Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Sleepless Nights over Harringay School
Worried: Katy Mendes is concerned that her daughter Holly will not get a place at South
Harringay School (Picture © Evening Standard)
The Evening Standard carried a story today about the fears of London's parents about a shortfall in primary school places.
More than 7,000 extra primary school places are being created in London this year but experts admit there is an “enormous challenge” to find enough space for all the children needing places.
Included in the article is the picture above and the following:
Katy Mendes, pictured above, who lives less than 100 metres from her first-choice school, South Harringay Junior, is worried her three-year-old daughter Holly will not get a place because the school is so heavily over-subscribed.
“I can’t remember being this nervous for a very long time,” she said. “I’m having sleepless nights. There’s a significant shortage of school places in inner-city London — the demand for good schools is so high.”
Full article on the Evening Standard website.
Tags for Forum Posts: education, school admissions, schools, south harringay school
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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Hi Antionette
Really sorry you've not got a nearer school. This is just to echo Gina - put your son/daughter on the waiting list, as (if my son's class is anything to go by) there can be a lot of change in the first few years (in terms of children moving out of the area and so on). Hopefully you'll find you don't need it, but a safety net just in case..
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Permalink Reply by Nick Hare on
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Before reading this thread I thought we'd been unlucky not to get into South Harringay. Now I think we're really lucky getting into North Harringay.
Out of interest I checked the Tiverton OFSTED report from last year (http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/...) and it definitely looks like a good school. So you don't need to worry about that at least.
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Permalink Reply by Andy Newman on
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Hugh
have you looked at putting the Tiverton School boundary and West Green Primary on your map and perhaps Downhill too??
That would be interesting?
Antoinette what road are you on if you are 220m away ?
We could not get into Chestnuts last year( 2 streets away) and were on the cusp but are happy with North Harringay a year on.
Did you apply for all your closest schools to you
We were advised too last year which worked for us
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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I don't know the distances. If you let me have them, I'll give it a go if I get a spare minute.
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They only have distances for oversubscribed schools. Tiverton was not oversubscribed. It must have been the nearest school with spare places to people on the ladder who were not near enough to get any of their preferences. If that makes sense! There won't be a boundary as such with Tiverton (except I suppose the furthest distance that they in the end offered places to people, but many will not take up those places, so it's all a bit academic - no pun intended).
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Permalink Reply by JulieB on
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People in Muswell Hill and Crouch End were offered Tiverton last year, and one of my friends had this offer when they didn't get into Chestnuts but they decided to move out of the area. But I don't know anything about the school, I hadn't even heard of it until last year.
West Green and Downhills must be closer to you on the ladder than Tiverton?
Someone mentioned that there aren't places for all the children in Harringay so the council must be planning some extra classes like they did last year? I can't remember exactly but I think a few local schools had to add in an extra class in January? So I agree with the other suggestions of putting yourself on all the waiting lists of the local schools.
My son is in year 3 at Chestnuts and his class has had quite a bit of movement over the years - he has had about 2 or 3 new children in his class each year. My daughter is in reception this year and there have been no new children so far.
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My son is at Seven Sisters and they added a class in January. It's probably not any nearer to you than Tiverton though. Wouldn't 1.5 miles be better to walk than get several buses? I live very near to Tiverton and while it would be a bit of a walk to Umfreville every day, it's not that bad. Could be done with a scooter in 20 mins, I reckon.
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Regrettably neither myself or my other half (due to a combination of bad genes and bad motorcycling!) are physically fit enough to walk that sort of distance, although I was considering a push bike David Cameron style..... It'll be a couple of more years before he's big enough to ride pillion on a motorbike!
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What distance did your letter say you are from the school compared to the maximum distance? If you think they have miscalculated (unlikely but apparently does happen) then you have grounds for an appeal. Otherwise, it sounds like you may very well be at the top of the waiting list. You can call up and ask what your position is.
Otherwise, if you are genuinely unable to walk 1.5 miles because of medical problems, then this can be considered under the "exceptional social and medical criterion". However, they will not consider this at an appeal if you did not inform them of it in your original application. You can send this information to the council and ask that it be taken into consideration with respect to your position on the waiting list. So, for example, if you are 3rd on the waiting list based on distance from the school then, if they accept that the distance to Tiverton is too far for you or your partner to walk, then they would put you at the top of the waiting list. Presumably you could ask for this to apply to any school which you are on the waiting list for and which is walking distance from you. You would need to include a letter from your doctor confirming this.
If you do this, then chase up and chase up and make sure you get a letter confirming that they have received your letter and what they are going to do with it. Nearly one year on I am still waiting for the council to act on this for me, and I am actually convinced now that they never did anything and/or lost my letter.
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We live on Umfreville Road - I have checked the distances again, and according to my calcs we are exactly the same distance from the school boundary than the declared distance of 0.1894 miles (= 1000ft or 305m). Geographically speaking S Harringay is the closest so we put them first, followed by Chestnuts and Weston Park (the next closest except for St.Aidans and we're not Catholic), we then put them 2nd/3rd. Our 4th/5th/6th options were further away to the north of us but would have at least been on my journey to work. We got none of the six schools we opted for. As it stands now, I'll have to do 2 buses there, 2 buses back, and then start my journey to work (in the opposite direction by motorbike). So in fact, it's really 8 single bus fares per day.
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Drat! We are literally on the edge of the N Harringay (1st choice) circle & got West Green instead. Anyone else got West Green?
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Permalink Reply by Ian on
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my wife has been super concerned for weeks on weeks and I guess I should have been a bit more concerned than relaxed but having seen the pulished figures we must have got our kid into our 1st choice (Belmont) by the skin of our teeth. The furthest distance to get a place was 0.21 miles and we live 0.20 miles away. During an impromtu conversation with some mother in a park the same week I learned that people are renting rooms in houses just to get a closer post code to their school of choice. Now I guest most know about renting houses and flats but rooms is new to me. The question is where is this arms race all going to end and why has some schools banned competitive sport for young kids which is not the real world.
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