On 18 Apr 2013 at 9:14am Arabella Black wrote:
Does anyone have experience of living in Lewes and their child not getting a place at Lewes Priory and catching a bus to either Ringmer or Chailey.
My family and I are moving to Lewes over the summer. We have spoken to the Education Authority and the Admissions Dept at the Lewes Priory and both have stated that the school is so over subscribed they cant guarantee a place for our daughter who will be year 7 in September. They said that kids who do not get places are then bussed to either Ringmer or Chailey. I don't have a problem with either of these schools as they seem to have good reputations and I have friends who attended Chailey and did very well. My main concern is my daughter living in an area where the majority of children her age go to a different school.
Any information or advice would be very welcome.
On 18 Apr 2013 at 10:15am The old mayor wrote:
It's the norm 'Down' here to travel miles to another school. Something to do with having too many people and not enough schools. Probably best to stay where you are ! Hope that helps.
On 18 Apr 2013 at 12:25pm Grandpa wrote:
In my opinion it is a good thing if your child can go to the same school that other children in the neighbourhood attend. They can strike up friendships on their own doorstep. I have had experience of chauffeuring my own kids all over the county for meetings, sleepovers and parties, and parents often have other ways they would rather spend their time. From that point of view, if Priory don't offer a place, Ringmer would be the best alternative, just from the consideration of distance.
On 18 Apr 2013 at 1:18pm sjep76 wrote:
My daughter chose to go to Ringmer and was the only one in her primary school class to do so. As Ringmer is a fairly small school she made friends with 5 other girls in her class on the first day. the good thing with living in Lewes is it has good transport links with almost everywhere so she will be able to easily get to see the other people she goes to school with. A couple of children my daughter went to school with chose Chailey but are considering moving to Ringmer school purely for convenience of transport links.
This year there are only 9 children in the year 6 class at her old primary school and 4 of them have been allocated places at Ringmer, 3 of them put Priory as their only choice.
I agree with Grandpa, Ringmer would be a better choice with regards to distance and also catchment area transport links. If you want anymore info don't hesitate to ask. Hope this helps
On 18 Apr 2013 at 3:11pm bastian wrote:
where ever they go they will not be the only kids from Lewes at the school. That way they meet kids on the bus and friendships strike up that way. All the schools round here are very good. You didn't say wheer you are coming from but I can guess.
On 18 Apr 2013 at 3:54pm Fairmeadow wrote:
Sounds as if they have said they can't guarantee a place in Priory, but that doesn't mean you won't get one. Ringmer is a perfectly good alternative (as indeed is Chailey, but transport to Ringmer is much easier, much better bus service). There used to be lots of Lewes kids at Ringmer by choice - perhaps not so many now, since Priory has improved. Why not move to Ringmer anyway? You'd get a lot more house for your money.
On 19 Apr 2013 at 3:07pm someone else wrote:
Arabella - in my experience, there are a fair few parents who put their kids down for Priory and then end up sending them to LOGS, Newlands, St Bede's or some other private school at the last minute. Same for some kids, usually from small primaries, who can't cope with the move up to Priory and get taken out after a few weeks. Can you ask where you are on the waiting list for Priory? If you're not far down I'd suggest the chances are that your child will be there by October half term. Bit of a pain, but you'll get there in the end.
On 19 Apr 2013 at 4:10pm wrote:
On 19 Apr 2013 at 4:26pm jude wrote:
Hi Arabella
Speaking from my own experience, Priory are legally bound to offer you a place if you have a permanent address in the school catchment area. Check with the Admissions officer at the school and also the East Sussex website, which should show a map of the catchment - when we applied five years ago it was pretty much the whole of Lewes town centre including Nevill, Landport and Malling estates, but it DID NOT extend up Malling Hill. To ensure we got a place for our lad, we rented a house in central Lewes for a couple of months before we finally moved here in the summer to ensure we had a permanent address. It was more complicated with the primary schools, all of which except Pells and St Pancras are oversubscribed. You must have a permanent address in the town - they wont even consider the application without seeing a 12-month rental agreement or a deed of sale/ proof of exchange of contracts. I think also they will now have allocated all the places for year 7, but stay on the waiting list or go to appeal if you are living in the town. Invariably places come up at the beginning of term and you are more than likely to get one.
On 19 Apr 2013 at 6:28pm Arabella Black wrote:
Thanks everyone for some really good advice - so helpful. We are in Scotland at the moment so organising this from such a distance is tricky! I will look into all suggestions and keep you posted.