Can anyone help with an apeal for child to go to reception?

[ScoobyDooooo]

This is for my friend, her ds is 4.6 he is due to start reception in september.

She filled in the schooling forms which asked for 3 preferences for schools in the area, when she got her form back last month she did not get one of her preferences but a school which they said was her nearest to her (this is indeed wrong because there is a school 2 mins down the road, this oneis 10 mins)

Anyway she has appealed not just because of the school but for may reasons, her son stays with his grandparents a couple of nights a week who live opposite the school which was her 1st choice, this happens because she has to work early shifts & also has a sister who lives with her who has down syndrome so she does alot with her, days centers, droping her at aunts house etc etc.

She has been told she will not win her appeal because you need life threatening reasons, obviously she does not have these.

Her sons grandparents help her alot so would pick him up, drop him off etc etc but they don't drive so can not get to any of the other schools, they are elderly & will only do it if its he school opposite there house!

So what should/can she do, can you appeal an appeal or is that the last steps, her son has no school now & she is waiting to hear about her appeal which she is faaar from hopeful.

Any suggestions on helping her, she is struggling & getting very stressed about it, she has to think of her sister, her ds & she also has a 3 week old dd do times are hard at the moment.

If her Education Authority has got it's geography wrong then I'd say she has a good case of getting into the nearest school. If she lives on a boundary and that school is in another Authority then perhaps not. And if it wasn't her first choice, she'll also be on shaky ground.

The difficulty with appeals are that they are almost always for oversubscribed schools and in order to win an appeal and gain a place, someone else has to get thrown out.

I'm sure it's annoying for the grandparents but I suppose if the Education Authority made exceptions for this then everyone would claim their childminder lived nextdoor to all the best schools and the children that actually lived closest would no longer get in. Hardly fair.

The good news is, that if she immediately gets on the waiting list for her 3 choices, then there are often unexpected places available in September because people have moved, gone to a private school etc. It happened at both my local, highly oversubscribed, schools last year.

If he's 4.6 then he's too old to stay home in September - unless they consider home ed for awhile?

Sorry not to be much help. It can be quite stressful and she has enough on her plate already.