind sharing which online tool you've used to calculate the straight line distance? I'm struggling to find straight line distances for schools in Berks.

[BlueBerry]

And I agree with scarymum, it's worth putting the school down on your CAF. Good luck.

[dmaz]

dmaz - Please would you mind sharing which online tool you've used to calculate the straight line distance? I'm struggling to find straight line distances for schools in Berks.

I have used freemap tools

https://www.freemaptools.com/how-far-is-it-between.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BlueBerry]

Thanks for the link, this is exactly what I was looking for

[11+pass]

The distance changes every year; last year not enough girls qualified within catchment of DCHS and so to fill in the places the council had to go out of catchment. I think there's about 30 girls in the current Year 7 coming from out of catchment, mainly Herts and Greater London. There are girls in Year 7 who live very near Watford Girls but are coming to DCHS. However, this year may be a different story! All the best.

[Sally-Anne]

The distance changes every year; last year not enough girls qualified within catchment of DCHS and so to fill in the places the council had to go out of catchment.

That isn't quite correct. The school deliberately increased the PAN (admission number) for Y7 from 150 to 180, and it will also be 180 for this year. "Demand didn't drop, but supply increased."

[dmaz]

Thanks Sally-Anne

[11+pass]

The PAN was increased to 180 for 2015 entry but that year only about 8 girls from OOC got offered. However for 2016 entry about 34 girls from OOC got offered, most of which were offered in the first round of allocations. Therefore there is a lot of talk amongst "local" parents that not enough girls qualified that year.
I know of a few very able girls who just missed the golden mark of 121 for whatever reason. Unfortunately none of these girls were successful at selection review and now go to the local comprehensive. I am convinced they will all do well there but I also know that all these girls would have thrived at grammar school if they were given that opportunity. I also know of lots of OOC children who sat the Bucks 11+ for 2016 entry and who were heavily tutored and all qualified. None of these children had the intention of joining a bucks or any other grammar school but their parents made them sit every possible 11+ exam they could get their hands on. These selfish acts annoy us "locals" as the bar is raised so high by these heavily tutored children and unfortunately some local children pay the price for it. Sorry, rant over!