To think my daughter was denied a basic right (an education) and that we've been treated like shit?

[dobrovnikdreams]

She spent Year 7 in a school in our home town where she was happy with friends. Towards the end of Year 7 due to unforseen circumstances (family related, won't get into it as irrelevant) we had to move to Wales and we did so through a council house swap through someone who wanted our city. She spent Year 8 and half of year 9 in a Welsh school where she got a place instantly. She didn't settle very well as friendship groups were already established and she didn't really fit in (we're talking small town Wales where everybody knows everybody and speaks Welsh etc) so she struggled. Midway through Year 9 she ended up refusing to go point blank. She had a meltdown one night and begged to go back to England saying she wouldn't go to school unless we moved. The family issues had settled down by this point and a month prior to DD's meltdown I'd put our house back on the council swap site wanting to move back to our old area but hadn't had any offers.

I wanted to move back to England before Year 10 started because of GCSE's beginning etc so got very anxious by the time May rolled round and we still hadn't got anyone wanting to swap from my hometown to Wales. My worries were rubbing off on DD so I bit the bullet and ended up private renting us a 2 bed flat in our old general area (but was a few miles away in a different local authority as couldn't afford to rent in home local LA ) as we were both very homesick and DD wanted to get back to her old school ASAP. This crippled us financially but was necessary as both needed to move back home. Once we'd settled into the flat I contacted DD's old school only to get told they were full and that we would be put on a waiting list but were warned we had no chance due to different LA and wrong postcode. We appealed and got rejected. By this point it was late July and all the schools were shut and I couldn't apply anywhere.

Year 10 started and I applied to the nearest school in my LA. Got told "We don't accept place in Year 10 unless the child is in care." Appealed, failed. Applied for 2 more in my LA and got told the same. Failed appeal for both. In appeal they all used the fact that DD refused to attend the Wales school as an excuse for not taking her. After being rejected by the 3 nearest schools in the LA I applied to 3 others which were still in the LA but right at the far end and all of them had the attiude of "Why on earth have you applied here when you live 11 miles away? It's too far." Even more frustrating is that after each school rejected us they'd say "Apply to so and so they'll probably have her" and I got the feeling they didn't believe me when I replied that we'd already been rejected by "so and so" and every other in the fucking area. Because all the appeals took so long(you get a date something like 2 months after appealing) soon enough it was nearing the end of Year 10! DD was extremely depressed. No friends or social life due to lack of school and worrying about her future. It was heartbreaking.

As Year 11 started I applied to each school again hoping they'd think "A year later and she's still not got a school place yet? We are now obliged to give her one." bur half the schools said no and the other half didn't bother getting back to me. DD was devastated. She told me "Mum, I just want to go to school and be normal. Why am I being treated like some kind of criminal? I've done nothing wrong." Wow, a teenager wants to go to school and get an education, how awful! I ended up in actual tears writing a letter to my LA and another begging them (literally begging) one of them to give my DD a place somewhere as her mental health was in dire straights. Of course they both said "If her menral health is in a bad place then focus on getting her into CAMHS rather than school for now."

So, here we are. End of Year 11. DD has no friends, no social life and no GCSE's. Luckily she got into college on a Childcare course (was only offered foundation level which is fair enough, it's not the college's fault) so I'm hoping she will begin to feel she has a purpose and make friends and her life will improve. But we are both still so so angry about how we were treated. Our area is well known for having good schools (people move round here from all over for the schools) and it being difficult to get a place after Year 7 but we applied to 6 bloody schools (2 of which were the worst schools in the area, we were desperate so weren't picky) and none of them gave a shit. Yet I've heard cases of scrotes getting thrown out for stabbing someone, they do a month in young offenders then get a place at a different school immedietely :(

Dubrovnik-

School is not about ‘socialising’, it’s primarily about education.

Why couldn’t your DD make friends in other ways?

Sports, Air Cadets, DofE, Music lessons/ band, Dancing, Police Cadets, St Johns Ambulance, Lifesaving, Park Run, Guides/ Scouts, Volunteering

I'm very interested in the school's refusal to take Y10 pupils. Does their admission criteria state this?
It depends if they are full or not and what the exact wording is, which I would imagine we are unlikely to get from the OP (understandably).

Good schools tend not to have places in y10/11 as they're up to PAN and generally students don't tend to move during GCSE so whilst there's some movement in y7-9, moves at ks4 in good schools are much less common and as a result there's much less movement of pupils.
The exception is if a child has a statement/EHCP then the school as a named school can often have to take them over PAN and if a child is in care then the school has to take them.

Most people don't do in year transfers at ks4 and when they do, the education arrangements are a priority, suitably researched, applications done properly through correct channels and alternatives considered or arranged before the family moves. It's highly uncommon to move a child at ks4, get settled in a flat, then as a school out of catchment, then wait for a few months for an appeal on the out of catchment school, then start asking others.

