[OscarAndTilly]

Hi,

DS starts school next year and as our first 2 preferences are out of zone I need to start thinking about the application soonish i guess.

School 1 - is 2.2km from home, across the road from Ds's preschool so he may have friends going to that school. It's probably also the one we prefer for those reasons plus it has the better Naplan results.

School 2 - is 1.7 kms from home and would be our second preference i guess.

School 3 is 3.5kms from home and is the one that DS and DD went to (they are 18 and 16) now.

Can you guess which one is our zoned school????

School 3, which is the furthest distance from home and would mean ds catching the bus one or both ways as I don't drive (hoping to rectify that soon though but maybe not until after he starts school).

Our primary reason for not wanting him to go to school 3 is due to how they were when DS 1 was there, as in we kept telling them there was issues and they kept pushing him through the grades saying no he was fine. Get to YR 6 and they finally realise that he is going to have big issues in highschool and a mad panic to get testing and applications in for the support unit at the highschool.

However, I don't want to come across like I'm bagging that school out.

I would like to be involved in the school, both in the classroom and p&c and schools 1 and 2 are both within easy walking distance. To help out at 3 would be a pain as I'd need to catch 2 buses.

Ds is very shy and i think that going to school with friends from preschool would also be beneficial.

School 1 also has the better naplan results, although i don't think those tests are the be all and end all by any stretch.

Ds's cousins are also at School 1.

With an out of zone application is it best to just put it all in the application and hand it in or make an appointment with the principal first?

Edited to ask: What questions should I ask of School 1 and 2?

School 1 My sil has said that they don't allow parents to go past the main quadrangle after Kinder ie you can't go to their classrooms, which i find a bit odd but I guess not a dealbreaker.

This post has been edited by OscarAndTilly: 01/03/2012, 04:02 PM

[Guest_tigerdog_*]

Can you guess which one is our zoned school????

School 3,

I don't get it, how is thes chool furtherst away your zoned school? Wouldn't it be the closest or are the zones determined some other way?

This post has been edited by tigerdog: 01/03/2012, 03:54 PM

[Percy]

I'd go for school one.

If its any consolation we were in the same boat. Our zoned school by road is about 4 kms away but as the crow flies - through inaccessible bush - its about 800 meters. another school is way closer - about 2 kms - but we're not in zone so didn't get in. We ended up going catholic for other reasons but I so dislike zoning!

[OscarAndTilly]

I don't get it either.

We live near a small bridge. the closer 2 school are on the other side so I guess the bridge is the boundary?

[OscarAndTilly]

School 3 is still further even as the crow flies. It makes no sense at all lol.

[boatiebabe]

Make an appointment with the principal and list your valid reasons ie

Cousins attend school and you might share after school caring with your brother/sister/BIL/SIL

You would like to be able to participate in the school environment and would be better able to if you were at the closer school.

School is physically closer to you.

DSs friends from preschool will go to the school and that you feel he would do better to start with other kids he knows.

I would not mention Naplan at all.

The principal will then probably ask you to put in a formal application.

Do it now and you may be top of the list!

Good luck.

[mumto3princesses]

Zones can be weird. It depends on where the other schools are and they will each have an area on the map. I knew someone that lived almost directly opposite the school but were zoned to another school which was really difficult for them to get to. They got into the one accross the road as an out of area.

We did out of area applications when DD1 was starting school years ago. We didn't like our zoned school for various reasons and it was also a further walking distance for us with the twin pram. The twin pram didn't actually fit on the footpath one way (under the train station) and it wasn't very safe to try and walk a twin pram and little school child on the road. And we couldn't go over the train station like other people can do as there was no lift. When we were looking at schools we had 3 public schools we liked but our first choice wouldn't take out of area applications at all due to a high demand from within the area. The other 2 schools said we could apply but they said there was no need to make an appointment to see the principal.

I just tried to give as many reasons as I could think of for why we wanted DD1 to go to their school. I said how long it would have taken us to walk to the zoned school and how difficult it was as my main reason for not wanting to go there. When really I was thinking there was no way on this earth my children would ever go there. We had different reasons for why we liked both schools we applied for.

Make sure you add that it too difficult to get to school 3 which is your zoned one and how that would make it difficult/impossible for you to help out at the school.

[mumto3princesses]

Edited to ask: What questions should I ask of School 1 and 2?

School 1 My sil has said that they don't allow parents to go past the main quadrangle after Kinder ie you can't go to their classrooms, which i find a bit odd but I guess not a dealbreaker.

Bullying policy is a huge one.

If they have a rewards system. Ours give out bronze awards sometimes, then 5 bronze get them a silver and 3 silver get them a gold. One gold gets them a pizza party with the principal and 3 gold get them a school medal. (It carries thought all through from Kindergraten to Year 6)

Size of classes and if they have composites or straight year classes or both.

Do they have many Creative Arts options. (Ours has heaps of choices where practice is before school or after school or lunch times or a bit of both and free except for performances)

If they have a technology room and smart boards in the classrooms.

I wouldn't be worried about not being able to go to their classrooms. Our school doesn't like any parents to go to the classrooms and want parents to leave as soon as the bell goes except they can watch one morning assembly a week for awards.

This post has been edited by mumto3princesses: 01/03/2012, 04:32 PM

[Julie3Girls]

Zoning .. depends entirely on how the area is growing. We are zoned for the school further away. Mainly because when our estate opened up, so did another huge area , equal distance to the school closest to us.
Our estate was smaller, so zoned us for the smaller school, and the other new estate to the bigger school.

Reasons for an out of zone application.
I would highlight the family connection, put forward the idea of share care with family members (even if you don't actually have plans to do so)
The school being closer, and you being able to walk there, is another one I would put in there, particularly given that you currently don't drive. Being able to pick up your son if needed (without 2 buses), and be involved in the school, is a big one.

Given the close distance between all 3 schools, I wouldn't automatically assume that kids from the preschool will be going there. That can really vary from year to year. Our preschool was across the road from one of the schools. All 3 of my girls went there. One year, it was a pretty even split of kids going to all 3 local schools, another year it was a majority going to our school, and this year, the majority went to the school across the road.

[DamiansMama]

I applied for an out of area school, and was successful.

My reasons being that my nephew attends the school, the school has great NAPLAN results and my mum and xMIL in law live nearby.

I worded the application as honestly as I could and included the above reasons.