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Moving soon to Islington N19 - school waiting lists and process

12 replies

avel · 14/04/2014 16:59

Hi all

This summer we are moving in to my parents' house in N19, up near Hornsey Lane. We have a son who will be entering year 2, and a daughter ready to start nursery.

I've looked at the gov school finder guides and Islington's council website, etc. I've visited the nearest likely looking schools and they've warned me that their waiting lists are painful (Ashmount and Coleridge), which is a real shame as I liked them both... (I went to Ashmount myself 30 years ago!).

Both Islington and Haringey Council require multiple proofs of address before taking in-year applications... I most likely won't have those proofs until the summer, I guess there's no way of getting on waiting lists before then? Has anyone had a similar experience?

I think Duncombe might be my next nearest option - does anyone have experience of it?

Thanks for any advice... just flailing around confused right now, hate the idea of moving in with no confirmed schools and/or potentially a nightmare school-commute each day that my wife won't be able to manage...

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nlondondad · 14/04/2014 19:25

As your son will be entering year 2 you have an advantage. The big crush is always for reception places. However there is a tendency for more people with school age children to move out of the area than people like you moving in. So the further you go up a primary school - any primary school - in inner city London, the more likely you will be to get a place for your son. This will then trigger sibling preference for your daughter.

Do see if you can get the "proofs of residence" as early as possible; how about getting the utility bills and council tax switched into your name? Also what is happening to where you are living? If renting, have you given notice? if you own it, is it on the market?

Anyway get on the waiting list with reasonable speed. Go on the waiting list of any school you both like and can get to reasonably easily. Certainly go on the waiting list of Ashmount and Coleridge...

if you are looking south then the waiting lists you should go on are Duncombe, Hargrave Park and Yerbury.

Remember there are comparatively few applicants for year two starting Autumn 2014, so do not loose heart!

(but you may not hear anything until the Autumn term actually starts....)

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avel · 14/04/2014 19:54

Thanks nlondondad! That's a little bit reassuring (ish...).

We are "gradually moving" over the next few months because we're a) moving into property owned by my parents which will have some renovation work finished by summer, and b) keen for my son to finish his year out at current primary school which is great and he absolutely loves. So taking a few boxes of stuff over every couple of weeks etc.

It's a real wrench moving mainly because the current school (Beatrix Potter in SW18) is so lovely but we're renting, our LL has given us good long notice of wanting to move back in this summer, and if we keep renting here in a very expensive area with consistently increasing rents we'll never have stability, so taking the plunge now (save a deposit etc). The main downside so far is lack of security for school in Sep.

I spent a bit of today trying to establish what's needed to transfer utility bills and register at the local doctor and add my name to the council tax and all that. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll have some proofs of ID and will submit apps through Islington and Haringey both. Coleridge is physically closest but still 0.38 miles or so, then Ashmount, then Duncombe, if we ignore faith schools.

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Spindelina · 14/04/2014 20:51

But remember there's no benefit to being on the waiting list sooner rather than later (unless of course you are at the top of it and a place you want comes up). The lists are in order of how well you fit the criteria, not first-come-first-served.

If you are offered a place, you will be expected to take it up or decline it straight away, so it sounds like there's little point in being on the lists before the summer holidays.

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avel · 14/04/2014 20:53

Spindelina - I did not realise that. I assumed that at least one of the relevant criteria was how long you'd been waiting!

So ... ok, if that's definitely correct then yes, no point in my applying until the summer, and definitely no chance of knowing where they'll be going until Sep :(

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tiggytape · 14/04/2014 22:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

nlondondad · 14/04/2014 22:58

yes indeed. do NOT join waiting lists until you are ready to accept a place, I had not realised that you wished to stay in your current school until the end of term.

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avel · 15/04/2014 21:05

Thanks all.

So in some ways that is frustrating (can't even get on with things til July, may well not know where we stand til Sep) but in other ways a little reassuring (coming in at

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Spindelina · 17/04/2014 09:01

Yes, there is an obligation to find you a place. If that place is over a certain distance (which is 2 or 3 miles, but I can't remember which category year 2 comes in), they have to provide transport. And if there are no places within a reasonable travelling time (about an hour or so), then they will need to invoke the fair access protocol and he will get a place in a full school.

You won't get priority over someone transferring, but because you WILL be found a place somewhere, that's exactly the situation you will be in.

Yes, you can turn down places. The only caveat is that it can make a difference to the requirement to provide transport if you turn down a school that is closer. But I'm not sure how this works with waiting lists - if you were already at a far-away school and transport was provided, and turned down a closer school, I don't think they would remove your transport provision but I'm not 100% sure.

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avel · 17/04/2014 12:21

Thanks spindelina, all helps. The 2 miles etc thing won't play a meaningful part, it's inner London and there are approx 1 million schools within 2 miles...!
But it's just the usual story, it will be deeply frustrating if we can't manage a) one of the walking distance schools and b) both children in same place/same direction (nursery and Y2 though).

Fingers crossed our relative closeness will get us a Y2 slot; reading last night's threads it reads like it wouldn't have got us a Reception slot though.

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Spindelina · 17/04/2014 14:28

Ah, yes, sorry. The fact you are in London slipped my brain when I was typing that!

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avel · 18/08/2014 15:31

Thanks all, just to say we have got confirmed places for both children in Y2 and Nursery at Duncombe Primary school, one of the three schools which was convincingly within daily walking distance. We're pretty happy with that although neither my wife nor the kids have seen the inside of the school yet so I am going to be blamed for all imperfections ;p We also tried for Coleridge and Ashmount primaries, both were extremely pessimistic about our chances, and I've been quite impressed with Duncombe so far...

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Greenheath · 31/08/2014 18:15

Just to add that my friend's child is at Duncombe and is extremely happy with the school ( as is her daughter!). Good luck with the move.

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