Stroud High School waiting list for Sept 2019

[Bluesky73]

Mindthegap yes that's correct - disheartening isn’t it? I feel your pain!

[Mindthegap]

It is. System feels very unfair!

[Glos18]

I thought (having read the late application guidance) that the unwanted places would be released after today, and there would be movement after that. Have GCC brought the process forward?

[Mindthegap]

The letters were meant to come out today but instead came out Wednesday so once the letters had arrived information about places, waiting lists, etc was available straightaway. Seems like very little movement this year sadly. It could change in April but I'm imagining not significantly. It's the same with the comps. I have a friend who's daughter really should have got into barnwood but didn't.

[Kaybee]

Just wanted to add my input about waiting lists/appeals. If you definitely want your child to go to SHS then go to appeal.
My son ended up on Pates waiting list last year. He was 6th on the list and we decided not to appeal as he had his heart set on STRS (which he is now very happy at and in hindsight was the right school for him)
What I hadn’t realised was that after the appeals, they offered places to a handful of children (another 6 I think) which then effectively meant that they put the waiting list children on hold. I was told that they wouldn’t open the waiting list unless more than 6 places became available - so he became about 12th on the list. It was at this point we decided to take him off the list.
I don’t have any regrets for not appealing but I’d definitely recommend doing so if you want your child to go to that school.
Good luck!

[onthefence]

Good point Kaybee. I know at least one of the schools has 32 in a class in year 7 this year, so they have 10 children over their PAN. I guess this may be as a result of the appeals process.

[clarcats]

I think everyone gets a bit hung up on the whole getting into Grammar thing, yes the schools usually end up with good results and have good 'excuses' for the ones who don't get the good results but if your child works hard and achieves well, then they should be fine wherever they go! Remember that the results from the comprehensive schools never look so good as they do get the full range of abilities to work with, their high achievers do still achieve well !

For reference purposes, my daughter passed for SHS within the top 150 for the year she was due to go. We didn't tutor ( vague look through some of the exercises in the books that you can buy but certainly very little and only just before the test for familiarity, she probably did 2 exercises at most in the 3 books) she wanted to go there.

4 years down the line- yes, she seems to be doing well, but in she would probably have been doing well elsewhere too.
I am not totally convinced that it's 'the best', there are lots of things that she misses out on that she would probably have had the opportunity to do if she wasn't at grammar- sport being one of the things. In Primary school she did a lot of sports clubs and really enjoyed them, taking part in matches etc. SHS- in Year 7 she tried going to clubs but gave up in the end as they only focused on the pupils who were part of clubs outside of school too and were good and chose them to play in matches and so the others didn't get a chance. In our local comp, friends of hers who did a little sport at primary school but less than her, joined sports clubs and got to take part in matches- comprehensive schools are a lot more inclusive!
There are other things too, there's a lot of girls who come from families with a reasonably highish income- lots who get things/have things/go places, that cost a lot of money- that's not us, and it can be tricky as school do seem to expect you to have plenty of 'spare' money (and yes, I know teenagers tend to think people have more/better than them but this is actually the case here!). School sell their 2nd hand uniform monthly during a lunch time-they therefore assume that parents must be around to come and look and buy (you can send your child to buy stuff but I'm not convinced that would work very well!)

So, don't worry, keep an eye on work eithic, make sure that your child is happy and doing well wherever they end up going and that grammar isn't necessarily the best!

[Mindthegap]

Thank you. Just to add my daughter (and me!) are feeling much happier about her now having a place at tewkesbury. Shes bright and works hard and is also sensible, sociable and good at making friends.

[clarcats]

Thank you. Just to add my daughter (and me!) are feeling much happier about her now having a place at tewkesbury. Shes bright and works hard and is also sensible, sociable and good at making friends.

I'm glad about that Mindthegap, if you live near Tewkesbury then it's a fair way to travel daily if you wanted to come to Stroud, I know others do it but it does take up a chunk of their day and would have an impact on where their friends live that they would want to see outside of school hours (there are a fair few who come from Swindon to Stroud on the train each day). It can be difficult facilitating friends meet ups when people are spread a long way from each other and parents are taxi services!

Have just read that you were after Ribston rather than SHS, it's still a good old bus journey each day and girls from all over county and out of county too! One of my daughter's primary school friends went to Ribston from Stroud each day, and even they found it difficult with the friends living no where near for out of hours socialisation!

Good luck!

[steppemum]

School sell their 2nd hand uniform monthly during a lunch time-they therefore assume that parents must be around to come and look and buy

yes, it is very handy - you tell dd to go and pick up 3 shirts in the next size up to the one she is wearing, she goes, gets them and brings them home.
I've never been to it, and all her uniform is second hand

But I agree about families having money. Although we have found this more of a problem with Marling than SHS, and that is 100% down to the different personalities of my kids, one minds, the other doesn't care what others think/do