Back to School – choosing a secondary school

This week as the school term draws ever nearer, for those starting school in reception, or moving on to secondary school, or approaching the final year of school, or starting new exam courses, the autumn term brings with it a lot more to think about other than just slipping back into the same old routine.

 

For the new Year 6 pupils and their parents, the beginning of the autumn term is one where decisions about which secondary school and then applying for that all important place are paramount. 

 

Moving from Primary School to Secondary School – now is the time to do the homework and remember the deadlines!

 

First and foremost – do your homework!  Read the Secondary School Admission booklets and do not assume anything – check something you believe to be right and true.  Having sat on school admissions appeals and being a school governor, the trap parents tend to fall in is to take at face value what they are told in the playground – the problem is that admissions policies and schools change over time and what may be true one year is not necessarily so the next.  The Secondary School Admissions 2011/12 booklet and the accompanying school listing “Information on Secondary Schools 2011/12” will be available online from Wednesday 1st September 2010.  Hard copies are available by calling 0300 200 1015 or emailing schoolbooklets@surreycc.gov.uk on Wednesday 1st September 2010.

 

 

Visit the schools, talk to the teachers and pupils on the open days and think about your child and how you feel they would fit in.  I will always remember a parent saying to me about a secondary school she visited “I wouldn’t want to work there, so why would I want to send my child there?”, which I felt was as good as starting place as any when making the decision about the school.  Take time to visit all the schools you will be applying to, not just your first preference school, understand the curriculum and how it will work for your child.

 

There are three secondary schools in the Camberley area - Collingwood College, Kings International College and Tomlinscote -  and they are all Foundation schools, which means that they are state funded schools that are run by their own governing body.  The school’s governing body decides the admissions criteria and offers places to pupils, so make sure you understand the admissions criteria and how it applies to you and your child.  Read the schools admissions policies and prospectuses.  Check out the school websites – in short find out as much as you can!  If you are applying to a school outside Surrey ie Sandhurst School in Bracknell Forest or Frogmore Community College and Yateley School in Hampshire you will need to contact their local authority and ask for information about the admissions to that school.  If they are one of your preferred schools you will need to put them down on the Surrey Local Authority preference form.

 

Last but not least remember the dates!  Dates for open days, school visits, evening presentations etc etc. but the most important date of all is the one for submitting your secondary school applications – Surrey County Council strongly recommend that you submit your secondary application by Friday 22nd October 2010 as this is the Friday before half term.  The latest date that applications will be accepted is Friday 31st October.

For more information about secondary school admissions in Camberley visit Surrey County Council's website.