To decline my school place?

[LG123]

I'm so cross, just want to yell at admissions (I won't).

My daughter got offered a place outside of catchment as my catchment school os oversubscribed. They wouldn't have to provide transport because she's under compulsory school age so my tiny 4 year old would be expected to walk 2 miles each way everyday.

Bet all the ones that drive got their place at a school round the corner.

AIBU to tell them to jog the fuck on?

@Quincythequince can you point me in the direction of the guidance in respect of 19yo. Not disagreeing with you just interested

They may not ask them to leave ancient but they would have to bulge to accommodate a child if challenged.

Schools don’t want to do this and don’t want the aggro, but you have to have policies in place for all eventualities.

If someone complained about it, and it happens, they would have to provide reasonable explanation for accommodating an adult in a full-time secondary school environment from both a safety perspective and potentially at the expense of an eligible child.

Again, I don’t make the rule but am familiar with them.

Anyway, if OP DC will end up in college, then it’s all academic.

@LG123

You said 2 days per week in maybe your second post?

4 miles a day, 2 days a week. She is late August born too so only just 4.*

I’d definitely delay. In DD’s class there is a huge difference in confidence between the oldest chikdten and the youngest. If she starts next year and goes in ad one of thenoldest in her year, she’ll have a much essier time in education all the way through the system, as well as solving the transport issue.

@Iamthewalnut

I found out today my daughter hasn't got her catchment school either. She is also tiny (still wearing clothing for an 18-month-old) and our local authority won't offer transport unless the school is more than 3 miles away and they are CSA. The school isn't on a public transport route from where we live so I'm just going to have to put her in the buggy and push her there (8 mile round trip for me each day - joy!)

Even if your LA supports delayed admission, you do realise this means she will have to jump a year at some point, so will leave her peer group behind and have to make friends all over again as well as try and catch up?

Try finding out where you are on the wait list; you might get a place if you're patient. We were told by evil that everyone is on the wait list of they didn't get firsr choice until some date (June maybe?), then you can apply for the wait list as there can be places come up as late as September. It means sending off some letters, but your LA website should explain the process.

*school Not evil!

[quote toomuchlaundry]@Quincythequince can you point me in the direction of the guidance in respect of 19yo. Not disagreeing with you just interested[/quote]
I’ll dig it out.

Policy was revisited before Covid, and they were updating it in line with what was expected influx of refugees - some young adults > 18.

Obtained from an LA in Kent I believe.

I am surprised re the 19 year olds not being allowed in 6th form. Granted the rules may have changed since I left 6th form in 2007 but there were a number of 19 year olds at mine, due to resitting either their AS or A Level years. I’m not sure what difference a deferred child would make to that, if sitting each year the standard once?

@Iamthewalnut that's not how delayed admission works. She won't have to skip a year. For a school to do that they would need to prove it was in her best interests which would be pretty difficult.

Also, it's not a local thing it's a national thing the 2 mile rule so I would check that.

@workingmomlife yeah sorry, I updated and corrected myself as I have no idea what I was going on about.

@ChuckBerrysBoots

I don’t know why some posters are making out like OP is breaking some kind of rule with deferred entry. She’s doing what the law and guidance allows, and what the government has committed to put into legislation but hasn’t got around to yet i.e that all summer borns will have an automatic right to defer and start in reception rather than have to argue with the LA about reception or year 1. Govt intention is very clear in their recent guidance and statements.

But she hasn’t deferred she has declined so there is no school.

Young people's education choices are referred to as 14-19yo, not 14-18yo. All bursaries, transport etc stay regardless of turning 19. www.gov.uk/courses-qualifications

August born are only a few weeks older than September, it doesn't matter.

If you decline and wait for next year you may be faced with the same issue this time next year. I would appeal, wait on the waiting lists and then see what happens. You can always decline at the very last minute if nothing changes.

Have you already turned the place down? I’d not I’d wait a few days or so and think it all over properly, there’s absolutely no need to rush into it. Then you could go on the waiting list and hang on incase transport becomes an option due to someone else needing it near you or something. I no you were unsure anyway but I wouldn’t just ditch the place right now today based on transport, take some time over it.

