distance from school

Eleven Plus (11+) in Lincolnshire (Lincs)

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september2010
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Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 1:39 pm

distance from school

Post by september2010 »

My child has passed her 11+ for a grammar school which is 12 miles away. This school is over-subscribed. We have considered moving nearer to the school although we would find this a great upheaval. The school apparently has no catchment area as such but selects on exam pass, whether the school was placed 1st, SEN, brother or sister attending and finally distance. We have placed this school 1st and passed the exam but hold out little hope she will get in due to distance. I do know other parents from my area that were offered places in previous years but would appreciate any advice on likelyhood of admission from others who are in a similar position or know those who are or have been in this situation. If she does not get in is it too late to move?
hermanmunster
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Post by hermanmunster »

Hi, Welcome to the forum

Would you be able to let us know which school it is as the catchments vary hugely by distance around the country. It may be that some people on the forum will have experience of the school you are looking at and be able to advise you
september2010
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Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 1:39 pm

Post by september2010 »

Thank you for your reply. The school in question is Bourne Grammar, Lincolnshire. Please help as I am feeling very worried!
Sally-Anne
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Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: distance from school

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi September2010
september2010 wrote:The school apparently has no catchment area as such but selects on exam pass, whether the school was placed 1st, SEN, brother or sister attending and finally distance.
It is illegal under the DCSF Admissions Code for the school to select children on the basis of where the school is ranked on the CAF.

These are the specific over-subscription criteria for Lincolnshire schools. Obviously a pass of 220 is the first criterion for admission to a grammar school, and then places are allocated in this order:
Oversubscription criteria
A. The child is in the care of the local authority.
B. There is a brother or sister at the school who will still be attending
when the child is due to start.
C. The child meets the religious criteria for Stickney William Lovell Church
of England School given below.
D. The distance from the home to the school. Priority will be given to the
child living nearest the school, as defined in note 4.
I can't immediately find the Lincolnshire parent information pack for school applications, but I am certain that there will have been a specific deadline for providing evidence of your address for the purposes of determining where you live, so moving house now will not help.

I suggest that you call Lincs Admissions to ask them what the allocation distances for the school have been in previous years.

Sally-Anne
hermanmunster
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Post by hermanmunster »

being Lincolnshire is more encouraging than many areas - some of the kids travel up to 25 miles to some eg Grantham. Obviously might be different for Bourne. As Sally Ann says might be worth asking for the allocation distances for previous years.
september2010
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Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 1:39 pm

Post by september2010 »

Thank you for trying to help. I have already written to the admissions team and they said

"The only children who got in from Stamford this year (2009) were those who already have a sibling at the school and have passed the 11+. The furthest driving distance that the last person to get into the school was 15.89Km."

I am approx 19km away driving distance (this is the measurement for 2010, not sure about last year). This information has not given me much hope but I am still clutching at straws! I have a friend whose children were offered a place a few years back (though they turned it down!) and they lived about the same distance away as me with no siblings at the school so I need help to clear settle my mind!

Also I would like to view the number of admissions and oversubscriptions for the last few years. I have been trawling through the Lincolnshire CC website and have found a few tables containing surplus places only. Is there a specific link?
Marylou
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Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:21 am

Post by Marylou »

Lincolnshire sounds like Bucks in this respect.

The distance to which places are allocated (if this is measured for allocation purposes) can vary greatly year on year. It's possible that your address can be comfortably within it one year and several miles outside the following year - it all depends on how many pupils passed the test, where they live and whether they have siblings or SEN. You should be able to obtain oversubscription data for previous years from the local council.

In the meantime, if 1st March does not bring the news you want, you might be given the chance to go on a waiting list, see http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/section. ... 3745&ovt=1. In this case you should also be able to know where your child is on the list and get a rough idea of the chances of obtaining a place. There can be a fair amount of movement between allocation day and July, so it is worth doing this as well as considering an oversubscription appeal - the two systems run side by side. It's a good idea to accept the school you are offered though, just so you have a fallback option - this should not prejudice the waiting list or oversubscription appeal process.

Best of luck!
Marylou
september2010
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Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 1:39 pm

Post by september2010 »

Thank you for your help Marylou, I am trying to find oversubscription data online at the moment and I'm not getting very far! I am also wondering if I move closer to the school would she get a place in the end? It's all such a minefield!
Marylou
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Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:21 am

Post by Marylou »

Hi September,

Before ringing the estate agent, and since you haven't actually reached the appeal stage yet, it might be worth asking one of the mods to move this into the Lincolnshire section of the Forum, as there are people there with local knowledge who might be more able to help. You are right, there does seem to be very little oversubscription information available on the Lincs site, but I did find this:

http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/search_r ... ed+changes

If you open the Excel file at the top of the list you will see that Bourne Grammar has its 2010 PAN (published admission number) listed as 150 under Proposed Changes. Obviously if this is an increase then it's good news (our school increased its PAN by six places last year which was great for people relying on distance!) but of course if it's a decrease then the opposite is true. Do you know what last year's PAN was?
Marylou
hermanmunster
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Post by hermanmunster »

topic moved to Lincolnshire to get more local info! thanks marylou for suggesting it!
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