*I hope you didnt move to Wales for a bloke you 'met' on the internet...as it seems to be a thing at the moment. Did your daughter only want to go to the school she had previously been too I wonder and refuse to go to any other like she did in Wales....there's more to this story that we are not

Ok, she has a daughter, is raising her on her own, she may be a widow, divorced, a married as many with a partner /husband who is busy bringing money in, she may be runnin away of domestic abuse or moving to support an elderly relative... but oh no, she is a woman with a daughter ergo “she is a stupid single mother who should have kept her legs crossed but has run to wales with a man he just met in Internet!”

Nice piece of shit stereotyping @Lemonlady22. You should be ashamed of yourself

This isn’t great but I think you know that. My dd was kept out of education for a year (she has Sen and the head was an utter cunt). But we kept fighting.

Next steps is ensuring she sorts her GCSEs. Childcare is all well and good but GCSEs are a total must!

Sorry if this is harsh OP but whilst the LA failed, I think this is more on you than them. You're treating your child like an adult and putting big life decisions on her when she doesn't have the foresight you have (her refusing to attend Welsh school, her insisting on moving back to old school, her refusing to study for GCSEs until college).

Even now I still think you're failing her and limiting her life choices but at least you can do something about this one. She should be studying for her GCSEs at college NOT a vocational childcare course. Please make her study for her GCSEs while it's still free (for u21s). You will open up her life choices immensely... And she'll be grateful down the line.

Right now I imagine once she realises the significance of what's happened, as her more educated peers progress beyond her means, she might be very resentful of your allowing her to make huge life decisions she wasn't mature enough to make. It's not too late to prevent that if you can get her to study and pass at least 5 GCSEs, including maths and English.

Also socially surely there was more than the fortnightly youth club to keep her making friends? What did she do for sport/exercise during this whole time or was she not part of any sports clubs just sitting at home twiddling her thumbs? It's no wonder she was depressed.

My first thought on the move to Wales was that it was to care for an elderly parent or relative, who sadly then died.
Also for those saying she should have applied for the school place before moving back, in my experience you can only apply once you’re actually living in the area and have proof of address (although obviously it’s prudent to at least sound out your preferred school).

Even now I still think you're failing her and limiting her life choices but at least you can do something about this one. She should be studying for her GCSEs at college NOT a vocational childcare course. Please make her study for her GCSEs while it's still free (for u21s). You will open up her life choices immensely... And she'll be grateful down the line.

This. Yes, it sucks. And i absolutely believe that you should consider legal aid. But it seems to me like you need to take responsibility right now and do what’s best for your DD (and not what she may want). You really owe that to her. Good luck.

"I am confused as to whether you formally applied for schools through LA or just rang/wrote to each and were met with negative feedback on availability. LA had an obligation to provide a school space somewhere, if they did not, nor on appeal, then you would have had an opportunity to complain to the ombudsman, councillor, MP. However that assumes you did make an In Year application and at no time indicated you would HE or look at independent schools."

OP said she went to appeal, so she must have applied correctly, for it is not possible to appeal for a school you ave not apllied to and been rejected by.

She also told the EWO that she was not interested in HE and wanted a school place.

The LA is at fault for not using the Fair Access Protocol to force a schoo, to admit an additional pupil (LA chooses which school)

Given that EWO was involved, I am staggered that FAP was not used, and that LA continued to fail to place a school applicant for two whole years.

Not really the Education authority's fault that you moved area and then your daughter refused to attend school in the new area and then there were no places available when you moved back. Maybe you should have sorted out or at least enquires about a year 10 school place before moving back. Assuming they would just have a space seems a bit naive to me. This country is virtually over populated and it's pretty coming knowledge that school places in some areas are like gold dust. Seems like your own mismanagement to me. Also, maybe your DD could have gone to a different school in Wales rather than just refusing the one she had been attending and you just letting that go and making excuses about friendship groups and others speaking Welsh and then you not organising a new school for her..... it seems like you're culpable here tbh. Fortunately she's managed to get a college place anyway, despite your lack of organisation.

*common knowledge

It's no wonder she was depressed.

Just in case you're still reading these responses OP, sorry this wasn't meant to come across that way. I just meant in the stating the obvious sense that staying at home and lack of exercise can cause/ lead you depression. Perhaps your daughter could join some team sports (I.e. local netball or football clubs)... which can be great for making friends.

my main point was we are not hearing the whole story or the LA side of the story ....so why did she move to Wales....prob never know!

Hi I'm in a similar position. My daughter also hasn't been able to get a place for year ten.
The officer from our LA has told me that technically a school should offer a place if one is available, but they can get out of it by saying it would be too disruptive for their existing pupils. Apparently, according to him, it's notoriously difficult to get a place in year 10/11. My dd will be starting year 10 at a local college as part of their 14-16 provision.
The system is a joke

That's interesting Kirsty. At least your dd has been offered something.

