Calling all you residents of Kingston (borough)

[2outof3]

I'm just being nosey really!

With all the discussion at the moment of catchments and people applying to the Tiffin schools from all parts of the country, I was wondering how many of "us" - us being residents of RBK - have already applied or intend to apply to maintained schools outside of our own borough.

I know that some apply to Sutton schools (mostly limited to Sutton Grammar or Nonsuch due to travel arrangements) but I have never heard of anyone applying to the Slough schools or even the partially selective like Graveney. Do you think it's just that the Tiffin schools have such a longstanding reputation that people from miles around have heard of them whereas Kingston residents don't know much about the grammar schools further away than Sutton. Alternatively, is it because we're reasonably happy with our non-selective choices in RBK and, therefore, wouldn't consider packing our DC off on a train/bus for an hour or more?

Would love to hear people's views


!

[London_Mum]

It is nothing to do with Kingston parents being happy or unhappy.
It is to do with the fact that Kingston parents have less choice than say Slough parents.

Parents in Slough can apply to their local Grammar AND to Tiffins on an equal footing with Kingston children. Children in Kingston cannot apply to Slough schools on an equal footing (I am pretty sure Slough Grammar is mainly or fully covered by catchment areas and priority for local children in a way that Tiffins certainly isn't).

Its the same at Graveney. Yes there are places open to all but most of the places have a distance criteria. Again Kingston children can apply but are at a disadvantage when it comes to allocations whereas children living near Graveney have a better chance of getting into their local school and an equal chance of getting into a Kingston child's local school too.

Goodness knows what will happen if the proposed school in North Kingston does not go ahead. It is desperately needed and long overdue. The Primary Schools in Kingston, Surbiton and even much of Richmond and Ham are full to bursting. They are beyond bursting point in many cases with ever increasing class sizes from Year 3 upwards and endless bulge classes added every year. In 2-3 years time the current lack of secondary school places will reach crisis point. And that isn’t overstating the case at all, the authorities agree that this is the case.
Richmond is pulling up the drawbridges to some extent. North Kingston parents live close to Richmond Schools but Richmond employs either weird catchment zones (eg Waldegrave) or feeder school systems to effectively keep out anyone who doesn’t live in their borough. The schools in New Malden and Surbiton are full – their catchment areas don’t extend far enough for those in North Kingston to get places so literally there will be nowhere to go.
Its a real problem and one that causes a lot of hostile feeling towards Tiffins locally. For the sake of 1 point difference in an exam, a Kingston child loses out to a child who comes from miles away where they DO have other options and school choices. Its not as if children in Kingston are lacking ability but when 1500+ apply for 150 places, being one point lower on the day loses you a place even if you are easily of selective ability, would thrive at Grammar School and live locally (and annoyingly even if the person you missed out to could have attended a Grammar School in their own area)

But then if the new school does go ahead, maybe Kingston will become less desirable to those living miles away thinking of applying. I imagine it will cripple the transport links for a start (buses in Kingston are standing room only at school times as it is)

[suzanne]

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[2outof3]

Thanks London_mum and I do agree with pretty much everything you say about the shortage of places in Kingston. However, there are some Slough grammars (for example) that do have the first 70 or 80 places allocated according to rank only but I don't know of anyone from Kingston who has even considered applying. Maybe it's just me not being "in the know" but I'm on my third DC sitting entrance exams and have spoken to many, many parents about many, many schools.

Interestingly, although I know of a few who would send their children from somewhere in the borough to Sutton grammar or Nonsuch, hardly anyone seems to apply for either of the Wallington schools or Wilsons as they are just too far. In contrast, many people from other boroughs seem happy to let their children apply to Tiffins when their journey would be even worse. Just seems a strange anomaly

Thanks suzanne as well - our posts crossed - but you make the same point that North Kingston parents wouldn't send their children on an hour's commute to the Sutton grammars whereas many other parents think nothing of their children doing this journey to get to Tiffins.

[suzanne]

Because Tiffin is a few places higher in the league tables?!

[tiffinboys]

I know of few children who took Slough grammar test as mock test (in 2010) ; not sure if they really put that on CAF due to distance. Also I don't know if online CAF allows putting schools from different coordination area on one form.

Edited: thanks la baume & Rosette; I think Tiffins tests were in Jan 2011, after Slough. I may be wrong.

[la boume]

I thought that 2011 Slough test was after the Tiffin test? I may be mistaken as we decided not to take Slough test.
Also i think that you can put any school on your online CAF and don' t need to fill different forms.

[Rosette]

Yes, Slough test in 2011 was after Tiffin test, so couldn't be used as a mock test, unlike previous years.

And yes, la boume is right, you put all schools, regardless of area, on the same online CAF form.

[tiffinboys]

Can we put Slough schools on online London CAF form? Good, if we could. In 2010, we thought that paper CAF had to be done if schools are in different coordination area (eg. London with Berkshire).

[Rosette]

I put Slough and Tiffin on same online CAF form in 2009. No problems.