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Definition of 'residence' for admission procedure - secondary

9 replies

lookbutdonttouch · 22/06/2011 16:39

Hi Education Board people,this is my first thread!

Am checking the admissions procedure for the secondaries in my area. My DD is taking entrance exams this Autumn. Both the schools that require an exam and the ones that dont appear to say the same...

If the parents are not together with shared child-care arrangements then they either look at the residence that is furthest away or go for the middle ground as a way of determining where you slot in the distance from the school for the purposes of catchment etc.

Now my DD lives with me and spends one weekend night a week with her father, perhaps two if convenient and some time at holidays. Her father lives a 30 min drive away. I would not consider this necessarily 'shared care' as Mon to Fri I will be doing the school run and have been throughout the primary years.

Would this count? Should I suddenly be looking at the schools near his house just in case? I am now panicking.

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prh47bridge · 22/06/2011 18:45

That is an unusual arrangement. Many LAs go for the place where the child lives most of the time.

The simple answer is to ring your LA. They will be able to tell you how they will look at your situation.

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UniS · 22/06/2011 19:55

Surely if majority of weekday nights are with parent X then Parent X is main residence for the child.

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admission · 22/06/2011 23:17

I would be surprised if that was correct. By defining the abode that is furthest away they are in effect disadvantaging that pupil and it could be argued that they are deliberately targeting not to take pupils whose parents have split up. That would not be allowed under the admission code.

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lookbutdonttouch · 23/06/2011 08:32

Yes it would be penalising the separated parents wouldnt it. I will call the LA however this is on the schools' individual admission criteria which I gather they set? Does the LA have control over this?

Perhaps I am better to just not mention the visits to father's house at all, how on earth would they know anyway??

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prh47bridge · 23/06/2011 16:27

If you would care to name this school I will take a look. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post the name publicly.

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prh47bridge · 23/06/2011 21:19

Now that I have taken a look at the admission criteria of the two schools involved I agree with Admission that they are disadvantaging parents who have split up. One insists on using the address of the parent who lives furthest away, the other uses the average of the distances from the two addresses and only regards the child as being in catchment if both parents live in catchment. It is not clear what either school regards as shared care - are they only referring to 50/50 shared arrangements or do they include cases such as yours? The only way to find out is to ask them, which is unsatisfactory. It should be clear from their published information.

I would suggest referring both of these schools to the Schools Adjudicator for a ruling on whether their methods of dealing with shared care situations meets the Admissions Code.

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lookbutdonttouch · 24/06/2011 12:46

Thank you ever so much for looking at it. I do think it comes down to the definition of 'shared care' and the fact there isn't one.

Then they are penalising separated parents which, having read (briefly!) the admissions code does go against the theme of fairness which runs throughout the code....

I am, selfishly clearly, worried that if I flag this now I could jepoardise my DD's chances? Whereas if I keep schtum and use her, what we class as her residence in any event, address, how would they ever know?

I will make some discreet enquiries and see ... It is such a minefield.

Thank you all.

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CarrotsAreNotTheOnlyVegetables · 26/06/2011 13:47

OP, as your DD does not spend any school nights at her dads, ie she is not travelling to school from his home, I would say it is irrelevant where he lives and you only need to give your address on your application.

Personally, I would not mention your ex's address on the application as it is of no relevance to the school.

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lookbutdonttouch · 30/06/2011 14:55

I have checked this out with a family lawyer and their opinion was that we don't have 'shared care'. I have custody, my house is her residence, and she visits her father.

Given how close we are to the exams I really think I will see how it plays out with no mention of her father's address. He is entirely happy with this by the way.

I have also read the.admissions code and am quite prepared to do battle if required...

Next hurdle is to pass the bloody exam...