If this really is a thing and some children are being told they can't have a school place then there needs to be a parliamentary Committee inquiry, and solutions need to be found fast.

And can pps please stop blaming the mother here or making insinuations about the move to Wales!

The LA are obliged to find you a school place but it may not necessarily be at the school of your choice. Have they not offered you any school? They are obliged to by law. Usually you are given the nearest school with a place available and if that is beyond a certain distance then they may have to provide transport. This is not available if you yourself have selected the school. You shouldn’t be going from school to school, let them do it. An appeal is weighing up your case against the rest of the pupils who are in that school who aren’t there to represent themselves. Popular schools will have waiting lists and an appeal doesn’t necessarily bypass that.

I think you and DD need to focus on the future, her obtaining a good education and working on her MH and building a social life

I have a friend with some experience of this.
Schools can easily accept pupils in year 10 and 11. My children's school have taken both.
It can be a problem if a school refuses as they feel the school can't meet the child's needs as has happened to my friend and as mentioned above.
The LA had a duty to find her a place though and should have.

We've had this to some extent. Moved areas with work, got there and no infant place within seven miles, I don't drive. Had a real battle until we spoke to the independent education person at the council who sorted it instantly.

They were just very very full!
They had many four year olds with no school and they literally were not doing anything with them until they turned five and they HAD to.

The LA should have dealt with this at the time..

Home education requires a set of skills and consistency that is rare to find, I can easily see why in a crisis situation it might be difficult to keep to it especially if resources, advice and support (and the money to get them) are extremely limited.

I do agree with this to some extent. Home education isn’t easy and to find yourself HEing when it was never on your radar can be really hard especially when mixed with the resentment you feel for the LEA letting you down.

However once the shock of the crisis has sunk in you have to just try your best, and accept the situation is what it is (while continuing to fight) and make the most of what you can access to HE.

This all sounds terrible.

I agree with pp that it sounds like OP could have been more proactive in all this, but...

It’s absolutely disgraceful that the LEA have failed to offer any school place at all to OPs DD.
She surely can’t be the only child to have ever moved into the area at that age, and a child getting a school offer so they can access the education they’re entitled to, should not be dependent on them having a parent who’s confident and proactive enough to keep pestering the LEA / MP / local press etc etc about it time after time.
The LA shouldn’t have ignored their legal duty to find OP’s DD a school place just because finding her a school place was a bit inconvenient for them. And I don’t see what her refusing to go to the school in Wales has to do with anything unless OP still lives within a reasonable travelling distance to that school.

But given where you are now OP, the only thing to do is focus on the future. Can your DD sit some GCSEs at college alongside the childcare course? Maths and English as a minimum, but doing more GCSEs would be better in terms of giving her more options when she’s older.

Utterly, utterly appalling. Sadly, not surprising. Without going into details, my brother has gone through something similar, with the result that his son was out of school for nearly 18 months (he ended up going to court to force their hand). It's a massive exercise in buck-passing, with no-one prepared to take responsibility.

I would contact your local county councillor and MP. It may be too late to help your DD, but at least you can make sure someone inportant knows what happened.

Good Luck!

This happened to me 17 years ago with very similar circumstances. I moved schools in year 7 and was bullied for 2 years before moving back to our home town. There were no school places available so I missed most of year 9 and as a result I was placed in bottom sets for GCSE classes which meant not only did I struggle to catch up but I never got a chance of obtaining higher grades. I went to college but my results were very poor and looking back I should have just repeated some GCSE’s at college before tackling A-Levels.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom as I did an apprenticeship and got a job paying OK(ish) wages and have since bought my own home and I own another property but I never stood a chance at going to Uni which is something I regret and I can’t help but blame my parents for putting me in the situation in the first place.

Sounds quite chaotic and I wonder if the schools/LEA would have a slightly different view of events

I agree. It seems unthinkable they would go for two years of a parent banging on their door looking for a place. The only time I’ve seen a failure to provide a place long term had been for children with SEN where there is a disagreement on what’s appropriate. Even then it’s rarely for two years and there is inevitably involvement from an MP.

OP, what are you hoping for? This situation seems relatively unusual so it’s likely not to make sure it doesn’t happen to another family. What’s your motivation? What will make it better for your daughter having missed out on her education.

Lots of wrong advice here about how you apply. You do not only apply direct to the LA. Many/most academies require you to apply directly for an in year admission. In fact, there are very few secondaries in our LA that you apply to via the council, as they're nearly all academies.

I wish OP would say what LA she was living in.

Around here, many colleges do 1 yr GCSE catchup programmes. Get the basic English, science, math GCSEs. Free.

I don't understand how the LEA could wash hands out of finding OP's child a place. What in the world did the girl do for 2 yrs without school to go to every day?