Trying to get my kids into a school in South buckinghamshire is proving very difficult! HELP?!

[TLC11]

I have recently taken up a post as a Midwife in Slough. Due to the shortage of Midwives in England I presumed I would be greated with open arms and assisted to settle into a new life there...I WAS WRONG!!!

Firstly trying to rent accomodation is a nightmare. The area I was looking to stay in is Beaconsfield. The cheapest suitable accomodation was a private rental that wanted a deposit of £2500 up front?! I was advised by South Bucks council that I do not qualify for the 'deposit guarantee scheme', 'intermediate rent scheme', 'New build homebuy', and I would be waiting forever on the council waiting list for a home, because I am not currently resident and paying council tax in the area.

The hospital may be able to provide rented accomodation for a 3 month period. But as the accomodation is in Slough...the school catchment area is Slough and not south bucks...which is where the nightmare begins!!!

Aparently no school in the Beaconsfield area that is of a resonable standard is able to place my children!!! I was advised that I would have to move to the area then it may take up to a month and my kids would be placed in the nearest school with an avaliable place. This could involve splitting my two children up which would be awful as my 5 year old has just started school and have ADHD and would not survive on his own without his big sister there who is 9...and exceptionally intelligent!!

So with my son having special needs, and my daughter already performing way above her age group (she is year 5 and has managed to pass the equivalent of the 11+ test in Scotland) I dont want to jepordise any of their educations by sending them to an inadequate school. Equally, I cant afford to have them off school for a month until the council finds a school place for them, and even then...it may not be a school of my choice!

I looked into private schooling but I could only scrape together the fees for one of them to attend. I am also a single parent so funds are limited.

If anyone has been in this situation or can offer any advice I would be so gratefull, I really want this job and a fresh start, but I feel I am constantly banging my head off a brick wall and not getting anywhere!

Thank you in advance! :)

[bednobs]

i don't really think there is much you can do to be honest. Slough is in a completely different county, so it's hardly surprising south bucks don't want to place your children when you aren't actually even living in their county - they probably have enough children who do live there to place. Beaconsfield is a very expensive place in the country to live and you can't really change that either. Have you thought about looking further afield, for example High Wycombe, which will be cheaper for certtain (although still expensive compared to Scotland) Slough itself might even be a bit cheaper than Beaconsfield to live in, although don't quote me on that. looking from a purely purely practical POV and leaving emotions out (which i realise it isn't possible to do) you could pay for the education for one of your children - either nurture the above average intelligence of the 9 year old by giving her the education, or trust that she will do well wherever she is as she is intelligent and pay for the other one. As far as i recall bucks still has grammar schools and the 11 plus, so she's only 2 years away from that.
I presume it's wexham park you are thinking of coming to? Have you been to have a look around or looked into the hospital at all?

[TLC11]

hello bednobs.
Yes its wexham park, and yes I have been to visit the hospital...so i know what to expect.
I dont want to stay in Slough, I dont think its the place for me, I prefer more rural. I have looked into property in beaconsfield and this is the area I wish to stay regardless of cost.
What i am wondering is if I moved to the area...would south bucks council HAVE to accomodate my children in schools in the district if I lived there? (as obviously an education is compulsory under 16 years old) I am aware it may not be the nearset school to our house, but how far would they expect the children to travel to school, and would they seperate my kids?
So many questions...I never thought schools were this difficult...it certainly isnt this much of a mine field in Scotland :(

[bednobs]

it sounds like you have already had the answers from the education authority from what you say in your question - yes they could split them up and yes they could be placed some way away. I suppose if the schools are full there is not much they can really do about this - they can't split up another family so yours can go together and they can't compromise the education of the others by raising the class sizes to fit your children in. The council DO have a responsibility to get your children into a school, but i'm afraid i'm not sure how far they can expect you to go. They don't have a responsibility to send them to a school of your choice, it could be of course that you move and then find that they put the children in the same school and it's a good one but it's probably a risk you'd have to take - it could all work out ok though.

Going back to your other problem about how renting in beaconsfield is difficult i agree - it is expensive there (in fact, it's probably one of the most expensive places in the country to rent in (excluding london and other big city centres and the super posh places just around it - gerrards cross etc))
I understand why you would want to live there, but there are other places that are rural fairly nearby that wont be as expensive.
I only ask about whether you've looked into w park as a hospital because it doesn't have a great reputation round here (especially for maternity). I'm not saying it's bad, as i've never been admitted there so wouldn't know, just saying the kind of things you pick up

[TLC11]

Hi Again :)
Im presuming you know the area well...and I have heard that wexham park dosent have the best reputation, obviously you will know better if you are local. I did question this in my interview regarding various aspects of midwifery, and I feel I could be of benefit to the unit to help them promote standards etc. The pay is also better than here. If all else fails, I can always move on again...maternity hospitals in and around London are in demand for midwives, so I shouldnt have a problem should I decide to do this.

As for the schools, that is my major headache at the moment. I have considered sending the clever one (that actually sounds so bad now iv said it) to a private girls school if I can afford it, and hope the younger one will get a school that has the resources to accomodate his needs. I honestly didnt think the education system in England was such a mine field!!

I know the saying beggars cant be choosers, and I have a feeling something will have to give. My plan at the moment is to get a property in Beaconsfield, and hope the kids are allocated to one of the 4 schools that sorround it. As Beaconsfield is primarily an affluent area all the schools seem ok, however soon appear to be better than others.

