Questions about enrolling for primary school

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Our little boy will hopefully be starting school in September 2018. Our local primary school is a 5 minute walk so that's where we are hoping to enrol him. Just checked their policy and it says to put the child's name in 2 years in advance (ie now). Fair enough.

I was wondering, on the off chance that the school is oversubscribed and he doesn't get a place, do I need to put his name down in a few different schools? My friend told me last week that she put her child's name down for preschool and primary when she was still pregnant :eek: If I were to put his name down for a few different schools it could get costly, as each application needs an original birth cert. My OH is driving me mental going on about how if we had baptised the kids, they would have an advantage to get into the school :rolleyes: Argh!

Moonbeam

They don't normally keep the birth cert.
I would put his name down in any local school of choice,just in case.

tabby aspreme

Have a chat with the school principal regarding the numbers and whether the school is currently over subscribed, and find out what there enrolment policy is, it maybe on the school website

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I will definitely give the principal a ring in the morning. I checked their policy, first priorities are siblings of present pupils and children living in the parish. Third priority is to catholics, but our area is fairly diverse, hence my OH thinking we are at a disadvantage.

uck51js9zml2yt

We had our eldest down in 3 schools in our area. We're not RC. It was the RC school that offered him a place which he loves. I'm now on the board of management. so much for generalised bias against non RC families, though I'm probably the exception in finding a very understanding school.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Tristian Attractive Toolbox wrote: »

We had our eldest down in 3 schools in our area. We're not RC. It was the RC school that offered him a place which he loves. I'm now on the board of management, so much for generalised bias against non RC families.

I am delighted to hear this Do you mind me asking how do you manage the religion aspect? Does your son join in with the lessons or does he sit out/do a different activity?

uck51js9zml2yt

Aydin Jolly Larynx wrote: »

I am delighted to hear this Do you mind me asking how do you manage the religion aspect? Does your son join in with the lessons or does he sit out/do a different activity?

We had the option of leaving him doing some colouring, in another class or staying for RE. We chose the latter having seen the book.
When he gets to communion year (1st class), we will pull him out of class. Junior and senior infants don't go to mass, so its not an issue for us. Keeping 5/6 year olds quiet for 30 minutes is impossible, so the school have a good perspective on things.
There are about 10% of students who aren't RC in the school.

jlm29

Aydin Jolly Larynx wrote: »

Our little boy will hopefully be starting school in September 2018. Our local primary school is a 5 minute walk so that's where we are hoping to enrol him. Just checked their policy and it says to put the child's name in 2 years in advance (ie now). Fair enough.

I was wondering, on the off chance that the school is oversubscribed and he doesn't get a place, do I need to put his name down in a few different schools? My friend told me last week that she put her child's name down for preschool and primary when she was still pregnant :eek: If I were to put his name down for a few different schools it could get costly, as each application needs an original birth cert. My OH is driving me mental going on about how if we had baptised the kids, they would have an advantage to get into the school :rolleyes: Argh!

When I filled out my boys enrolment forms, I brought in the original birth cery, they copied it, and handed it back to me- seems unusual that they would all be looking for originals!
I put his name down for two schools- our local school which is rural, and one nearer to where I work, which would be quite popular. Their enrolment policy would be to give priority to siblings, and then go to the list and offer placed in order of when names went on said list. Your best bet is probably to ring and find out the score. You might be lucky or unlucky as regards numbers of siblings. Hopefully the religious aspect won't be an issue!

cyning

It really depends on your area: I live in a small town: there's the girls school, boys school, Irish school and 5 mixed rural schools within a 10 min drive of us all undersubscribed. So I'll put her down somewhere next year. She's starting Sept 2017.

Preschools on the other hand are totally over subscribed and I have my youngest booked in for ECCE years in 2017 and 2018 already!

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I rang the school and they told me there would be no problem getting a place. Phew I rang the preschool last week as my boy will be due to start sept 2017 and there was no problem with a place there either, although the morning session was full so I had to opt for the afternoon one. Mini panic over!