Primary school admissions - 14 miles apart

[Ruralparents]

Hi all

I thought I’d join to mine your collective wisdom!

We live in rural Cambridgeshire, 6 miles from our nearest school in one direction and 8 miles from the next nearest in another.

Back in the depths of lockdown we had to a choose a school for our eldest to start at in Sept 2021. My wife teaches at the school 8 miles away and so we chose it because it would be handier. We didn’t know if our eldest would get in there but she did. And it turns out that her catchment school, 6 miles away, was oversubscribed.

Now, in 2023 our daughters school is over subscribed and our youngest has been placed at the catchment school. These two school are 14 miles apart! We lost our appeal and have now got the prospect of trying to manage a 28 mile school run, twice a day.

Cambridgeshire council don’t care, they are hiding behind their protocols and passing the buck.

We asked if our eldest could move schools to be with our youngest and they’ve refused because her year group at the catchment school is oversubscribed.

Out of catchment siblings get the same priority as in catchment siblings in Suffolk and Norfolk, but not Cambridgeshire. And when you live 6 and 8 miles from the two schools it’s fairly obvious you’re going to be at the bottom of the admissions list when either school is over subscribed.

Has anyone had any joy appealing on the grounds of unreasonable journey times etc? I just don’t think anyone should be made to do over 10000 miles a year on the school run. School transport hasn’t been offered but even if we can get it, someone still has to be available to put a 4 year old in a taxi and to collect them etc, it doesn’t help the logistics.

There is an ombudsman, but I think they have just rigged the whole system in order to do as they please and screw those who live out in the sticks.

Ok then 🙄 two estates already built, two due for first phases to be complete by Xmas. Zero additional schools.
We have one comprehensive school for a town with AVG population of 20k which will obviously rise in the next few years with all the new schools.

A truthful thing to say about Cambs LEA is that they promise to look into solutions for you, offer you something even worse and then stop responding.

I thought that given the council own the house and the farm we live in, and employ my wife as a teacher, that someone would wonder if perhaps they should do something about it, even if we had made an honest mistake.

Hopelessly naive of us as we have learnt to our cost.

OP’s DC do have access to adequate provision.

DC2 has a place at their catchment school well within the maximum recommended travel time.

DC1 could have had a place at their catchment school. The fact they attend a different school is down to the choices OP made, as is their right to list different preferences. The school DC1 attends is also well within the maximum travel time.

There are thousands of pupils, primarily with SEN, up and down the country who are not receiving an adequate full-time education or have to travel unreasonable distances to access education, but OP’s DC are not two of those pupils.

I’ve not read many of the comments on here, just the OP responses to them, but give the guy a break!! School admission criteria are a pain in the backside, differing from school to school, and often changing from year to year. Wanting your young children in the same school is not unreasonable, and both parents are doing public service jobs that would have earnt them a clap during Covid, but everyone seems to have forgotten how grateful they were for those professions now (we experience that with our refuse collectors where I work, praised at the start of covid and now some of them have been physically assaulted and had abuse hurled at them just for doing their jobs).

Perhaps I’m more sympathetic because I’ve had my own school place issues (different LEA and much more densely populated one) - couldn’t get youngest into our local primary due to being oversubscribed as new flats had been built nearby and the expansion to accommodate an extra form wouldn’t complete until the year after she was due to start. Couldn’t get into the 2nd closest primary as it was Catholic and we weren’t. So we had to drive her to school every day for 3 years whilst we watched all our neighbours walking their children to school (as they were Catholic or had elder siblings at the local school). Schools do consult on their admissions policies, but they don’t advertise it well so it’s only existing parents who get to comment, not prospective parents living nearby.
My eldest got into the local school for juniors as they put on an extra class that year, and my twins got in for infants as it had the extra class by then (though it was the same year and had a worrying few months waiting on 3 school places with no sibling link), but I still maintain my daughter would have had a better start and be further ahead than she is now had she gone to the local school from the start. It was galling to learn about children at the school who lived further away as they had had elder siblings at the school who had since left. I wrote to the school suggesting the sibling criteria should only apply if it was their closest school - as some other local primaries had done this, but it takes an age for admissions criteria to be changed. Though the school has now added a criteria to give higher priority to those attending the local CofE church - as we did - but it didn’t help at the time as it was only introduced a few years later (it was another suggestion of mine, but not sure if that was why it was introduced! It did feel unfair that we couldn’t go to the Catholic school because we were CofE but couldn’t go to the CofE because of distance, despite it being our closest school!)

