School madness over

It's not a secret that many parents in London would go through whatever it takes to place their kids to a good school. Good schools in London, who would imagine, is a big deal. Before having deciding to have a kid most of the parents would try to move to an area where good schools are situated, so that when a kid becomes old enough to go to school they would get a place in a nearby school. And you should be careful and only move within 0.5 miles radius (sometimes even closer) from the desired school to get into it's catchment area. So there is no need to explain why properties within 0.5 miles around good schools cost much more expensive than other properties in the same area. The way to check if a school is good or bad is very easy, you don't even need to go there as the results of every school's performance is available online. Those results are updated on a yearly basis, so it's relatively easy to see how schools are progressing. There were two schools we wanted Mark to get a place in. I would be happy if he got place in either of them, but a little more happier if he got into our local Catholic school. He was already going into a nursery class in this school, where we managed to get a place last year, but this fact didn't have any impact if he would get a place in the same school for reception year. If you get into reception year, however, you are offered a place in the school for good - until you turn 11. Our house was on the edge of 0.5 miles away from our home that is why I was worried. The school also gave advantage to the kids whose siblings were already going to the same school, which was even more worrying as many Mark's classmates already had a brother or sister going to this school. But when time came I received a letter confirming that Mark was offered a place there. I am really relieved and happy and can now forget about school hunting for another 6 years!