Primary school admission question

[JennyCJP]

I am looking for advice. I have just completed a primary school application for my DS2 who is due to go to school in September. I have put his older brother's school down as our first choice as it would obviously be easier to have both our children at the same school, but we moved slightly out of catchment after DS1 started. DS1 has emotional and social difficulties as well as ongoing hearing (glue ear) issues. He's been flagged as probably being on the autistic spectrum, has been on the SEN register since starting school and has also been evaluated by many professionals within school. His younger brother is unlikely to get into the same school because there are a very large number of in-catchment children applying this year, and they are prioritised over out-of-catchment siblings. Both we and the teachers feel that moving our older son would impact him significantly and should be avoided if at all possible, so we will probably have two kids at different schools. My elder son needs a very constant routine to minimise meltdowns and also to arrive early at school because it takes him a long time to put his stuff away etc so the drops offs can already be challenging. I was wondering if anyone else had an experience like this and whether it was considered relevant at appeal?

[PatriciaHolm]

Does the school have 30 in a class in the reception intake? (Or organise yr 1 or yr 2 into classes of 30?)

If so, it will be an infant class size appeal, which are very hard to win as they rely on the decision not to admit being an error, or so unreasonable no sensible person would have made it. Your reasons would be very unlikely to succeed.

If classes are less than 30 then it would be a regular prejudice case which has more chance.

[MyDcAreMarvel]

No the only relevant info relates to the admitted child's needs not their siblings or parents.
I had an issue with two dc in different schools , disabled sibling and myself disabled. Neither was considered relevant.
You did complete this by Monday gone didn't you?

[Helspopje]

Perhaps completely wrong but wouldn't this go under 'social' as part of medical and social - moving elder sib to diff school if brother mot admitted to yr would be detrimental to brother?

[SavoyCabbage]

I’ve done an appeal and dropping off/picking up arrangements are not on the panels radar. You will be expected to use a childminder or something along those lines. Does your ds2’s prospective school have a breakfast club?

[prh47bridge]

Perhaps completely wrong but wouldn't this go under 'social' as part of medical and social - moving elder sib to diff school if brother mot admitted to yr would be detrimental to brother

Some schools don't have this category. Even where they do, they often limit it to medical/social needs of the child being admitted. It is possible this is one of the schools that takes medical/social needs of other family members into account but they are relatively rare.

JennyCJP - As PatriciaHolm says, a lot depends on whether they have classes of 30 in Reception, Y1 or Y2 (or would have classes of that size if all three years were full). If they do any appeal will be heard under infant class size rules which means you would be very unlikely to win. If it is not an infant class size case you would stand a better chance.

[Hugepeppapigfan]

Only things relating to DS2 would be relevant for HIS appeal.
If you had to appeal to get DS1 into another school then yes his needs would be relevant.

[JennyCJP]

Thanks for your replies. Class sizes are limited to 30 so we are not expecting to win an appeal. The form had a "medical/social" option as I felt the issues raised above would come under social needs and the form was submitted last Monday so I didn't miss the deadline! I was purely curious really if anyone had any advice. Breakfast clubs etc are full at both schools with long waiting lists, and they are very expensive - you have to pay the full amount (£15) even if your child is only in for ten mins or so so not very practical/affordable. There are also no available childminders.

[FineAsWeAre]

They are likely to expect you to just manage with children at different schools and will not be concerned with your childcare arrangements or costs. I work at a nursery and we have a few parents with children at different schools. One has 4 children at 3 schools!

[BubblesBuddy]

I think that, because you moved out of catchment you have brought this dilemma onto yourself. I don’t see why catchment children shouldn’t be considered above your DS and you seem to be clutching at straws. If you wanted the school so much, why did you move out of catchment?

[JennyCJP]

I take your point, however I think we didn't appreciate at the time that my son was autistic and the significant impact of this on him as an individual and us as a family he grows older. He is very very close to his brother (in fact the only child he really interacts with) and is clearly distressed that he won't be in the same school as his brother. We are perfectly happy with the other school but would be very difficult to move our elder son as he got massively anxious moving from pre-school into reception at the same school. School have also advised us not to put DS1 in wrap around care as he gets extremely distressed, so our only option is to do this with our 4 year old (as they elder one has a habit of running out into the road and so can't ask friends to look after him either). Lots of people have told me it serves us right - which is true - but I can't help but feel that it's my elder son suffering most (the 4 yr old is fine and very resilient !).