Losing my mind and considering homeschooling

If you have chronic health problems, you really are unlikely to be able to adequately homeschool. See if your GP will give you a letter of support citing your health issues.

need to point out its home education not schooling

they are completely different(google it)terms

as a home ed family for 10 years its a big bug bear for me when the term is used wrong

What’s your LA’s admission criteria? Are the children that have got in out of catchment siblings of children already in school? Are there definite catchment areas or are you using that term to mean the average distance year on year?

If your LA uses set catchments and/or if siblings out of catchment are lower priority then first borns in catchment then it sounds like there has been an administrative error and you have a high likelihood of winning and appeal if you are certain you applied correctly and at the right time

Appeals are usually free. Where have you got £250 from?

By catchment, do you mean a fixed area from which they prioritise applications, or just the distance they normally give places to?

The people who live further away may be LAC, SEN etc.. and have been prioritised.

What is the info on the distance from school that the furthest away child lived last year. If it's more than about .8 miles then there may have been an error with them processing your application so I'd advise you to check. However, if it's a v small area and small number of kids that get on, you may simply be furthest away(?)

These things happen! My friends got allocated a school in town A, despite living in town B and being able to see town B school from their living room window - it was that close. On the flipside, they found out via Facebook, that another family were allocated the school in town B, despite living opposite the school in town A. It was like they completely swapped the applications by accident!

They refused to swap them, despite both parents requesting this together.

However, there was a short wait and their DD ended up being admitted to his chosen school at the start of October as he was high on the wait list.

Get in touch with your chosen school, explain the situation and your situation and see what they say. Lots can happen between now and September so places change. The school and local authorities can give you an idea of how oversubscribed your chosen school was.

Did you move before the cut off date for applications?

You need to check the admissions criteria for the school and can appeal if you believe there has been an error. Most schools will have looked after children, those with EHCPs and siblings before any proximity rules. Some will also have separate criteria based on religion depending on the school.

Get yourself on the waiting list for any schools locally that would be more suitable. There is often a lot of movement between now and September

1. Calm down.
2. Check they used the correct address. When did you move?
3. Check the admissions policy.

Relax! You’re being silly to jump into home schooling.

We moved when my DD was heading to reception. Just as we were about to appeal we got offered the closer school. Try and get on a waiting list as there will be people who don’t want the space.