No school for my 6year old!

[Mumof3wunnerfuls]

Hi everyone.
This is my first ever thread on here eeeep.

I'm in a bit of a state. I'm not sleeping properly and am completely stressed out. Any advice or assistance would be gratefully appreciated please.

Bit of background- my husband and I bought a new house in a different area last December2016. The reason, we needed a bigger home for us and our three children aged now ds11, ds6 and dd3. Also for better schools and much nicer area to live in.

We kept our two boys in their schools until this July as eldest ds was in year6 so thought pointless to move him.

We visited schools straight away when finalised the house for all the children and I put in the application for eldest ds's place for secondary which we got. Dd got her nursery place and our 6 year old ds has been on the waitlist for the two schools we love and think he will flourish at since December.
The two schools we have put him down for are within walking distance from home and the 1st preference has dd's nursery next door.

Ds has been 1st on the list since this time. Position hasn't changed. So throughout the whole of year 1 he's been 1st.
I chased up throughout the year with the LA and in July when I chased again they told me he hadn't got his place and I needed to reapply for a year2 space for this September.
I did so straight away and after a week I received an email stating he had been refused a place and I could appeal.
Reading the info that came through the refusal is based on class size.
I have appealed and sent off my email with my many reasons and have now received info that the appeal hearing is mid September.

The children go back to school 6th so ds2 won't have a place for over a week.
Then I've received info that he has been offered a place at a school which is an 11 minute drive from our home. That's in no traffic! They've said I have to accept the place and although I have now, I have informed them that I cannot get him there due to having other children in education and I need to get them to school too. It's just not possible.

I'm petrified of the appeal in all honesty and am dreading it. DH is coming with me and ds will have to too as nobody around to have him. We aren't fortunate enough to have our parents retired yet to help out and they're not round the corner either.
I don't have use of the car everyday, most days yes but when DH has a meeting he takes the car to work.

I must add that DS2 who this is all about is really sensitive. He's not the type of child who could be put into a situation like a new school then moved again potentially.

So I've probably waffled on way too much but I've tried to give you all as much info as possible.

Please could anyone give me any advice re the appeal or assistance with how to move forward with this.

I'm probably just stuck in this position with the LA and my sons educational life is in their hands.

Thanks everyone. From a desperately stressed and sad mum at the moment. Xx

How have you been getting the kids to school whilst they were at their old one?
Could Dad drop off middle child on his day for breakfast club?
Is there a few nursery near the school you could move youngest to?

11 min drive really is nothing- seems likely you need to figure out how to arrange the commute

We chose the schools and nursery after viewing lots!
The area don't have nurseries attached to schools and again have waitlists.
Dd was on waitlist for three nurseries and thank god the one we really wanted and up trumps.

I have looked into breakfast club and there is no offer at the school.

We had been living with my in laws whilst renovations took place on our house so were very close to the previous school.

I think you need to find a nursery place or a childminder near the school that the LA have offered to your middle child.

Would you not be entitled to transport to school if it's 11 minutes drive? Our local school is 12 minutes drive in no traffic and our DS gets a school bus (aka big taxi). He's been getting it since he was five (2 years now) without issue.

Sorry, I wasn't much help in my earlier post. I should spend less time in aibu.

To actually answer one of your questions... I've recently won a place for my eldest ds (10) and the appeal wasn't so bad. The members of the panel were kind and patient, they kept things as friendly as they could given the formal setting. The LA sent a representative to make their case. He had his job to do but wasn't intimidating. Saying that, I think you would be better off not taking your ds and either you or your dh go on your own.

I was able to argue that there was no prejudice to answer. So I'm not sure I'm much help beyond that.

Do you have written (i.e. letter or email) confirmation of the dates the offer was made and withdrawn? As I said, timing is crucial.

At that age, you get free transport if the journey is 2 miles or more.

That is free transport for the pupil, not an attendant, so some families would chose not to use it until the DC is older (though qualifying distance for older DC is 3 miles)

I was worry wasn't going to be able to hold it together during the appeal as well. The idea that I was going to drive home and tell dd she still didn't have a school was absolutely awful. I was by myself as dh had to look after dd as she didn't have a school.

The panel were very lovely, professional but kind. The chap from admissions was perfectly nice too. He was there to say why the school couldn't accommodate dd and I was there to say why I thought they should accomodate her. The panel listened and asked us both questions. There was a chance for me to ask the admissions bloke questions and for me to ask him.

I took notes, kept focused and listened to what was said and tried to rebut without emotion. I made it to the toilets before crying my eyes out at the end.

