Reception school appeal

[LJMc]

Hi. My son has been rejected a place at his current school where he attends nursery. His older sister went the same school but she goes in secondary school this September. Therefore I realise he will no longer have a sibling at the school. I understand schools have policies and rules about the amount of children the cant take each year. However, as I work school hours Monday to Friday, my mum has always been there to pick my daughter up from school. My niece also goes the same school, and her mum also works school hours. My mum picks her up, and she would of been collecting my son at the same time. However, my son has been offered a different school, so it will be impossible for my mum to be at both schools at the same time. I am appealing against the decision, however if he gets turned away, I will have to quit my job which I have had for almost 13 years, just so I can pick him up. Can anyone help??? Thanks

Is there an after-school club, or look for a childminder who covers the new school?

Apart from that, keep on the waiting list for your preferred school, there may well be movement between now and September, and even the 1st few weeks in September if anyone they were expecting just doesn't turn up.

Those aren't grounds for appeal. You'll have to use childcare like most others do. Assuming it's they have 30 in each class then you won't win at appeal unless they have made a mistake by miscalculating your home to school distance for example.

You can only win a reception place appeal if you can prove they’ve not followed the allocation procedure properly. I won for my DD-was the only person to win one for the school I was appealing for in the last 10 years or something ridiculous like that.

You need a childminder then. Or could your niece go to after school care so your mum can lick your son up?

You can’t base an appeal on these practicalities and lots of people will be in a similar position.

If you look in the primary schools section and maybe post there you'll get advice. There are some posters who are regulars and know the appeals process well. And yes get on the waiting list for the school you want.

On what basis would you make the appeal?

If you could find before or after school care (a breakfast club at school? Childminder?) Could you shift your hours slightly to allow you to fit everything in and just gave to pay for childcare at one end if the day? Is the kids father in the picture? Can he help in any way?

I dont know about the geography, but round here all the schools have staggered times, and several childminders do a double drop/collection. Some children are also collected by their siblings from the local secondary.

If I were you, I think I'd focus on finding a way to make the offered school work. School hour jobs are like hens teeth, and you'd be mad to quit if you dont have to.

You can only appeal on maladministration and even then you are unlikely to win on those grounds. As PP have said, there will be a lot of movement on schools' lists between now and September so you may well get a place. If you don't, accept the place you have been given and do an in year transfer when they do have a space.

I don't understand if they say only 30 in a class, yet they take on appeals. Surely if there is no room, they would not accept applications for appeals? I have had family members appeal on the same basis as myself, this was quite afew years ago though, and they won. So obviously it's not always only if they have made a mistake.

In infant classes there are a few reasons they can go over 30, including...

• twins/triplets were one has already been admitted
• mistake in admissions process cost a child a place (such as distance measurements, sibling link overlooked, etc)
• child moving into area where there is no places within an acceptable distance (it's 5miles here)

Childcare difficulties, late applications, preventing the school aren't reasons to go other 30. So you have the right to appeal, but it's highly likely to be unsuccessful.

Your family members won't have won on the basis of childcare

It may have been that another factor was spotted when they appealled. I know someone who e who appealled on the basis of childcare, when looking at it the appeal people realised a different error had been made and her child should have got a place.

She still to this day tells everyone they should appeal because she won for childcare reasons, even though it was explained to her

Surely just start looking for a childminder/after school club? So many other parents are in the position and it’s hardly grounds for an appeal any more.

A school has to admit over numbers if a parent wins an appeal or the other circumstances PP set out. However they can’t admit a new child for example from waiting list until they go back under 30.

Firstly put your name down at the primary school. Applications are done so far in advance that by the time the children are ready to start often people have moved out of the area/changed their minds.
Keep your child’s name on the list as there is quite often lots of movement over the school year, so they may well start at the allocated school in September but by Christmas have a place at the preferred school.
In the meantime you could either ask for a change in your working hours (starting 30 minutes earlier to finish on time to collect). Often schools offer a breakfast club type arrangement. Other than that you would have to look for some kind of wrap around care I’m afraid.

Everyone has the right of appeal, even those with minimal chance of success. However if it is based on Infant Class Size you will only win if a mistake made by LA deprived him of a place or he has an EHCP naming the school. What did the letter state as the reason? Do you not live close enough, for example, if so was the distance correct? Childcare issues are not grounds. You sound overdramatic in stating you have to quit your job or be allocated a place there. You have time to find an ASC or childminder to collect and bridge the gap, and using this will not help your cause. Are you on the waiting list?

They are really strict on infant class size appeals nowadays. It’s different accepting a child on appeal to simply admitting more than 30 children just because more want a place.

If a child wins on appeal and makes a class size 31, if a child leaves, the school won’t be looking to fill the place as they would if a child in a class of 30 left.

There are lots of people that are very knowledgeable about this stuff and very generous with advice on the education boards, try posting on there as well.

Absolutely zero chance of successful appeal on those grounds. Zero

You will not win an appeal because of childcare issues. Look into wraparound care at the school or a childminder. You are wasting your time and theirs by going to appeal.

You won't win an appeal because of childcare. You can go on the waiting list and hope for the best but in the meantime you'll have to look for wraparound care.

It's tough op. My DS didn't get into his sister's school (she was in y3) and was allocated a school 8 miles away. No before or after school clubs, no childminders and schools started at the same time. There was nothing to be done. I had to leave my biggest one on the playground on her own for 20 minutes and drive to another town to drop off DS. Then the same in reverse each afternoon. I was late collecting dd every single day but had no way around it apart from pulling my DD out of the school she'd attended for 4 years. Thankfully, the school office and TAs were v good at finding her "special jobs" to do as a sort of ad hoc way round things. She used to do a lot of filing/stapling/sorting in the school office.

We had to move house in the end. My transport/childcare challenges were not the LA's problem.

Stay on the waiting list.

There is often movement between now and September. I have siblings at different schools and it isn’t easy to manage.

The grounds for successful appeal are very limited at this stage as infant class size legislation prevents them going over 30 children per class except for in very specific circumstances.