It's been a tense time of year for some parents as they wait to hear which school their small people will be offered a place at.
This year, Richmond Council offered space three preferences on their application forms, and still some parents only selected one or two. I'm not sure in reality this improved their chances any!
Back In The Day there wasn't this stress and worry about where your children would go to school - generally, they just went to the one most convenient to you that you liked. Nowadays catchment areas seem to mean nothing, and logic doesn't seem to come into it.
Richmond Council optimistically report that they made extra effort for this year's allocation, planning in advance for a high number of applications given the increase in birth rates in recent years.
A recent press release from the Council states that due to this forward-thinking, nine out of ten parents got one of their first three preferred places, four out of five their first choice.
They are also paying for extra places at the following eight schools to help cope with the influx of pupils:
Buckingham Primary School, Hampton
Collis Primary School, Teddington
Heathfield Infant, Twickenham
Lowther Primary, Barnes
Marshgate Primary, Richmond
Orleans Infant School, Twickenham
St Osmund’s Catholic Primary, Barnes
Stanley Infant School, Teddington
We'd be interested to know how this has been for you in reality, as Parents On The Street - email us here at richmond@thebestof.co.uk or post a comment below this article (you don't need to register, it's quick and simple).
Tell us your school placement issues / concerns / triumphs (delete as applicable)
Silas Van Der Bas
Thank you for reading thebestof Richmond Blog. If you have something to say about the London Borough of Richmond and what's going on for you, we'd love to hear from you. Come and blog with us: email richmond@thebestof.co.uk
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Silas Van Der Bas is a freelance writer and photographer with The Little White Studio.
