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Original poster

Secondary School Admissions - I am livid

35 replies

Mimiso · 08/03/2010 11:34

Hi All,

As the thread title goes, my son was offered his sixth choice for y7 which we so did not want. Anyway we were gutted and I rang up the school we had chosen as first choice to ask him to be put on the waiting list. Well, the school rang me today asking if I had put them on the CAF and whether I had handed it in on time as they did not have my son's name on the list they received from their local authority and so were unable to offer him a place although they wanted to!!! I could not believe my ears, my son would have got into his first choice school had it not been for Southwark Council failing to inform Lambeth Council that I chose a school in their borough as first choice. WTF......All this stress because someone made a procedural error....

I chose two Lambeth schools so they only managed to communicate one of those which was my second choice and failed to communicate the other one which we desperately wanted. I am so cross it's unbelievable. The school I chose has ability tests as part of their admissions criteria and my son was on the top of the high ability band which meant that he would certainly have been offered a place. Naturally I am appealing but Lambeth have informed me that I might win or might not win as the fault is not the schools but my local authority. As it is I cant even put my son on the waiting list for that school because Lambeth were not informed.

Why have this stupid application process in the first place if human error can have such an awful consequence. I know people make mistakes but this is a big one, my son could end up going to an awful school and all I will get is a 'sorry'. I am going to decline the sixth choice and let Southwark sort it out. My son was not given a fair chance to be offered or refused a place because of Southwark admissions

OP posts:
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mrsdennisleary · 19/03/2010 17:43

Delighted to hear your good news Mimiso!!

The boys at LNS always seem very polite and well behaved.

I despair re Southwark admissions. They dont seem to exercise any care re communicating out of borough applications.

Original poster
Mimiso · 19/03/2010 11:24

typo in earlier message, should read a load OFF my mind not OF......

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Original poster
Mimiso · 19/03/2010 11:24

Thanks guys a load of my mind indeed,

Admission: I quoted a lot of what you said so they reckoned they were dealing with someone who knew what they were talking about (albeit vicariously)

JJ6: The school is LNS which is not particularly academic but has good pastoral care and is quite small in comparison with other secondary schools. Most importantly it is enroute to my work so can drop off DS each morning and pick him up (much to his dismay)

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aseriouslyblondemoment · 18/03/2010 09:43

mimiso i'm thrilled to hear your news and tho it's a been an horrendous couple of weeks for you well done you for taking these idiots on and winning!

prh47bridge · 18/03/2010 09:33

JJ6 - I think there is actually enough information on this thread for you to work it out if you look at Lambeth's admissions booklet. You are looking for a boys-only school that uses ability tests as part of their admissions criteria. As far as I can see there is only one school that matches that description.

JJ6 · 17/03/2010 23:27

Hi
Now you have got a place would you be able to say which school you have a place? I'm being a bit nosy I know but have an invested interest (several years down the line) living in Lambeth)

Monty27CeadMileFailte · 17/03/2010 23:00

OP - I was just updating myself with your story and I am really delighted for you and ds. I bet he's thrilled. Well done you.

admission · 17/03/2010 22:15

Hurray, Somebody has finally smelt the coffee and realised that this is one of those occaisions when there has been a mistake made and they need to be big enough to admit the fault and correct it. Hope your son enjoys his time at the school.

snorkie · 17/03/2010 14:51

Great news! Thanks for updating.

prh47bridge · 17/03/2010 13:02

Excellent news. Well done.

Original poster
Mimiso · 17/03/2010 11:50

Hi All,

Just thought I would update you all as you were very supportive when I posted about my son's school place. I had a call from the school offering him a place so that is all sorted now, no need to appeal.

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Original poster
Mimiso · 11/03/2010 22:40

Thanks Miso and Prh47bridge. Miso, thats odd about the waiting list as I was able to put my sons name down for one of their schools. The only thing the admissions officer couldnt tell me was what number he was on the waiting list as they were waiting for Southwark to get back to them with a definitive list of who had accepted a place etc. She said that as of the 16th March it would be possible to find out what number a child was on the waiting list

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miso · 11/03/2010 16:13

Mimiso, I do believe you re: finding out by chance, but I find it very disturbing. How can parents appeal against maladministration that they don't even suspect may be happening?

I will definitely now want to know if our 1st choice received the form - although they are genuinely over-subscribed & AFAIK have a fair admission process, so even it has been received we prob wouldn't have had an offer. (DD met their scholarship criteria which is why she put the school 1st, but they are very clear that not all sucessful scholarship applicants will get an offer).

As it happens they are apparently not able to open a waiting list yet as they are "still waiting for information from Southwark" which sounds a bit to me - I am now wondering if Southwark have managed to balls the whole process up...

It seems to be very clear cut in your case though - the school wanted to offer your son a place but were unable to - Good luck!

prh47bridge · 11/03/2010 15:10

I presume you got your son's sex right! It sounds like they know they are in trouble and are thrashing around trying to find a way out.

Keep taking a tough line with them. They have made a mistake. If they hadn't made a mistake your son would have been admitted. When this happens the rules are quite clear - they have to admit your son.

Good luck.

Original poster
Mimiso · 11/03/2010 14:28

Miso, honestly that is what happened and I only found out by chance after phoning the school to ask for him to be put on a waiting list. THe school thought we didnt put them on the form despite sitting the ability test which is why they rejected him. It then transpires that they in fact were not told that we had chosen the school. I would recommend that you phone your first choice and ask if they received your form.

