re: BCC in year transfer/admission form

[mammasmadhouse]

Just wanted to see if anyone had experience of the BCC in year transfer/admission form as I have been looking into moving my dd. She is in year 7 and has had constant niggles with one particular girl
who initially seemed quite friendly but now thinks it is ok to swear, throw equipment (books/pens) etc at my dd in class and purposely puts her work books/class work back on the side when giving out resources at the start of lessons, more recently we have had restricting my dd access to equipment and stopwatches thrown at an area my dd was working on with beakers of boiling water. This girl has shown similar behaviour towards other friends in my dd's friendship group and one of the other parents spoke to this girls mom about it all as she had seen some of the aggressive texts this girl had been sending. I had contacted the school a few times before and they were all supposed to see the head of house about it but this girl brought in apology letters for them all. On handing one to my dd she said here's an apology letter but I haven't done anything wrong.
So nothing further was done about the issues my daughter had been having. Have been debating contacting the school for an update but wasn't sure ? Head of house basically told them if it happens again parents will be involved further and that basically it is easy to say sorry but actions speak louder than words.
Anyway my dd has found this all quite stressful and has been considering changing schools, our second choice option has a waiting list and the in year transfer form required the sign off of the current/most recent head, which I found a bit low, particularly if you feel the school haven't been supporting your child?? Anyone else had experience of this? Is it a requirement for addition to a waiting list?? I can understand it if you are actually offered a place but to go on a w/l? Sorry for the waffle just not sure if I am over thinking this so any help would be appreciated/

[prh47bridge]

It is disappointing that some LAs still seem to think it is ok to demand a signature from the current school before accepting an in-year transfer application. It isn't. This requirement is, in my view, a clear breach of the Admissions Code. You are entitled to apply for a place at any school at any time. This is an attempt to put conditions on that - you can only apply to schools within the LA if your current school says so.

I suggest you talk to the LA, be clear that you will be submitting the form without the head's signature and you expect them to process your application. They may simply say that's ok. However, if they give the impression that they might not accept your application without the head's signature tell them that you will refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman if they do not process your application appropriately.