waiting list - advice gratefully received........

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Lickey123
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:44 pm

waiting list - advice gratefully received........

Post by Lickey123 »

Hi,

New to this forum as unfortunately only just found it !
Would love some advice. My daughter unfortunately did not gain a place at her first choice Five Ways - scored 4 under and scored one under Camp Hill. Does anybody have any idea how likely it is that we may get an offer after the date of 20th March. On the letter we received with her score it stated that we were 35th on waiting list for FW and 9th for CH.

Also, if we lucky enough to get an offer for CH ( don't hold out much hope for FW) can anybody let me know how easy it is transport wise. Does the green bus run this route - we are close to Barnt Green station which is why we would have preferred FW.
Many thanks for any help you can offer.
KenR
Posts: 1506
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Birmingham

Post by KenR »

It's possible that your daughter might get a place at CH but you are correct in thinking it's unlikely that she would get a place a KEFW.

The key thing you need to find out from the Foundation Office or CH is how many over the PAN did they make offers to and whether your duaghter's position of 9th on the waiting list was the position when offers were made or now.

You do find that a number of parents reject their CH place in favour of KEHS but i think they have a week or so to make up their mind. That's when the movement occurs.

Having checked the Green Bus web site, it doesn't appear that there is a a bus that goes from Barnt Green to CH, the nearest one is Frankley. However this may change for Sept depending if there are other pupils going to CH from Barnet Green. You are probably faced with a difficult journey, my guess is either a couple of buses or train and the No 11 bus.

Interestingly, daughter would have got into KE Handsworth Girls easily with that score - I assume Worcs which restricted your choice??
Lickey123
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:44 pm

Post by Lickey123 »

Thanks Ken R for your prompt and informative reply.

You guessed correctly re Worcs. As we only had 3 choices, we picked FW and then CH as closest to us. We then put the catchment comp, as we did not want to be in the position of being allocated one that we really did not want and without her friends.

The waiting list scores that I posted were as of date 3/3/09, so may have changed now. We did see that she would have gained a place at Handsworth, but we really could not see how it would work due to distance and both my husband and myself working full time. Shame though...........
Lickey123
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:44 pm

Post by Lickey123 »

Sorry, forgot to mention - you said Green Bus had a Frankley link - sorry, perhaps I'm being dim, but I couldn't see this one when I checked out the website. Do you happen to know what number bus it was?

t
KenR
Posts: 1506
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Birmingham

Post by KenR »

Hi

I was think of the 842 but this goes from Frankley (Romsley Road) to KE Handsworth Girls not CH.

The fact that the waiting list was as of the 3/3/09 is encouraging - you may find that quite a few, particularly for KECHG accept offers for KEHS or even EHS. Coupled with that you may find that some higher up the waiting list than you decide to drop out, maybe because they already have a place a KEHS, EHS, KE Handsworth or Sutton Coldfield Girls Grammar.

Phone up the KE Foundation or KECHG school admissions on Monday and find out:-

(a) How many offers they made and in particular how many offers over the 120 PAN.
(b) Ask them where you are on the waiting list now and what the effective waiting list no is taking into account offers over the PAN that have to be used up before the true waiting list starts.
(c) The date that parents have to accept the KECHG offer by (this is the date that girls can in some cases make a big move up the waiting list
(d) What happened last year, how much movement was there in the waiting list and what is your realistic chance.

For your information, Lottie's child was in a similar situation last year and she managed to submit a late admission and got into KE Handsworth Girls - but it was a struggle. Part of the argument with Worcs was that she would have put KE Handsworth Girls down is she have more than 3 choices. Howvever I know she found the journey difficult.

It may well be that the Green Bus do decide to include other routes for Sept 2009 which may be more practical for KECHG. Worthwhile giving them a call.

However I don't think the journey to KeCHG is going to be out of the question. I guess it depends where you live in the Barnt Green/Lickey area. If you llive close to Rednal Terminus, or Barnt Geen station then this may not be too bad.

Let us know the outcome of the phone call.

PS if they won't talk over the phone you can always drop them an email!
Lickey123
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:44 pm

Post by Lickey123 »

Hi,

Thanks for all the info - you have been so helpful. I will send email with all your questions and see how I get on. The two places that you mentioned are feasible for me for transport links, if she does get offered a place. ( great if there are others and the Green Bus picks it up)

I fully intend to explore every opportunity, as she has a lot of potential, and I would hate to see it wasted if she has to go somewhere where she is not stretched enough.
Will keep you posted, and thanks again.
KenR
Posts: 1506
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Birmingham

Post by KenR »

Thinking about the journey to KECHG - I think your best bet would be train to Kings Norton Station and then a 10 min bus ride on the No. 11 to the school in Vicarage Road. It's probably going to be quite a quick journey, probably faster than most KE Children have using the Green Bus which does tned to go round the houses in terms of pickups.

Lots of school children use the train to Kings Norton.

Best of luck
mike1880
Posts: 2563
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:51 pm

Post by mike1880 »

10 mins on the train, 10 mins on the bus - very easy journey. I imagine there will be a fair few CH kids on the train, there certainly will be on the bus.

Mike
Lickey123
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:44 pm

Post by Lickey123 »

Hi,

Just thought I'd post a reply that I received today from the Green Bus Co. May help others in the same position.

[i]Thank you for your email; we are hoping to run service 867 to KE Camp Hill from September 2009, which will serve the Bromsgrove area. Full details of the service has been sent to all successful applicants in the form of a bus pass application pack.[/i]
This makes things much much easier - just need to wait and see if we get offered a late place now.
lottie
Posts: 96
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:37 am

Post by lottie »

Hi lickey

It's Lottie here - Ken R helped me last year and I also printed off his list of questions to ask the foundation office! :D

Let us know what the outcome of the phone call is, as if your DD hasn't moved up the list (hopefully she has) then depending on logistics and how good your alternative local comp is, you may want to think about KE Handsworth. As Ken R mentioned we didn't put this on our list last year due to being restricted to 3 preferences in Worc, but I did find away around it - long winded but do-able (wont go into it now, as it may be irrelevant - fingers crossed).

Good Luck
Lottie
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