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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To live next door to a school and be declined a place.

132 replies

user1483804139 · 19/01/2017 13:24

So we recently moved to the area. We happen to live next door to the school we would like to move our DD to. They refused a place because of the ancient rule of 30 to a class. She's on a waiting list, but for how long, I don't know. We appealed but still lost. I'm just tired of having to be out the house even earlier to drive past a school to get her to the one in another town. There's another school which is about a 10 minute walk away which I'm thinking of applying for but so dissapointed that we can't get her in next door.

OP posts:
mouldycheesefan · 19/01/2017 13:45

Op you have a valid point that where additional housing is built then the infrastructure including schools should match the expansion.
You do not have a valid point that the rule is in your eyes "ancient" and therefore should not apply in your case. If there was no limit on class sizes the issues would be much more extensive than simply you walking for ten mins to a different school.

wherehavealltheusernamesgone11 · 19/01/2017 13:46

it's the infant class size limit. It is a pain. You could always appeal as this seems to be exceeded many times in some schools (not for my kids)

It could be worse. We moved 300 metres away from a school and my kids were put into 2 different primary schools, one of which was 2 miles away, as there wasn't room for them all at one school.

wherehavealltheusernamesgone11 · 19/01/2017 13:46

sorry you did appeal. It's frustrating, but you're not the only one Flowers

kindlemanic · 19/01/2017 13:48

Our area will not exceed 30 per class for Infant years. R,1,2 but from year 3 (Junior) the Head Teacher can increase class sizes if necessary/they want to.

EssentialHummus · 19/01/2017 13:49

You're probably top of the waiting list if you're next to the school and it's done on distance.

Honestly OP, some of the scenarios you hear on here... I think you need to thank your stars that you got a decent place somewhere not too far away, and then contact the school regularly to ask about any movement in the waiting list.

greenfolder · 19/01/2017 13:49

the 30 to a class is not ancient. It was put in to address real issues created by over large classes.
I would not want my child to be in a class of 33 or 35.
we are planning a move at the moment. The local authority is super helpful. letting me have a list of all primaries with spaces available. DD only has 2 years left at primary so I am happy to choose a house based on secondary but its just daft to buy a house and hope they will magically have a space at the school next year, especially in the younger years.

Bushymuffmum · 19/01/2017 13:51

It's annoying but imagine if they created new places for kids that move to the area when back in the new year intake they had to turn people away for all manner of reasons? If they just keep on adding to the already overstretched class sizes it's just adding to the problem.

mouldycheesefan · 19/01/2017 13:51

I live next door and I don't want to walk ten minutes to another school is not grounds for appeal.

Whynotnowbaby · 19/01/2017 13:52

I live next door to my nearest school but it takes siblings of preexisting pupils in the first instance (even if they live miles away in a different county) and so had to appeal. I was successful due to an anomaly as school has a PAN of 15 but will up this to 30 on appeal. Weird and pointless waste of council money to run appeals every year

MrsWhiteWash · 19/01/2017 13:53

I walk past two nearer school that didn't have places when we moved here.

It is what it is.

Last location - and I'm not quite sure how in KS1- ended up with more than 30 children in most of my children's classes - and it does make a difference the more above it there is the worse it is - plus KS2 when 30 max ends ended up with 34-35 per class.

Since moving they have about 20- 25 and they get much more teacher attention as a result.

witsender · 19/01/2017 13:53

So you would want a class with more than 30? Requiring extra staff to maintain ratios? How big are these magical expanding classrooms anyway? Engage brain.

Chocolatecake12 · 19/01/2017 13:55

There's a massive cost element to adding extra children to a class too. Most workbooks etc come in packs of 10 so for a class of 31 or 32 they need to order 40 books. Consider this cost among a few subjects and it adds up. This then takes funds away from other areas.
She's only in year 1. It's annoying but that is all. Is it even the best school anyway or is it just location that's the reason you want her to go there?
I know of families who have moved areas and had 2 children in 2 different schools. Now that's complicated!!

toptoe · 19/01/2017 13:56

Phone the school each term and find out if anyone has left/is going to leave as a space may become available. Then you can transfer to that school if you apply quickly enough once you hear of a space.

