Togs/Newstead

Anna · Post by **Anna** » Wed May 09, 2007 5:26 pm

what has happened is completely at a variance with the agreed CAF procedure.

Ho hum!

Can they still be allowed to carry on after admitting that it is not correct procedure?

Surely, the LEA has the authority ot stop this practice?

Sorry, this thread has wandered off a bit, Dilemma,hope you have some success with your decision making, not that we are putting you under any pressure.

Dilemma · Post by **Dilemma** » Thu May 10, 2007 10:14 am

The decision had long since been made.

Considering they are both very good schools, the reason for my initial posting was really to seek the various reasons why one might choose one school over the over if faced with the wonderful opportunity of being in a position to attend either. Comments on this still welcome.

After the intial allocations have been made in March via the various LEA's the individual schools operate, control and manage their own waiting lists. So remainng on the waiting lists for your 2nd 3rd or 4th choice has nothing to do with the LEA. Places are constantly being offered right up until September as pupils withdraw for multitude of reasons. I really do not understand why some people find it so confusing. I thought it was all made clear in the admissions booklet.

Tired Mum · Post by **Tired Mum** » Thu May 10, 2007 10:36 am

Dilemma wrote:The decision had long since been made.

Considering they are both very good schools, the reason for my initial posting was really to seek the various reasons why one might choose one school over the over if faced with the wonderful opportunity of being in a position to attend either. Comments on this still welcome.

After the intial allocations have been made in March via the various LEA's the individual schools operate, control and manage their own waiting lists. So remainng on the waiting lists for your 2nd 3rd or 4th choice has nothing to do with the LEA. Places are constantly being offered right up until September as pupils withdraw for multitude of reasons. I really do not understand why some people find it so confusing. I thought it was all made clear in the admissions booklet.

Hello Dilemna,

Now that I have calmed a little I realise that I did not answer your original post. My friends and I did the rounds of the local selective schools, Newstead is on our door step, however my husband forbade me from going to see TOGS as he did not want HIS daughter (smile) travelling on the train all that way! I dutifully obeyed (I had foolishly opted for that version of the wedding vows).

Having visited, all my friends and their daughters, without exception, preferred TOGS to Newstead BUT no one could tell me why! Honestly! It seems that the schools are very similar in a lot of ways but on gut feeling they picked TOGS over Newstead. I have two friends that are on the waiting list for TOGS as their 1st choice school but are very happy they have Newstead (as 2nd choice).

In the end it depends on which one your child wants and factors such as choice of subjects, friends, travel etc. I hope your daughter will be very happy at TOGS.

TM

p.s. While I was keeping my fingers crossed tightly that you would refuse the N place, my friends are willing you to drop the T one!! Ho Hum.

Anna · Post by **Anna** » Thu May 10, 2007 10:37 am

So remainng on the waiting lists for your 2nd 3rd or 4th choice has nothing to do with the LEA.

That' the crux of the problem. If a child has already been offered the 1st choice place, he/she should be out of the system and therefore not be on any waiting list of any other school,thus simplifying the process for the rest.

That was what I understood from our admission booklet as well.
One is not supposed to refuse the 1st choice if offered.

In my area, some have put down their local comp(guaranteed because of distance) 1st, then grammar 2nd. And when they pass the grammar, they are not allowed to refuse the local comp offered. If they still want to go to the 2nd choice grammar that they passed, they have to appeal.

I really do not understand why some people find it so confusing

That is why it is confusing to many because the schools look like they are ignoring the system and offering according to their own ranked lists of who passes their test and not who is/is not out of the allocation system.
All in all, rules should be very clear and should not be varied.

I have no knowledge of the schools you were considering and cannot comment but wish you and your daughter well in her chosen school.

guestkent · Post by **guestkent** » Thu May 10, 2007 12:01 pm

I was under the impression, that in Kent, after the allocations on 2nd March, you could choose to go on the waiting list for any of the schools that you nominated on your CAF, and that you do not automatically go on the waiting list.

guesta · Post by **guesta** » Thu May 10, 2007 12:50 pm

Can I throw something else into the mix? I heard a rumour that a local school in Kent was phoning children with very high pass marks to offer them a place, regardless of whether they had nominated this particular school. Is this so bizarre that it could be true? I heard this from two different sources. Are schools allowed to hold back a few places like this, only ask after the confusion with all previous postings.

On the TOGS/Newstead question, it seems that gut feel could be all that separates the two. I would go with previous post regarding distance and availability of friends on doorstep (help with school runs, clubs etc). We are in position of selecting schools for next year (TOGS or TWGS) and travel is becoming quite of factor in our choices as I would like my child to have more local friends and my husband (like yours) is anxious about our daughter travelling by train to TOGS, even though there will be a large group of girls from our area going in that direction. Obviously, our choice is hypothetical at the moment as our daughter hasn't even sat test yet.

best wishes

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu May 10, 2007 1:41 pm

sometimes a lack of transparency surrounding list movement after 1st March and all information is gratefully received.

The rumour may or may not be true but as HP pointed out, parents are left sometimes in the dark.
Although you read the admissions booklet cover to cover, all details in all sections,photocopy and date all you have sent, prepared our children as best as we can,we are still confused.

We read that some junior schools have given the wrong advice regarding applications and people resort to tactical preferencing so much so that ,other than the successful 1st choice offers on National Offer Day, your 2nd,3rd,4th,5th or 6th choices might still be scuppered by differing practices by LEAs or Schools.

This does not bode well for the coming years applicants. parents who know about it will be better prepared but the ones who do not will be the ones going through even more incertainty.

Dilemma · Post by **Dilemma** » Fri May 11, 2007 6:09 pm

Thank you all. The reason for choosing togs over Newstead is similar to what moat of you have mentioned. Gut feeling. In October last year when we were deciding which school to put first some said to me "......look if travelling to either school is not a problem, both are good schools and would eventully get your child there but at Togs you get to pick up the roses on the way"
That is exactly how I felt after visiting and speaking to several people.

GoodLuck to all. I did not mean to make anyones already difficult situation more so.

laid back son worried mum · Fri May 11, 2007 6:31 pm

GoodLuck to all. I did not mean to make anyones already difficult situation more so.

To endure the 11+ and its aftermath, come to REHAB!

Free food, free drink and friendship sealed!

neurotic kent mum · Post by **neurotic kent mum** » Sat May 12, 2007 12:25 am

roses? I now confused. Why roses?