Its just all a big risk...im hoping it will be worth it!

Thanks for your input you have been very helpfull! :)

[cathfromsaron]

ditto! have you been to the council offices and schools or just phoned? they may be more helpful in person! how can you be expected to take two children to different schools AND work shifts?

with regards to housing, have you tried to get accommodation through the hospital notice boards/intranet? i appreciate its harder with kids, than when you are a 'young free and single student', but worth a go?

also there are women's groups to help locally, if your 'fresh start' has anything to do with certain domestic issues, i'd give womens aid a try too! x

[bednobs]

i know it reasonably well - i used to live in high wycombe and work all over south bucks (and aspire to living in beaconsfield lol) I can understand why you don't want to live in slough itself (or HW come to that!) as i say unless it's changed since i moved to Berkshire, they still have 11+ there so you might only need to send her to private school for 2 years before she cn get into a grammar school, but it wont solve your problem of splitting them up will it?

[TLC11]

Hello,

Today has been a productive day :). After a meeting with our school here, I have been advised not to send my daughter to a ''bad school'' under any circumstances. Iv spoken to the hospital and my dear mother...until July, I am going to do 10 days on, one week off (to come home) my mum is going to keep kids while I am working. By doing this, I can save every penny and send my daughter to a private school for her last year, starting in September 2012. If I move them down with me in the summer holidays, I have two months to get my youngest into a decent school, and Im presuming it may be easier at the start of a school year. Possibly a bit of hounding the local authority and school may help! I will inevitably have to split them up which I didnt want to do, but something has to give in this situation.

This saving will allow me to live in my desired area of beaconsfield, which I am very happy about! Hopefully you will get there too bednobs...its is a beautiful area!

I may try womens aid...see if it is of any help. I am willing to try almost anything now.

Its the best possible situation I can come up with.

Incidently...what month do kids take 11+ exams? and is it year 6?

Thanks again!

[TLC11]

Cath, Sorry forgot to say...
The hospital cant accomodate my family as they do not have any apartments large enough for us at present. They can only offer me a single room, which is what I have now agreed to. Even if I did get large enough hospital accomodation, the school catchment area is Slough. One look at the ofsted reports for sorrounding schools quickly changed my mind!

I have just called the schools and Local authority for now and been turned away repeatedly. When I move down myself I will be a regular visitor to their offices (haha). I will move kids down in summer when I have my own place in Beaconsfield and submit application forms then.

Are you / have you had the same kind of experience?

[buildersmate]

11+? You must be 'aving a larf.
Successive Governments removed selection at 11 in the State sector in England starting over 35 years ago. The vestiges of those that had existed as Direct Grant schools were given a choice to return to the state sector, or become fully independent day schools. M Thatcher's Government provided some state funding via Assisted Places Scheme to these schools that provided some state-funded places to bright kids at some of these schools and a number have scholarships in place via other funding arrangements.

[boxtops]

There are still tests equivalent to the 11+ in some parts, BM - we have the Kent Test, which if you pass you can get to our grammar schools.

TLC - good luck with your move - I moved with work several years back, and I know how short we are of midwives - but I'm amazed you didn't research all this before you even accepted the job....

[cathfromsaron]

thanks for update TLC and good luck x

[buildersmate]

Thanks for correcting me, Boxtops - I had believed that the last Labour Government had stopped that - even in Kent - which I knew was one of the last bastions. I went to a Kent Grammar School in my day.
In Berkshire (and I think Buckinghamshire) it doesn't work like that anymore - Reading School went Independent Day School.

[cathfromsaron]

i work in the NHS and see the 'great job but no home/home but having to commute a great distance' conundrum all around me!

you seem to have found a great compromise, and thanks again for update!

[ojread2]

The 11+ does still exist in some areas where children still sit the 11+ exam and are then selected for grammar school should they pass. We have our children doing both the 11+ and the Kent test simultaneously sometimes. So much pressure so young.

TLC, good luck in finding what you are after

[ubasses]

For your daughter are there any good/private schools that offer a scholarship.

[annie0000]

Hmmmm - exactly what would the equivalent to the 11+ be in Scotland? There is no such think as I am aware and I have children aged 11 and 10 so you'd think I would. We don't have any type of levels any more either since the 5-14 curriculum has gone.

I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but maybe it would have been an idea to have confirmed by the health board exactly what support would be available prior to accepting (or applying for) a post.

It can't be easy starting somewhere new on your own with two kids and I wish you good luck with that, but it wouldn't be me trying that - where is your support going to come from if one of the children is ill and you are in Slough working and they are in another county at school?

[boxtops]

We don't have health boards in England annie, I imagine TLC is employed by one of the Trusts - childcare vouchers are available for little children but after that, the care of your children is your responsibility, not the employers.

[annie0000]

....and in case you think it is some secret test in Scotland that only the parents of bright kids know about, our school independently measures reading/writing age and my kids are working at nearly 3 years above their actual age.

[annie0000]

Hi boxy - thanks, what I meant was that if they have a skill shortage, my understanding was that they may be particularly trying to encourage people with the skills to the area and may offer some support to enable that to happen. I think personally I would have made a full assessment of the possibilities before accepting a role. This just sounds all very strange to me.

[bednobs]

bm while i would normally accept it when you point out how rubbish and wrong my answers are, the 11 plus still exists in Buckinghamshire (unless of course it's been abolished and someone's forgotten to tell the county council)