Catchment Areas
Anon (ahem) asks:
Does anyone know if there is a catchment area for Halstow Road School? We live not far away (Dinsdale Road) and it seems that kids in our street are being sent to the Millennium school. Not that there’s anything wrong with the Millenium school but for those of us who don’t drive and have to get a tandem buggy on public transport, it seems a bit of a schlep, with Halstow around the corner. I just assumed that Halstow would be our nearest school.
The Phantom replies:
I heard it was something ridiculous, like 0.2 of a mile but that was something like third-hand, so don’t take my word for it.
My first thought when I read this was the whole postcode thing – Halstow, being north of the railway tracks, is SE10, you being south, will be SE3 – but that’s clearly not going to work as the Milennium will also be SE10. I think it’s just that Halstow seems to be so popular that the catchment area is tiny. Know anyone in Halstow Road you can rent a room from?
Just to warn house-buyers about Estate Agents comments on catchment areas: be very wary! My sister today in Woodlands Park Rd was told it's "near the very good Halstow" which she knew was NO WAY close enough.
For two years now half-way up Annandale has been the cut-off for Halstow and even roads as close as Kirkside and Dinsdale are not close enough.
Did anyone get their child into Halstow School from as far afield as Combedale Road for year starting 2010? Is it the catchment really that small??!