I am still waiting as they were now trying to say that I put down my son's sex as Female thats why it wasnt passed on to them so I just printed off my online application and faxed it to Southwark and Lambeth

Thanks for posting

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miso · 10/03/2010 23:42

Mimiso - do you really mean that you found out completely by chance that one borough had failed to pass your admission on to the other?

I'm very interested as I live on the Lambeth /Southwark border (in Lambeth) & had a Southwark school as first preference.

We weren't offered a place there, which didn't really surprise me, as its a very over-subscribed school - & got our 2nd choice which I'm reasonably happy with, having known there was only ever a slim chance to get our 1st choice - but of course now I'm wondering if they even received our application...

Good luck with your appeal - if it turns out that boroughs really are failing to pass applications on, it should definitely be made public - it hadn't even occurred to me that this could happen.

Original poster
Mimiso · 09/03/2010 20:44

Hi All,

Thank you for your responses on the matter. Prh47bridge thank you so much for your support,I shall certainly quote that tomorrow when I speak with Lambeth and also Southwark admissions. I really appreciate your help. I called ACE and they were also very helpful and suggested I call them back if it is not resolved. I have been thinking of also writing to my local MP if Southwark and Lambeth dont play ball. So far I have written to the head of admissions asking her to investigate further as I was appalled by their negligence, thanks for that admission Mrsdennis sorry you had problems too, I cant fathom why Southwark are surprised that noone wants to go to school in their borough. There is no way on this earth I was willing to send my son to Globe academy. Thanks for your support
strix thank you too for your support

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prh47bridge · 09/03/2010 17:06

Mimiso - If they admit there has been a mistake but still try to make you go through an appeal, refer them to paragraph 2.7 of the School Admission Appeals Code. This says that if there was a mistake and your child should have been offered a place they must offer the place without requiring you to go through the appeal process. The only exception is if a lot of children are affected and the school can't admit all of them. If they still insist on an appeal that is another thing you can complain about to the LGO if the panel rules against you.

As Admission says, if the facts are as you state this is a clear case of maladministration. I can imagine Lambeth trying to get out of it on the grounds that it wasn't their mistake but that won't wash. The rules are clear. A mistake has been made. But for this mistake your son would have been admitted. They are therefore required to admit him.

You shouldn't need good luck with this as it should be an easy win for you, but I'll wish you good luck anyway!

Strix · 09/03/2010 14:29

This is horrible, Mimiso. I'm not in your shoes and don't have any experience. But, wanted to wish you luck.

mrsdennisleary · 08/03/2010 23:32

Hello so sorry to hear this. I had problem with Southpark 3 years ago. They sent my ds' application to the wrong out of borough school. only heard about it as we had details of the specialist language test. Had no apology from Southpark Admissions. I dont think they like children applying to out of borough schools. They trumpet the fact that they have been able to allocate a Southwark school to every child irrespective of whether or not the child applied to them.

Contact your councillor to see if they can help. THis is such a worrying situation. lots of best wishes

Original poster
Mimiso · 08/03/2010 22:32

Thanks Admission for your reply, I have now typed out a letter ready to be emailed and posted to the head of admissions first thing tomorrow morning once I get their name. You are right in that I do need answers as to why this happened. Seimum,Rusty, Titchy,prh47bridge,sugar tits, admission; thank you very much for the best wishes and useful information. It has been much appreciated

I will keep you posted

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admission · 08/03/2010 21:01

You must appeal this as this kind of thing is simply not supposed to happen. If the facts of your post are correct then this is a clear case of maladministration. It does not matter that the school is full to the admission number, the issue is that you would have been offered a place if the school had been informed that you had expressed a preference for the school.

It is also incorrect that you cannot appeal or put your name on the waiting list. You can do that for any school, no matter whether you expressed a preference for the school or not.

It is worrying that Southwark LA got it so wrong, that Lambeth are suggesting it is not anything to do with them as it is and lastly that Lambeth are incorrect in saying you cannot appeal the school. Get the forms for the appeal to the school and see how it progresses.

I would also write to Southwark Admissions Manager and say that you want an investigation of this mistake and a written account of the circumstances that led to the missing off of your preferences to Lambeth. It is still possible that it is Lambeth's fault so you need to cover both ends of the sorry tale.

seimum · 08/03/2010 20:39

Mimiso

Good luck with your appeal.

This is not the first time that inter-LA communication re school admissions has broken down.

When we were applying for my DS to go to a school in a neighbouring authority, we originally didn't get offered a place because the other authority (the one the school was in) hadn't communicated their offers to my LA.

I queried it with the school, and this all came out - luckily it was easier than in your case as the offer had been made by the school (we had just not been informed of it) but it still took several phone calls to the admissions officer at my LA before they agreed there was a problem, and a month for the LA to sort it out.

Original poster
Mimiso · 08/03/2010 18:37

Thank you all for your responses on my problem. I now feel more reassured that we are likely to appeal. I have handed in a letter to the school informing them of my intention to appeal as that is the advice they have given me. I dont know if it is different because it is a grant maintained school but they told me to write a letter explaining the issue and that I wish to appeal. The letter was addressed to the CLerk to the Appeals Tribunal c/o the school. Apparently they will write to me with a form to fill in, but I have already attached a copy of my online application form which details when I submitted the form and the choices.

I am still waiting to hear from Southwark but so far Lambeth have confirmed that one of the choices was not communicated to them. I sincerely hope we win the appeal as that would be a load of my mind as I was now considering private education which is too expensive but I would have found a means to pay for it. Thank you all again so so much x

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Comet2 · 08/03/2010 15:09

Sorry for the spelling. I was typing too fast.