Hello all, we were fortunate of having DD pass her 11+. Due to distances and the fact we also need to deliver our other children to different schools( primary and secondary ), we are only interested in Wycombe High School. We are in its main catchment area. So our question is, should we bother putting down 2nd and 3rd choices of Beaconsfield and Amersham High Schools?

I am concerned we may get our 2nd or 3rd choice school which we really do not want due to the reasons outlined above.

Thank you in advance.

If location of school is the most important thing, then surely your back-ps should be upper schools near WHS, rather than grammar schools elsewhere? Don't list any school that you wouldn't accept, if only as a temporary measure whilst hoping that a place will come up through the waiting list at a higher preference.

Could your DD not get public transport, though?

_________________
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

My understanding is you should always list your preferences and then your catchment schools just in case. If you don't list others then if you don't get your preferences they will simply find a school somewhere in county with spaces. Therefore undersubscribed (often for a reason) and could be the other side of bucks.

It is better to be at a local school on a waiting list for preferences than travelling 30 miles a day doing the same.

Having them listed also doesn't affect your chances. Schools when allocating are not told your preferences and will offer or decline based on their criteria. You are then offered the school that offered which was highest up your preference list.

Not putting schools down at 2 and 3 doesn't make you more likely to get your first choice, they don't look at the form and say "there is only one school so we will have to send her there" they simply find an underfilled school to send her to. Best to put some other schools down whether they are other GS or uppers

Thanks to both respondents. I was thinking it was a bit high risk to put down only a single preference even though we would be outside the catchment areas for DCHS and BHS. How they draw up the catchment borders in itself would be an interesting topic in itself. BHS seems to have gone out of its way to exclude central Wycombe and the A40 corridor to Loudwater even though it has included areas further west.

With regards to public transport, I would have no problem with it - its just that the other half is a bit overly precious about her DDs! When I explained that I used to walk almost three miles to and from school everyday without anything happening, the response was yeah - its different for boys! Its not an argument I'm going to win. Here's to hoping the first choice comes through!

That's really sad - it's different for boys?!
Independence is one of the greatest gifts any of us can give our children - regardless of their gender.
I know it's hard sometimes to imagine a 10 year old being old enough to cope with public transport but almost every 11 year old I know travels to school on a bus or train. I know one family that insisted on taking their child for the first term - she really felt left out and "odd" compared to everyone else.