Movin' on up

It's the time of year universally feared by parents of Year 6 children. Yes, it's time to start thinking about WHICH SENIOR SCHOOL YOUR CHILD WILL GO TO!

Oldest Child brought home a load of bumpf relating to secondary school transfers from primary school today including a letter from the local education authority. The letter was mostly about  Oldest Child's unique reference number and deadlines for submitting applications for preferred senior school blah-de-blah, but also "helpfully" included the names of the two schools in our designated catchment area. OK, you might say, what's the beef there? I'll tell you what - the LEA has only put down 2 schools which are miles away from our house rather than the 2 schools closest to us. TOM phoned up the helpline to complain and was given some convoluted explanation that it doesn't matter which schools are closest to us, it all depends which ward we're in - this apparently dictates which school catchment area we fall under.

TOM was assured (just) that this won't stop us from applying for whichever schools we want, but it does mean there are absolutely no guarantees that we will get our first or even second choice of secondary school. OMFG, this is looking like it could be rather stressful. Quick, pass me the lavender oil!