Mrs Hat is a junior teacher. She tells me that in Reception and Key Stage 1 (ages 5-7) the absolute limit is 30 children per class, and no amount of appealing will get you in. Further up, there is some room for manoeuver, but you may need to appeal. Mrs Hat knows of several appeals that have been won against the School's original response - you don't get good Ofsted reports by letting just anyone in.
Captain Airclues your point is well made, but the School will not throw children out that are from outside the catchment area just because someone from the RAF arrives.
I guess it's the case with most schools that rely on military children that the numbers vary considerably from year-to-year, thus threatening funding. For that reason, I can understand that schools like Medmenham prefer to go for the local kids who are likely to be there for a long period and 'guarantee' funding and stability. In the case of Medmenham, a good early start is essential to give your child a chance of a decent secondary education when it comes to the 11+. The military people have the option (at the moment anyway) of opting out of state education from the age of 8, so it could be argued that their need is actually not as great as the locals. I do recall there being some bad feeling at Danesfield towards the end of my tour, with suggestions that there was an 'us and them' culture developing between the Service and non-Service parents and children. The civvies even bought some land of their own on the other side of the School for car parking after the MoD complained about all the Range Rovers and SLKs being parked on the 'private' patch.
When we were there, the pre-school/nursery was run at the other (West) end of the Patch; it was very good and accepted Service and non-Service children.
STH