How To Get a Secondary School Place in Bristol
How to get a secondary school place in Bristol:
After two years of solid research, school open days, open evenings and several months of stress waiting for the first round of secondary school allocations, my eldest child started at our first preference and very oversubscribed school this week.
Being a family based in Central Bristol made it a really tough process. The admissions policy for all our local schools are difficult and in my opinion quite unfair to local children. With the exception of Cotham School, all Central Bristol schools have backdoor admission policies, with people living very close to them – some in areas of deprivation – not eligible to attend.
To make the process much harder, the school needed to have a good reputation for Send and inclusive education but also be local enough to walk to. We didn’t have an EHCP with a named school – which is a whole different story – but which ever school we decided was right for us we would have got a place even it if meant fighting through every appeal necessary.
These were the schools closest to us:
Bristol Cathedral School – Former private school and the most oversubscribed school in the city and selects through random allocation, chorister places and music specialism.
St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School – Selects through Jesus. God plays a heavy part in the admissions system here. You need to be a very, very regular church goer and be backed up by your church.
Cotham School – Very oversubscribed with a priority area stretching away from Central Bristol.
Colston Girls School – Former private school with random allocation.
We chose one of these schools and got a place through the first round of allocations. These are some of the key points that really helped:
Start Looking in Year 4
It pays off to start looking at the end of Y4. Some schools will have summer open evenings. It can help you narrow your choices down and also be aware of any specialist tests, additional forms and dates that you won’t want to miss during the applications process. Bristol Cathedral have music specialist tests which you need to get your child’s name down for well before the closing date of applications.
Once you have schools at the back of your mind, you can be more aware to any difficulties or strengths that are reported in local media or come down through the gossip grapevine.
Remember it’s a preference
The word preference is used, rather than choice. If you choose a school not in your area of priority, you will need to have a really compelling reason should you need to appeal. Check areas of priority, maps and all guidance given in the admissions booklet.
Let the Child Have A Choice
Starting secondary school is a big deal. It needs to be the right school for the entire family dynamic, but remember, ultimately it’s your child that has to go there. I let my child choose which school he wanted. He’d previously found education very difficult due to having Aspergers. The final school he chose was one that he liked and he felt in control of his choice. He is very enthusiastic about attending and wants to do well.
Don’t Choose all Random Allocation
If you put all your eggs in random allocation schools, you are likely to be disappointed. You should put your choices in order, but make sure at least one of your schools is not random allocation. Think of the odds.
Numbers are Important
Thoroughly go through all the data available on previous years’ allocations. How many places are available? Typically, how many are taken up with EHCP, in care or sibling priority. Does the school have a feeder school which will eat up space? What are your genuine chances?
Measure Distance As The Crow Flies
Distance from your preferred school is really important. The council are keen to say there are no catchment areas. But, there are definitely areas of priority and some schools have a first area of priority and then a second.
The information about the previous year’s allocations based on school distance will be available in the application information booklet from Bristol City Council. Remember to look on Google maps for distance from school to home, then compare it to as the crow flies which is how it is measured. The council say they measure the distance from a central point of the school so it may be worth trying a few ‘central areas’ to see how far you are. If you are a long way past last year’s furthest allocation, you may struggle to get in.
If you are keen to get into a school out of Bristol such as North Somerset or South Gloucestershire, it is not impossible if the school is not oversubscribed. This is where Facebook parenting sites are excellent for finding out if Bristol children managed to get into an out of area school and exactly how many.
What is the Published Admissions Number (PAN)?
This is the number of places schools will allocate. There is some flexibility in this. Places can be given at appeals. If the school is full but you have a compelling reason that your child would be more disadvantaged not to attend than the school be disadvantaged by raising admission numbers, you have a chance.
There is always some flexibility and wriggle room right up to the start of term. You can hold out on a waiting list, wait for the second round of allocations and even find some places become available right at the start of the year. Parents may apply for state school places as a guarantee, even if they are planning to send their children to a fee paying school.
Also find out if the school is planning to increase the number of year 7 places compared to previous years. This may improve your chances.
Not liking the school you have been allocated and preferring the school you wish you had been allocated are not good enough reasons to appeal. They need to be based on your child being disadvantaged at not attending, such as through disability or the school you want has a specialism that they are proficient at.
Admissions Criteria
The admissions criteria for each school will be unique to them. Read this very carefully, it will have everything you need to know. Make sure on the application form, you indicate whether the child already has a sibling at the school or a social and medical need. There is a box for more information regarding these options and it’s possible to attach evidence. These boxes should be filled in where necessary and can form an important part of any appeal.
Work Out Your Appeal In Advance
When we decided which school was our first preference, I put together an appeal to use should the school not be allocated. I researched everything I would need to know and prove should we need to go to appeal and created a list of bullet points and arguments. In the end, this was not needed, but as the appeal would have been during a busy part of the summer term, it was important for us to have an upper hand on the process in advance.