DeathStare · 19/01/2017 13:57

When you say they should make room, how exactly would they do that? Build a new classroom? Employ an additional teacher? Would you be paying for that, because there's no reason for the tax payer to pay for that when there's another perfectly good school place available for your DC.

If school commute was an important factor for you, you should have checked places before you moved.

EustaceClarenceScrubb · 19/01/2017 13:57

In my primary school in the 70's there was no class size restriction, we had 37 one year, it was ridiculous. No LSA's to help either.

The head used to just let anyone in if they requested a space at the school. We were always reshuffling desks to make room for extra children, at one time they had desks out in the corridor, the children would be in the main classroom to listen whilst the teacher explained, then sent out of the classroom to work. That is what can happen if you don't have a restriction on numbers. YABU but I expect you will get a place eventually.

Whistle73 · 19/01/2017 13:57

This happened to me. We moved mid-year to a village, opposite the village school, and were refused a place for DD in reception because they were already full (Only take 15 kids a year because two classes are taught together). Was slightly galling because most of the 15 were not in catchment because not many children lived in the village back then. The nearest available school was 3.5 miles away.
We appealed and she was accepted. As it happened the class numbers never exceeded 30 because the class above and below were always under 15.

ICanTuckMyBoobsInMyPockets · 19/01/2017 13:58

We're moving at the moment, and chose a particular area because of a school.

Guess what I did before we put an offer on the house?

Go on, I bet you'll never get it Hmm

WatchingFromTheWings · 19/01/2017 13:58

YABU. Not sure how they can be expected 'to make more room'. Take the tables out? Stretch the rooms?? They have limits on numbers of kids for a reason. If they carried on allowing more kids in each class parents would be quick to complain about teacher/pupil ratios not to mention the safety aspect. I used to live one street away from one school but had a 10 minute drive to get one of my DC to school as the closest one was full. Just had to get on with it.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 19/01/2017 14:00

There are limits on space and how many pupils a teacher can reasonably be expected to manage so your blithe "why not make more room" is a little silly. Particularly when there are enough places, just not in the school next door. The school you decided your daughter would go to but didn't bother to check if there was space first.

Yabu.

meditrina · 19/01/2017 14:00

The ICS rule is quite new (came in under Blair)

If the current school is an infants, then you can reapply for year3 and, as ICS would ten no longer apply, appeal again with a greater chance of success. Though you would need to show why that specific school is better for your DD than whichever one is allocated. Ease of journey isn't normally a winning argument, unless there are mobility issues.

PurpleMinionMummy · 19/01/2017 14:00

Do you have a lot of schools in your area if you live next door to one and the next is only a 10 min walk? Ours is an 8 min walk and I consider it just around the corner.

Yabu, unfortunately. Very frustrating but not much that can be done. For the years that they have to very exact about having only 30 children it's very hard to win an appeal.

MrsWhiteWash · 19/01/2017 14:03

I know of families who have moved areas and had 2 children in 2 different schools. Now that's complicated!!

We discounted an nearby area as it was very likely we'd be offered three different schools for our then three primary aged children due to major shortage of places.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 19/01/2017 14:03

When we did an in-year move as well as looking for a house we looked for a school. This meant we could make an application using our address 100 miles away because there was space at the school. No space, no application.

I can't believe you didn't even look at schools and wasted time appealing and driving to another town instead of doing the responsible thing and looking at what places were available at closer schools.

steppemum · 19/01/2017 14:04

OP - the class size rule only applies to infant classes. So if you are prepared to keep driving her and hold on, you will probably find either she gets a place form the waiting list if someone leaves, or, when she hits year 3, they will allow 31 in the class, especially as then she will not have a school place as her school finishes at end year 2

alisoncoggs · 19/01/2017 14:05

Pop her on the waiting list via the LA. When she is in KS2 (Y3) she may well get a place as the ratios are more generous. You will have to keep checking and hounding, however, to ensure this happen... bitter experience here