Ah Savoycabbage massive hugs.

Thanks for your reply x

You haven't said whether you can home ed?

You have a much better chance of getting a place in Y3 when the ICS rule is lifted, so worst case scenario it would probably be home ed for a year and you may get a place sooner than that.

It might be better for a child who doesn't like change than a rapid succession of school moves.

As uour older child is at secondary, they would normally be expected to get to school by themselves.

Your younger child is at pre-compulsory education, so tbh the LA could argue that whether they are in nursery, or late, or not there, is not a big deal - they don't have to be in education at all at this point.

Your 6 year old does need a full time education, appropriate to their needs and aptitudes, in school or otherwise, by law. You may not *want+ to use a childminder (for one child of the other), buy a second car 9or your DH use a taxi on days he has meetings), walk for 30 minutes etc, but not wanting to isn't enough reason for the LA to give you a place at the school you want.

The illusion that you have school choice has misled you, as it has miseld others in the past. It APPEARS as if you can come alomng, look at schools, choose the best, apply for it, and complain that you don't get in. that isn't how the system works. You can state a preference for certain schools, but if they have no place, and the class size is 30 already, you will be allocated a place elsewhere or must go private or must home educate. The allocation system has to treat all schools as of equal quality. It can't say 'oh yes, YOU deserve a place at the NICER school, you wouldn't want to go to THAT schookl' - it allocates where there are places.

If you don't like the allocated school, look for any others with vacancies instead, as if they have a vacancy, you can take it. Unless (and it is a long shot) the timing of the apparent place being offered turns out to have been too slow in them taking away the place, then none of your appeal points are strong at the moment, so you need to start thinking about either how you will get your child to the allocated school, or find another with vacancies that you prefer.

Just as an indication of what 'an unreasonable journey' looks like in terms of school admissions, i seem to remember that an hour each way has been established in practice to be the cut-off between 'reasonable' and 'unreasonable'.

So 11 minutes, in a car that is normally available but occasionally your husband may need to find another way of getting to meetings (second car, taxi, public transport - or you could share lifts to school) just doesn't meet any threshold for unreasonable.

If it is more than 2 miles away (11 minutes may or may not mean any great distance - depends where you live), and you have been allocated it as the nearest school with places, then you will be eligible for transport to school for yiour 6 year old.

I suppose what i am trying to say is that your situation is not what you might LIKE, but it is a very common one. There IS a place for your 6 year old in school, just not uin your proferred school at this moment.

In another year,your child will be in KS2, and it is easier to appeal for a place because the cap of 30 is lifted. So you may just have to be a little creative in the meantime - drop your younger child at a childminder or friend before nursery, to give you time to take your older one to school, or drop your 6 year old at a childminder before school, for example. If your younger child is only at half day nursery, move to afternoon sessions, and arrange for a friend there to have them for a few minutes until you return with the 6 year old. Can your husband do 1 drop off on the way to work if using the car?

Unfortunately, school places are at too much of a premium in most places in the country for everyone to be able to move, choose the school they like, and get their child into it. However, you have been offered a school that is, in normal terms, very close by in terms of travel time, and may just need to be flexible in adjusting to how you can manage it.

Or, as I say, there may be another school with a place that is further away but for some reason more convenient - next to a nursery, for example, on yiour husband's way to work, served by a breakfast club or a childminder with vacancies - and you should go for that. Or HE your 6 year old until a place arises somewhere that is convenient for you.

It is VERY common for childcare arrangements around school days to be somewhat complex - and fairly expensive - for very many parents.

Try cycling! You can get some awesome family bikes. 11 minutes by car would be quick on a bike - more so in traffic.

Our school is 10 minutes drive away (well it's more than that but we park and stride) 25 minutes walk away and less than 15 minutes cycle away.

There's a great Facebook page about family cycling and they often sell the most amazing bikes. A parent can cycle 4 or 5 children in some of them! They are designed to be easy to cycle too.

Good luck with appeal process - lots of back up plan here though.

How far is the offered school?
If over 2 miles you will qualify for free transport.
11 minutes is a short distance but depending if you're in London for instance, a " usual " 11 minute drive could easily be 45 in rush hour so that's relative too.
Are you now too far to keep him at the school he's currently at and wait another year?
As someone else said you have a far better chance at getting in for year 3 than you do for year 2.
Or home education? If you don't feel he could cope with 2 moves this is what I would do.
The fact you have a child at nursery near home will make no difference to the panel as education isn't compulsory until the term after they turn 5 and they will expect the secondary age child to be making their own way x