National offer day is here again and the media is quoting that thousands of children did not get their 1st preference secondary school. Why is it all about the 1st preference, when many children have bee
n given a place at their 2nd or 3rd preference school. Are we really managing a child’s expectation by giving them the impression that they have a right to get a place in their first choice school, even if the school is oversubscribed. Unfortunately, this is a lesson in life, you will not always get what you want, regardless of how much you want it. Having spoken to thousands of parents in the past ten years, for some of them the 1st preference is like their lottery ticket, they hope to win but don’t really have a high expectation.
By the media using this as a headline and urging parents to appeal, is again raising their expectations. From past experience only exceptional circumstance cases are upheld, unless the school is a grammar school.
Yes, a child should have the right to attend the local school and there are often a number of local schools close to the home address. However, parents will normally only want the one that has the “Outstanding” Ofsted status.
Until all schools have the same reputation there is always going to be a problem managing expectation, regardless of how many school places are created.
Sharon Oliver
