School Admission form lost by school admissions and now refused on infant class size

[horsemad1]

Hello, to cut a long story short I was given the application form for my daughter to join Reception in Sept 11 frorm the school secretary and told by her to send it back to the admissions authority, carlisle. this I did, she also said she would put my daughters name down on the list at the school. I chased up some months later to say i had heard nothing and was told by the school screatary that the letters of acceptance come from the council in april.

When the little girl across the road got her letter and we didn't I again rang the school to find out what had happened, to my horror the secretary (a new one as the one I spoke to had retired) did not have my daughters name on the list and after ringing the council, they did not have her form either and did not offer to investigate what had happened to it. Needless to say, i had to fill in another form which is now classed as a late summission and she did not get in the school I applied for as it is full, which is at the bottom of our street. We have complained to our local MP and the Director of Childrens Services and We are appealing, but can anyone advise what we should put in our appeal letter? Sorry its longwinded....

I sympathise - looks like a fault with their system, which has no "Safety net" - as you asssumed it got delivered but it looks like it got lost in the post, but they dont know that you are not just someone who never bothered applying on time!

when DD first went to primary, we had to send a self addressed postcard along with her application and that was returned to us as proof of receipt

Nowadays everyone is asked to apply online, and we had confirmation of our secondary admission by email

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but perhaps you should have sent it with signed for delivery, so you could track and proove it had arrived (but I still think it is likely to have been lost in the post, not lost in their office).

Good luck to you

Do you have anything to confirm that the application form was received by the LA?
If you do not then it will come down to you saying you sent it and the LA saying they did not receive it. The probability is that the panel will not find in your favour simply with this arguement.
Could you ask at the school for any records they have of you asking for the form and also the second time you asked? It does not prove anything but it does confirm that you knew about it.

Agree with Admission.

If the LA lost your form that is a clear mistake. If they admit that they got it wrong they are supposed to offer you a place at the school you would have got if they had processed your application correctly. However, even if they do admit they got it wrong many LAs insist on making the parents go through an appeal despite the regulations. But in your case I suspect the LA will not admit to a mistake. That means it will be your word against theirs. Unless you can produce conclusive evidence that you did submit the form on time the panel is likely to believe the LA. Any evidence you have at all that shows you submitted the form on time would help.

How many people send such forms by registered post, though? Which is surely about the only way you could prove it. Although maybe they should recommend it in their information booklet. The thing is, though, that from their point of view, anyone could say they'd sent it, even if they hadn't, to get a place.

I would have thought lots of people do. I know I did and do for any documents I want proof I sent.

Our LEA is now encouraging applying for school places on-line rather than post to prevent this sort of thing happening. Most forms do have a postcard inside that is returned as a receipt.
Ordinary proof of postage may be acceptable rather than recorded delivery. This is free and is stamped by the post office to prove you have posted the item.
Unfortunately it is more likely to have been lost in the post than by the LEA. Did hear of someone whose form got held up a postal strike and it was counted as a late application.

Oh no! This was my greatest fear, so I hand delivered mine. Even then it seemed to go into a dodgy shoe box at the council.

Good luck.

On the good side, if you're really that close then you should shoot straight up the waiting list, so surely you're very likely to get in even without an appeal.

Proof of posting isn't proof of delivery and the rules are that the mistake must be by the LA, so a failure by the Post Office should not lead to a successful appeal. However, I can imagine a sympathetic panel, faced with proof of posting, might choose to assume that it had been delivered and they lost by the LA.

You should certainly check that you are near the head of the waiting list. They cannot put you at the end of the waiting list just because they believe your application was late.