CIL - Ad hoc places

[strictlyfriends]

Hi, now that the CIL dates have passed I believe places come up at schools on an ad hoc basis. If you were to be lucky enough to be offered a higher ranked school on your list, do you now get a choice as to whether to accept the new offer and decline your previous school offer? I know for the interest runs County would have accepted on your behalf and you would have lost any schools below your offered school but I wander if that is not the case now. Reading this back I am not sure if this question even makes sense to me!

[Nearly over]

It makes perfect sense to me! I phoned County last week to ask this exact question and was told that you would still automatically be allocated your higher ranked school and the current place taken away, just as in CI. It seems a bit unfair to me that they do not allow you to make a decision, particularly if a place comes up at the end of the summer hols and you're geared up for the other school.

[Daogroupie]

Then you should take your name off the list so they do not waste time calling you and waiting a couple of days for your response. The waiting lists should not be for those who are still deciding. They should be for those who want to go to a school that did not have room for them and are waiting for a place. DG

[strictlyfriends]

It's not about whether we are still deciding, it is about preparing our children to consider what MAY happen. It takes alot of time and support to try to make a child look at the positives of the huge disappointment they have had when realising they don't get any of their school choices. Looking round the school they have been allocated, making it all sound OK to your child when inside you want to scream. Do you stay on the CIL for other schools when your child has slowly accepted their new school? I don't know, any thoughts?

[HenryVIII]

There may be a tiny bit of movement before the open days for the schools in July. We dropped out of CiL the day before as we thought it very unfair to go to the school induction and then sit on the list for a place in another school all summer - DS was 4th and still wouldn't have got a place in September. I don't think many genuine spaces get freed up.

I was a bit concerned that you state that you had none of your 4 (6?) choices on your CAF (I am going through the process again in Sept for DS2) which is practically impossible if you are realistic with your choices... Looking back through your posts, it seems that you might be out of area and also have applied to Bucks schools? If your DC scored around band B for BM then this wouldn't be enough for any of the other academically selective schools in SW Herts unless you applied and were eligible under any other criteria. I think some parents may have been hopeful that the cut-off scores may have been lower than previous years but as the consortium scores are standardised across the cohort, this has not turned out to be the case. I, for one, am pleased that the opportunity to know the scores ahead of submitting the CAF means that I won't waste a choice which happened in 2011. If your DC just had a bad day and they will get L5s in their SATs then it looked as though Chesham Grammar have an in-take of 1 class in Y8 (12+). I only looked into it superficially, best check the experts on the Bucks forum - I don't think they'll look at DCs who don't have L5s. You'd then need to look at education for Y7; private? the school you've been allocated (is it that bad?).

Best of luck in any case.

[Nearly over]

Strictlyfriends, we were allocated our 4th choice school and are staying on the waiting lists for our higher ranked schools. Our allocated school is not one many people would want, but my DC is really pleased with it and would be happy to go there.

Looking at the Herts direct website I have noticed that our allocated school still has spaces, so I've taken the decision that, should we be successful in gaining a place at one of the other schools, we could still go back to the original school if DC really wanted to.

Perhaps you could check if your allocated school has spaces and still remain on the waiting lists for the other schools. That way you will be able to make a decision should the opportunity arise. Good luck!