@Kennykenkencat for me to delay, in my LA I have to withdraw my application for a place this year anyway! I've just done what thr process says!

Dont decline and then ask about referal. You need to do that the other way around. Referal isnt a atomic right ( I have a August born out of cohort)

@marlowe5 how many times, if I get the same school next year they are obliged to provide transport, this year they are not as she isn't CSA.

@IncessantNameChanger it's not automatic no, but I live in an LA where it is supported so I won't have an issue.

[quote LG123]@Iamthewalnut that's not how delayed admission works. She won't have to skip a year. For a school to do that they would need to prove it was in her best interests which would be pretty difficult.

Also, it's not a local thing it's a national thing the 2 mile rule so I would check that.[/quote]
We were strongly advised not to go for delayed admission by my daughter's pediatric consultant and her teacher of the deaf because she'd have to jump a year later, so if that's not how delayed admission works then they both have it wrong.

@Unsureaboutit9 I have declined the place and withdrawn the application for a school place this year. I don't want it, I don't need it.

@LG123
The council will have done it on priority depending on the schools admissions criteria-not just to annoy you!
Did you check the admissions criteria carefully before you applied? Presumably you didn't just put that one school down as a preference and no others?
Assuming the school you wanted is closest to you I'd imagine that first of all the places are taken by any 'looked after' children, then siblings of children currently at the school and then distance from home to school. Those allocated places would have met the admissions criteria ahead of you.
2 miles really isn't that far to the next school, I'm not sure what you would expect the council to do if there's no space at the one you wanted-you're lucky they've allocated a school 2 miles away and not one further than that.
What you can do- 1. accept the place you have been given, you can always change it if something else comes up that you'd prefer or there may be the option to ask to be reconsidered for the school you want-which means that once those who were offered the school have said yes/no there may actually be space for your child (I can't remember exactly how it works but you should have the information or be able to find it on your council's website)

1. Call the school you wanted a place at, ask them how many people wanted a space there and didn't get one, and at the same time ask about their waiting list.

My daughter is end of August born and was tiny at that age. We didn't get allocated the school I wanted her to go to yet my neighbour opposite did (not our closest school but the one I had looked at and decided I liked the ethos of etc). We were 2nd on the waiting list. I asked other parents at her preschool setting about other schools, found out that there were places at a school that would suit (I had to have before and after school care), visited and then asked the council to allocate her a space there. It wasn't close.

Regarding deferring a year- would that suit your child? What would you do- keep her in nursery? If so remember there'd be costs involved in that. Also I think the deferring has to be in agreement with the school and it's not necessarily always a good thing to do, are you sure if you plan to keep her out of school that she'll be stimulated enough at nursery considering she'll have already been there some time.

Also, start to ask around, are there others near you who have been allocated the same school? Could you start to think about seeing if anyone can help out with transport- ask the school too.

Finally, as frustrated as you are, it's not the council's fault-unless you can see that they haven't followed the schools admissions criteria. There's also the option to appeal against their decision.

@Iamthewalnut yes they both have it wrong although if this was a few years ago the advice may have been correct at the time. The situation has changed.

@Iamthewalnut lots of people think this but it is wrong, if a school wants a child to skip a year later on they have to show why it is in the child's best interests, that will be very difficult. Also, no one can really say it either because this year is first year delayed summer borns will go up to secondary school.

@MRex

Young people's education choices are referred to as 14-19yo, not 14-18yo. All bursaries, transport etc stay regardless of turning 19. www.gov.uk/courses-qualifications

August born are only a few weeks older than September, it doesn't matter.

These are the different kinds. Funding for an education in any one of these settings doesn’t mean that all ages covered here are eligible to be educated in all of them.

Academies (which is explicitly what we were talking about) don’t have to provide education for all ages groups, and certainly no 19 year olds if it’s a secondary academy school sixth form

They do both have it wrong @Iamthewalnut, it’s not a given that a child will need to skip a year later. The guidance says all decisions have to be made on the individual circumstances. The assumption should be that children remain with their “out of year” cohort.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission/admission-of-summer-born-children-advice-for-local-authorities-and-school-admission-authorities