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Weald Grammar, locality to school & chances of success!

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 2:16 pm
by bengalmum
Hello everyone,

I have been to Weald today with my daughter and we loved the school. We live near Lingfield in Surrey. My daughter got a score of 369 which i don't think is going to be enough for an OOC place at TGS. I'm concerned that if i put TGS and Weald, then a third comp local to us, we may not get offered either grammar place and then not get our third choice school. This could potentially mean she ends up at a pretty awful school in Horley - so the complete opposite end of the spectrum and a total disaster.

With regards to naming schools on the SCAF im sure i read somewhere that the schools aren't made aware of whether they were 1st or 2nd preference. Why do they urge you to put them as first option?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as in Surrey we don't really have many going for the Kent Test so not really anyone to discuss this with!

Thanks so much. :D

Re: Weald Grammar, locality to school & chances of success!

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 2:28 pm
by Sennockianmum
That's a long way to travel. I personally feel Kent schools should be for Kent children, what is wrong with your local one?

Re: Weald Grammar, locality to school & chances of success!

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 2:32 pm
by bengalmum
Its 20 mins on the train for us. We are also in their catchment area. We don't have grammar schools and i'd like to give my daughter the best possible chance. The school places are allocated by distance so we are last in the queue, so are not stealing schools from Kent children in the case of WoK. I have read elsewhere that this is supposed to be a supportive place.

Re: Weald Grammar, locality to school & chances of success!

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 2:40 pm
by JJ123
Hi Bengalmum,

I have a daughter in year 10 at WoK she has friends from many areas such as Oxted and Wadhurst who managed to get in. It obviously depends each year but as there are 3 extra classes ( 90 places) at Sevenoaks too she should be in with a good chance.

Interestingly some of the OC children get to school quicker than the more local with a good train service. Obviously her friends would be spread wider but as long as you don't mind being a taxi service for all their sleepovers it won't be a problem :roll: :roll:

I have a little one who'll (hopefully) be starting next September, it really is a very good, supportive and nurturing school. Good Luck and well done to your DD for passing, thats the tricky bit.

Re: Weald Grammar, locality to school & chances of success!

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 2:51 pm
by bengalmum
Hello JJ123,

Yes, i am hoping the annexe will make all the difference. We hope to move a little closer within the next two years but i would be delighted to be a taxi service if it means she is getting an A1 education!

Thank you for your reply and kind words, i'm just trying to sooth the nerves! The trick I find is to fill in the form and then try to forget about it for a while! Otherwise it is months of anguish. Hopefully the lovely lady i'm hearing about in admissions will be able to shed further light for me.

Re: Weald Grammar, locality to school & chances of success!

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 2:54 pm
by streathammum
You must put the schools on the CAF in the actual order that you want them.

Each school ranks all the children who name it *anywhere* on their CAF in the order according to their own admissions criteria. There is then a process to establish which school your child will be offered.

The process checks whether you are eligible for a place at your top preference school. If you are, it releases all the other schools you've name on your CAF, which means that other people may now be offered those places. If you're not eligible for your top choice school, but you are eligible for your second, the schools below second are released, the second choice is held for you and they continue to check your eligibility for your first preference school as it is released from other children's CAFs.

It is counter-intuitive but you should remember that you may rank higher for your second or third preference school than another child who puts it as their first preference - in that case, you would receive a place before they do, even though they listed it higher on their CAF. The schools never find out which order you have put it on the CAF. There is no danger that your second choice school might somehow 'fill up' while you're waiting for a place at your top choice school.

The other thing to bear in mind is that if you put school B top of your list but you really want school A, and you then receive an offer from school B, you will not be held on the waiting list for school A - this school will be declined on your behalf as the local authority will assume that you are happy with school B (because you put it first).

If you put school A first, but only get an offer of school B, you can go on the waiting list for school A and may get a place later on.

Re: Weald Grammar, locality to school & chances of success!

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2016 10:05 pm
by monochromecat
They usually say something like 'if you think that this is the right school for your daughter then you need to put it first.' This makes you think that you stand more chance if you put it first. What it actually means is that if you put ok comp first and you qualify for ok comp then that is what you will be given. It's only if you don't qualify for your first choice that others will be offered. List your true preferences.

Re: Weald Grammar, locality to school & chances of success!

Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2016 4:14 pm
by PurpleDog
I have replied to your comment on another post but I would speak to admissions at Weald to see how realistic your chance of a place there would be.
We had an anxious wait as we had to wait for the second round to get a place but we are very pleased with the school so far.
Lots of children do travel from quite a distance to Weald and this year they had 8 form entry.
Next year it will be 9 including the annexe places.
I would have thought you have a good chance unless the school suddenly gets much more popular.
It's tough only having 3 choices especially if two of your options are a long shot. You are then pinning your hopes on just one school and if you are unlucky you have to take pot luck.
Hopefully you will get one of your choices even if you have a nail biting wait for a waiting list place.
Good Luck