school transport

[ellenjames]

hi, just wondering if anyone can give me any advice on this. We are currently living and renting in a small town, horncastle, which has as an excellent ofsted report it was grade 1 for everything and very good. We have just found out our landlord is selling our house, so we have to move.
We are probably priced out of horncastle for a while as looking to buy, so am looing at tattershall/coningsby which is roughly 7 miles away. Unfortunately the 3 primary schools there arent as good 2 which get 'good' and one which is satisfactory. Is there anyway my two at school would get any help to stay at their current school, as in school bus that we`would help pay towards, they will go into yr1 and reception in sept, any advice appreciated! (We can only afford to drive one car at the moment so driving them back to current school probably not an option as dh uses it for work, thanku

[LesbianMummy1]

you could ask your lea but normally transport is only provided if it is the closest school that has vacancies

[primarymum]

To be honest, there is very little chance that you would be eligible for school transport as you wouldn't live in the designated area for your Horncastle school. If there is a school bus from Tattershall to Horncastle which has space, you MIGHT be able to pay for a place on it. But I would'nt have thought this was a school bus route. The best thing to do would be to speak to the school transport people ( who are VERY helpful) at (01522) 782020. Lincolnshire are very good at providing transport if you HAVE to attend a school out of your catchment area, but not if you choose to!

[ellenjames]

cheers thanks for that number, if its not poss may seriously think if i could do the drive x

[admission]

Ellen James,
I believe that it is unwise to be relying so much on the OFSTED reports for the schools. They could easily be 3 years old and therefore now completely out of date. Also any OFSTED report since Sept 2009 would have been against a new set of objectives. Whilst we are still in early days, it would seem there are less outstanding schools and more good and satisfactory schools. This is not a comment on the relative standards of schools then and now more a change of emphasis by OFSTED.

I would go and visit the schools in tattershall/coningsby and establish if they have places at the school. Have an open mind when you visit and afterwards come to a conclusion whether they will give a good education to your children.

You need to evaluate all your options before making a decision, because I would be very surprised if Lincolnshire would help with transport costs under the circumstances quoted.