Monday, September 29, 2008

Going to college...

Alyssa just started her final year at primary school, "year 6". In the US, that would be grade 5 because here they start "reception" at age 4 so "year 1" for British students starts when the kids in the US start kindergarten. School started the first week of September and three weeks into the year, I have already recieved a letter explaining that Alyssa needed to apply to the "college" of her choice for next year.

In order to apply, I had a choice of either completing a lengthy application by hand or by going to the county website and applying using their secure application process. Being electronically driven, I chose the website.

Before I began, I had to type in a number supplied on the letter I recieved. The number resembled the codes Microsoft uses for product activation in that it was ridiculously long. After this, I found I had to verify Alyssa's age, current school, address, and any medical history that might have a bearing on school related activities.

Finally, I managed to get to the screen that gave me the opportunity to pick our preferred school. Our "preferred school" is 3 miles down the road from the Hardwick Primary School. It is the only public school in our catchment area. It is a very well regarded school and many families move into the village in order to attend the college. As it turns out, however, a very large development further west has added a heavy load to our catchment area and it is no longer guaranteed that we will get to attend this school. The form informed me that I was "encouraged" to select THREE schools as there is a possiblity that we won't get our first choice. This means that Alyssa could potentially get sent into Cambridge for her secondary school.

This knowledge does not sit well with the other parents I know who are also applying for the "Year 7 transfer". They have said that they chose Hardwick more for the schools that the location (perhaps they don't like to spend so much time driving behind farm machinery to get home). We all have our fingers and toes crossed that we will get our kids into Comberton College so that we don't have to spend more time shuttling our kids to school activities than we currently already do!

Despite all of the handwring by parents, Alyssa, thinks it is fabulous that she will be attending "college" next year as opposed to her peers in the States who will be ONLY be attending middle school.

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