Council denying DD is on school waiting list!!

[WimpleOfTheBallet]

DD has been on waiting list for school for over 2 years...she's in year 2 now. The school was in charge of their own list but this got handed over to local authority last year. At that time I got in touch and made sure they had record of us...they assured me they did and a lady phoned me back to check we were in the same circumstances and assured me we were now top of the list.

I just ccalled council now and they said DD was not on any list...they HAD no list and did not know what I was talking about.

WHen the council took control of lists they had asked me to do an "in year application form" for the place which I did. They are now saying that is the first they knew of it all...I spoke to the school who say the council is crap and have probably lost the list.

The woman in the admissions office has asked me to email her a request to go on the list and that DD will still be top of the list as at the moment there is no list at all! ..so what happened to all the others on the bloody list then? I expect they're just thinking they're safe on the non-existant list and won't know anything until they call and check as I just did!

Have sent the email and wondered when I should call the cow unhelpful woman I spoke to to check she has it and that DD IS now on the new list?? SHould I hassle her again today? Or will she hate me and dump me?

I just phoned back and spoke to another woman who advised me to fill in ANOTHER in year application to apply for a place in September (yr 3)

ANY help or advice wil be so gratefully recieved!

[prh47bridge]

The LA are only required to keep a waiting list for Reception, and only until the end of the autumn term. They don't have to keep a waiting list for Y2 at all. To be honest I suspect that most of the others on the waiting list have long since lost interest and given up.

However, in your situation you should call them in a day or two to make sure you are now on the waiting list. I would also keep talking to the school so that you know if a vacancy comes up. You can then contact the LA again and make sure your daughter gets the place.

[admission]

The LA admissions office seem to be getting confused between pupils who are in year applications and those that are applying for a place in reception year in september 2011.

Neither the school nor the LA have to keep a waiting list by law beyond the Autumn term after they join in Reception. Though how either the LA or the school could properly administer in-year admissions without having a waiting list is beyond me.

I think that what is happening is that you are filling out an in-year application form, the LA is checking with the school and being told the school is full in that year group and then ignoring or losing the forms.

If the school year is full and there have been no admissions to the year group in the last 12 months then you have not been disadvantaged. However if there has been any pupils admitted to the year group then the question that has to be asked is whether you should have been given precedence based on the admission criteria of the school. It may be useful to try and ask the school whether there have been any admissions to the year group during the last 12 months.

There is also a question about the procedure in place within the LA, if you applied for a place whether you were formally told the school was full and given the option of going to appeal. From your post I suspect that you might not, which is a fundamental flaw in the LA process.

I would be tempted if there have been no admissions to fill in another in-year application, to ask for a place at the school and then ask to go to appeal for a place at the school. However you have to realise that as this is a year 2 child that the infant class size regs may apply, which would make your chances of success at appeal very slim.

[dinasaw]

My LA only keeps the list for half a term. It then starts again. They publish this in their applications material. You have to contact them every half term to express interest in remaining on the list.

[Talkinpeace]

All "waiting lists" are unofficial anyway as every vacancy has to be filled according to the published admission criteria so lots could come up but others always get them.

[prh47bridge]

I would say that the waiting list is official but your position on it is not. Your position can go down as well as up. What matters is your position when a place becomes available. The fact that you may have been top of the list the previous day is irrelevant.