Am I the only anxious parent still obsessing?

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boris
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 2:52 pm

Am I the only anxious parent still obsessing?

Post by boris »

I guess as my daughter got 325 for HSFG and RH I am one of the parents on tenterhooks now until March. It doesn't help that the other children in her class who qualified for various schools got in under the PAN so they don't need to think about the variety of scenarios which might deny their child a place.

I am wondering why we had to know the ranking so far in advance of allocation day. Couldn't the grammar schools be allocated first as it would appear to be a separate process anyway? Surely they could do that and reduce the main allocations job by 1000 or so children. Anybody know why not?

As it is I only have those reassuring rank numbers from RH from the last few years to cling to. Even then I have just read that the boys have taken more Pates ranking places than girls which reduces my daughters chances. How on earth am I going to just sit and twiddle my thumbs until March? Sheer torture for those like us who are far less certain of a place! Or am I alone in my angst?
turtleglos
Posts: 455
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:04 pm

Re: Am I the only anxious parent still obsessing?

Post by turtleglos »

If that's my post, I'd like to clarify that it is the result of our primary school. It doesn't mean it was the same everywhere.

I have been left feeling that the situation is a bit weird though.

Yes, I am also obsessing. :wink:
Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will think it is stupid.
RedVelvet
Posts: 546
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:06 pm

Re: Am I the only anxious parent still obsessing?

Post by RedVelvet »

Have you phoned the schools? We're in a similar situation, I found a couple of phone calls to admissions in the various schools very helpful. Now I'm really clear about our choices.
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: Am I the only anxious parent still obsessing?

Post by ToadMum »

Until CAFs have been submitted, no-one has actually applied for a place at a school, they have merely (in the case of state selective schools) submitted their child for an assessment to gauge his/her eligibility to be considered for a place.

I very much doubt that the LEA staff concerned would be too impressed with having to go through the whole process separately for different categories of secondary schools. And as someone who went through the tail end of the old 'apply via LEA for your catchment school and make separate applications direct to any others' system in our area for a primary school for our eldest, I can assure you that the coordinated admissions system is a huge improvement :) .
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Tolstoy
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Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: Am I the only anxious parent still obsessing?

Post by Tolstoy »

Hi Boris,
I have been in your situation in the past and yes I too found it difficult and obsessed. The hardest thing for me was not being able to confirm with DC which school he would be attending and trying to explain the situation to outsiders to the system.

If it helps xmas distracts you for a bit and the time does pass surprisingly quickly in the end. I also spent time gathering info and preparing for an appeal should it be necessary. It is hard when you know other DC who are equally bright but probably not more so who scored higher. For me it was his own brother who had scored higher the year previously despite not doing so well in practice. There were also a few on this site I knew of.

They can't sort out the Grammars first as some people will use them as back up for not getting a place at an oversubscribed Comprehensive plus they give you the information so that you can make an informed choice when filling in the CAF.

Before the 1st preference ruling people didn't know their results until allocation and would be scared to put down a Grammar if it mean't risking losing a catchment place at a good Comp and ending up with a poor Comprehensive.

National offers day is part of the Governments code of practice re school admission, parental choice and fairness.

Crosses with redvelvet and Toadmum.


Redvelvet if you have information on rankings could you post it on a separate thread and perhaps we can ask a mod to sticky it?
boris
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 2:52 pm

Re: Am I the only anxious parent still obsessing?

Post by boris »

I feel like I should hang my head in shame this morning. It has been a fraught few days with the good news of a pass and then the sucker punch of it not necessarily being enough to get our daughter the education we think she deserves. I am also concerned that my daughter feels that she "failed" - this is obviously not how we have approached it but she does understand the letter.

Firstly I have no idea where I got the idea that Pates was "boy heavy" this year. I have read so many different posts about all this I am a bit boggled! There have been a few conversations with other mums too.

Next my comment about sorting the grammar schools separately was made on the assumption that grammar schools would have to be sorted first anyway. I didn't mean that we should know right now, before the CAFs are submitted. I hadn't appreciated that anybody would put a comp before a grammar school! Maybe this is because in our situation we have absolutely no chance of getting our daughter into a half decent school if she doesn't get a place. We live in the wrong place and can't afford to move house - especially to a decent catchment area! Even with us trying to put a positive spin on our catchment school our daughter didn't like it at all!

I will ring the schools this morning I think and see if they can offer any reassurance although I think I'm already pretty sure about what my options are - we don't have any! Hence the obsessing...... Roll on March!
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: Am I the only anxious parent still obsessing?

Post by Tolstoy »

The system sucks if I'm honest Boris. At least for us this year, now we are in a different county, a pass is a pass and DC will get a Grammar place but I do feel your pain. It is the nature of an opt in partially selective system as opposed to opt out fully selective. :(

However even at the worst schools some DC produce some great results which has the advantage of some Uni's prioritising those students re offers. Also some DC do benefit from attending a less academic school where they will stand out. Currently in that situation with one of ours and couldn't be happier :D
tabbycat
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2014 2:33 pm

Re: Am I the only anxious parent still obsessing?

Post by tabbycat »

I feel your pain, Boris! However, with a ranking of 325, you can be ALMOST certain to get a place with RH. It is Ribston's open day and evening tomorrow (Wed 14 Oct: 9:15 - 12:30 and also from 5 - 8pm) so come along even if you have done the tour already. Something to distract your mind with and also you might be able to ask some more questions to the staff.

Up to the result day last year, we were somehow convinced that DD will get into SHS so it was a huge shift of thoughts we had to make to get our head around to RH. DD was qualified for SHS but way outside the previous years ranking so we decided to concentrate our mental prep to RH (DD was within the ranking from the previous years). That was from October till March then. We were right in doing so as no offer was given by SHS but one from RH in March. By the time the allocation day came along, my DD's first choice has shifted from SHS to RH and she was thrilled to get RH.

I hope you get some encouraging info from schools this morning!
steppemum
Posts: 480
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:27 am

Re: Am I the only anxious parent still obsessing?

Post by steppemum »

Boris, I feel your pain, as we had it with ds.

Please reassure your daughter, that a pass is a pass. Ds was the lowest ranking into his school, by half term he was in the top maths group. Who did well in the test is no reflection of who will do well at school.

Also, do remember that as SHS and others are taking 30 more children in, there will be more places for your dd. They are bound to go further down the rankings than last year.

Finally, when I was stressing over whether ds would get in, I rang Marling the admissions woman told me that based on previous years he had a very very good chance. I held on to that as she is the person in the know.
As it turned out, by the time they had done second round admission/waiting lists etc almost all the kids who passed and were ranked got in.
In fact it is the aim of the school to set the pass mark at the point where all the passers get in.
authormum
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:55 am

Re: Am I the only anxious parent still obsessing?

Post by authormum »

steppe mum wrote:In fact it is the aim of the school to set the pass mark at the point where all the passers get in.
:D
I am holding on to this.
(We're in the 300's too, Boris)
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