Look Around Schools At Different Times
Go to school open days, open evenings and pass by at kicking out time. I was pretty horrified when arriving at one highly regarded former private school for a meeting at something that occurred right in front of my children. I’m no maiden aunt, but the fight and level of abuse some of the children used was appalling enough to drop the school well down in the preference list.
Don’t Forget Ofsted
So I totally forgot to read any Ofsted reports for our preferences. That’s not what we were looking for anyway. I have no faith in Ofsted findings in any case. The right vibe was more important, as was the specialist opportunities available and a robust Send department.
Read School Polices
I can’t stand a school that believes uniform prepares children for the workplace in year 7. In fact, any school that had appeared in Bristol media for having a ridiculously overzealous school uniform policy was not on our list.
Neither did the school at the top of our list feature BO inducing polyester blazers, health and safety issue ties or button up white shirts.
School policies for things that are important and make or break a school in your mind will be on their website. This is also a useful source of information about how much homework is given and what extra opportunities are offered.
Speak To Other Parents
I like to find out all the information and opinions held about a school. It’s useful to hear what other people think. Sometimes things go wrong with schools, but how they deal with it is key. Facebook community connect sites are also great for reading parent moans and opinions.
Meet the SendCo
This is absolutely key if your child has a special educational need or disability. I met the SendCos of three different schools. Of all of them, I found only one totally knew what he was talking about and actively developed inclusion rather than nodded at it. I went in with a long list of questions, all of which he answered before I even had a chance to rustle the paper. It was absolutely gutting when I saw his job being advertised on Eteach Bristol, during the last summer term. As a Send parent, it’s not often you walk into an unfamiliar place and meet someone who totally ‘gets it’. I can only hope the school continues to be Send friendly so I don’t have to continue being That Parent.
Don’t Fall for Academy Swagger
I was stunned to hear some parents discussing the merits of schools based on the free corporate tat being handed out during school open evenings. Seriously, if an academy school had tried to tempt my child into attending by using money out of the school budget to pay for promo keyrings or dap bags, it would have been crossed off my list and I’d have told the headteacher why. Some parents actually thought that the better schools were the ones that handed out this free stuff and others should follow suit. I think the parents must have been smoking crack to think that’s a good way of selecting schools.
Ethos and Headteacher’s Talk
The headteacher’s talk is a good way of getting a general idea about the ethos, motivation and drive of a school. Bristol Cathedral put me right off because it was still a very privatey school and go-getting. It brought out the working class in me straight away.
St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School made everyone pray before the talk. They set their cart out really clearly.
Cotham School had more of a buzz, with the head teacher also getting some music students to have a go at performing and getting year 7 students to talk about how they were getting on. It came across as a creative space with a diverse inner city vibe most accurately reflecting the city of Bristol.
EHCP
What’s an EHCP in Bristol? – That’s not even a joke. It’s an elusive document that brings together the needs of a child to create an education plan that helps them access school in line with their peers but through a system of support and intervention. It can also include a Named School and this should give them priority in the admissions process.
If you know your child needs this, Year 4 is the best time to apply for one. Many needs assessments are rejected by Bristol City Council meaning parents must go to mediation and/or tribunal. It can be a very long process and legal support can be necessary to make sure the process is correctly followed.
Contact the Admissions Team
A year before it was time to apply for our secondary school place, I became frustrated at the logistics of choosing a school living in our area. As I initially said, there are many brilliant schools very near to us yet so hard for local children to get into. I emailed Bristol City Council’s school admissions team with my annoyances. I had a brilliant response from a member of the team with lots of advice and things to consider.
The team also came into our primary school at the start of Year 6 to talk parents through the admissions process. They recommended Googling My Neighbourhood Bristol, which told me all about our priority area school. Ridiculously, the school that was a priority for our area was twice as far away as the one we wanted. I was also surprised to find we were considered to be in St Paul’s, which is worrying in case its gentrification makes the rent goes up.
They were also able to give us a breakdown on where last year’s year 6 pupils went. For our central primary school, the majority went to Cotham, then one to two went to City Academy, Bristol Cathedral, Colston Girls’, Fairfield and Redland.
If you are interested in how the random allocations places were given by Bristol Cathedral, you can find this information on the internet or by contacting the school. It will give you a breakdown of which schools had how many places and in which years. It makes for interesting reading.
Follow the Rules
Ultimately, it’s really important to follow the application rules:
Make sure you get your application in on time
Fill it in correctly
Be honest, don’t try to fool the system it doesn’t work
If you have a priority, make sure you tick the box on the form and add a comment or upload the evidence
Use all three preferences
Call the admissions team for advice if you need it
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