Primary school full - Aibu to appeal?

[MunchingCow]

I'm a regular who has name changed for this post. Basically DH and I have 3 DC under the age of 7. We have always rented but have now saved enough for a deposit, rent is crippling us at over £1000PM. We've found a house which is within our budget (they are few and far between where we live!) and have put an offer in.

There is a school literally opposite the house which we hoped our DC could go to but I spoke to them today and they are full & so is every other school in the area (there are about 5).... I spoke to the local authority I they said they have space at a school which is 2 miles away.

We have one car which DH uses for work and cannot afford to run another one, but also cannot do an 8 mile trip on foot everyday. DS (4) has bad asthma and the 2 mile walk to school is along main roads.

I'm really upset and don't know what to do, should I appeal?

Who would you like them to kick out so that you can have a place?

No-one has to be kicked out. Ever. Illegal - not part of the procedure in any way.

As TiggyTape says, children admitted by appeal are the 31st (or whatever number over limit the panel admits to).

Yes it was with the infant sized class rule. The prejudice against my son was still greater than the prejudice against the school.

Can't DS go on a buggy board? He doesn't need to walk then. Lots of people manage with those sorts of distance

Are there no buses running near to the allocated school or any other local schools which may have spaces. Unlikely your appeal will work on basis of logistics, especially if you need spaces for more than one child although your Year3 should be easier to place. When is ds' bday , could you wait until January/April to start him if his bday is after Christmas in case a space comes up? Go on waiting list of any school which you can physically get to by public transport or foot, could dh take them to a cm nearer the school for drop off on his way to work?

Our primary appeal was not successful based on logistics of not being able to physically get the child to the school offered.

Our elder son was in local school and DD only offered another school 1.5 miles away - even with a car (which we don't have), it is not possible to drop eldest at school at their allowed opening time (10mins before class) and get to other school on time (at least 20min in traffic, plus parking etc). To walk would be about 30-40min, depending on child's level of cooperation on the day (plus younger one in buggy). I also have arthritis and had a medical declaration to say I couldn't walk the 7 mile trip each day (with coming home between dropoffs).

Basically the appeal panel said the logistics of getting to school were not their issue, if we needed to employ someone to do one of the school runs it wasn't their issue to resolve. Also, my medical condition (as primary caretaker) wasn't their concern, only the condition of the child is taken into account.

Sorry, you can appeal, but go in with low expectations - I had (for some reason) thought we'd get in, but the panel didn't agree.

It isn't necessarily true that you need to wait until you have actually moved in. We are relocating for a job and have no choice but to move. We spoke to the LEA where we are going and they told us not to wait and to get the application in asap, so that if a place became available we would get it immediately.
We asked what happened if the house purchase fell through and they said because we have to relocate for the job (& would be renting there if it fell through anyway) that that would be sufficient evidence of need for the place.

Jenny70 I feel for you as I have RA as well, which does tend to fuck up the logistics of the school run (currently lying in bed willing my body to co-operate this morning)
Although I can't use it for getting an unavailable place the LEA has used it to put DS at the top of the waiting list.
We are still waiting to hear where he's got a place though so we shall see. I must admit compared to our current LEA the one we are going to have been really helpful and informative.

You can contact your local Parent Partnership Service for information and support. They will look at your individual circumstances and advise you on your best course of action.

They are employed by the LA so they won't fight on your behalf but they will make sure you know your rights.

You can get the phone number from the school.

MunchingCow - there is a law saying no more than 30 children in an infant class, though this government is thinking of repealing it due to the population bulge we're experiencing at the moment. Even now I think schools will very occasionally make an exception depending on circumstances.

Worth appealing on the asthma grounds - actually when you did the original application it would have been worth trying to get in on the "social/medial" rule as that will move your child up the list. Once one child is in, the others will move up the list on the sibling rule, assuming that siblings get higher priority than children living near.

Assuming there is no public transport available to get you closer to the school can you not get a buggy board/double buggy for your 4 year old when he starts struggling?

DS is 3.5 and has severe asthma and there will be times when he needs the buggy to get to pre school and then school which is only 0.5 miles away.

wonkylegs: that's what I meant about you can secure a vacancy from anywhere in UK. OP's situation wouldn't have arisen if there was a vacancy at the school she liked; she would simply have been offered it.

The unique Armed Forces provision means they can apply from the future address and have it treated as their actual residence. This is an important difference. No-one else can have a future address treated as current.

As I said, anyone can apply to any school from anywhere. But if the school has no vacancy and you live miles away, you'll be at the bottom of the waiting list. For OP, applying from current address would make a nonsense of a case for appeal based on distance from school when the only address they can use is miles away from it.

Move and get yourself on the waiting list, but in the meantime have you considered a bike with a kiddy trailer? You can cover the distance a lot more quickly cycling, and you can pick the kiddy trailers up really cheaply second hand. Also handy for doing the shopping with toddler in tow if you don't have a car during the day :)

I don't think you will get anywhere with an appeal tbh, dds school had children who lived on the road that didn't get in the year before she went

As people keep saying, go on the waiting list, not just for this school but for all the other 5 that you mentioned in your OP. Treat the more distant school as a temporary measure.

Somewhere in 150 or so year 3 families in the nearer schools, someone will move, honest!

In your situation, I would apply for the school for the Year 3 child.

I would then appeal the place for the Year 3 child, making my case as strong as possible. This is more likely to win, because it's not an Infant Class. This will secure a sibling link for the Year R child, most likely putting them at the top of the waiting list.

I would also go to the Year R child's Consultant and state the case that you cannot access the school without prolonged exposure to traffic fumes. I would ask them to confirm in writing that not only is this detrimental to his health, but that he needs to be exposed to traffic fumes for the shortest possible distance and that he should therefore attend his closest school.

I would then apply for a place for the Year R child with Social Medical reason category and sibling category.

I would take that to appeal when it was rejected, stating that he should gain a 31st place under the 'no reasonable admission authority would make the same decision' criteria as I had evidence that to take a place at any other school would be detrimental to his health.

To be honest, it would still be a long-shot.