We’ve also had difficulties at secondary, one twin got into local all girls school but boy twin didn’t get local boys school due to distance, and no sibling link, our eldest is a girl and at the all girls school. Another year he would have got in, but not this year typically. We are faced with having to drive him several miles to a school where no one else from his 3 form primary is going (we have to take him due to his SEN which the LEA refused to consider him for an EHCP. We even tried local private schools thinking the smaller school and classes sizes and “nurturing” environment would suit him better, but all turned him down because of his SEN. So I am also in a position of feeling the school admissions system is f*ed up and I don’t think you come across as “entitled” or patriarchal or whatever people were accusing you of, you sound like a decent bloke trying to get the best outcome for your children without playing the system (I know a number who have done dodgy moves round our way just to get children into schools - a number got caught out I’m pleased to say, and others didn’t). I hope it all works out well for you all - I definitely think your wife’s school should give higher priority to children of staff - particularly because of the rural nature of where you are. Hanging on to good teachers should be a priority for a school like that and priority criteria for children is a good way to support that.

I would not answer these nasty irrelevant posters. Let’s hope they never need any constructive advice! What complete assholes they really are.
Just do what you can do and fuck getting into conversation with such small minded, perfect?? strangers.
Good luck!!

So people in council owned houses and work for the council should get priority? What about everyone else. This is just ridiculous. No school will think you are special and neither will the law.

@FaithHowells So around 6000 plus people and not a single space in a school or new school planned anywhere? Or existing school expansion? I don’t believe you. Where is this?

Does your wife know about this thread and the views you hold about education not being free? As a teacher you have not been measured really, been rude about wfh and panel members, didn't fully read the policies and have been offered places in more than one school.
Yes education is free and no you don't really pay for it through your taxes, maybe if you earn 150k plus you would. To deny that I find unbelievable especially when you look globally, even more so as you have 2 daughters. Perhaps value education more rather than moan about the council who do not exist to make it easier just for you disregarding kids who live nearer. 6 miles which is the catchment and nearest school is a fair result and you could have put your elder daughter there originally too.

I’ve given responses to everything you’ve just said at some length.

Except to say that accusing me of rudeness for giving a few mildly spirited responses to some of the jibes thrown on this thread is pure hypocrisy.

Again, I’ve set out my positions at length, if you’ve ready the thread you’d be aware, and if you just want to misrepresent them then there little point me engaging further.

@Ruralparents I have not misrepresented you. You want special treatment. How is that fair or lawful?

I’m aware of the SEN situation as that is my own families situation. Further up thread I stated that I have DC1 at school 14 miles from home and DC2 school 27 miles from home in the opposite direction with a DC3 who is in mainstream in between.

I still have compassion for the OP and their circumstances and would absolutely question whether what they are being told by county could be challenged.

Instead of saying ‘adequate’ provision I should have said ‘accessible’ provision but I suppose some might argue that if provision is not accessible (unless you have the ability to bend time and distance) then its not adequate. Surely a criteria of provision being considered adequate is that it’s accessible to the child?

But enough of that, I’m being pedantic. What I really feel is that the education system has been failing children, parents and teachers for too long and instead of squabbling amongst ourselves over whose having the harder time it makes sense to support each other in recognising these failures. I’ve spent so long wading through the legal swamps around EHCP’s and specialist school settings that I forget that there are others outside of SEN who are also fighting their own battles within education and they have my full sympathy because its not fun.

Well then you should know adequate provision is being provided to OP’s DC.

It is accessible. For example, the OP has already said both schools have breakfast and after school clubs, they could look at transport, they could look to pay someone to drop off/pick up or be there for transport, the OP could adjust his work hours (he has posted several times during this thread at drop off and pick up time) to be able to pick up &/or drop off or be there to meet the transport, they could look at lift shares for DC1 to the nearest school, they could investigate whether there is a school further away that has places for both DC, they could have deferred and continued with whatever arrangements are in place now. Many working parents have to juggle logistics, school admissions would never work if they had to consider everyone’s individual drop off and collection needs.

I don’t understand this obsession with telling the OP that his situation is perfectly common, reasonable and manageable- while also being entirely his ‘fault’ (which implies there is something wrong with it somewhere). It’s very tiresome and it’s not helping the OP or anyone else. Yes the absolute letter of the law may have been followed and thus the situation may be ‘correct’ in that sense - but the phrase was only ever coined as a means to point out a false, petty-minded, overly scrupulous, self-serving approach to the rules.

OP: I have this really awkward situation that Id love to improve for my DCs- any advice?
PPs: You’re stupid and rude; the situation isn’t awkward, plus you made it awkward; other people have worse problems: shut up.
People with worse problems: We don’t mind, OPs situation sounds tough, we empathise and have some advice.
PPs: It isn’t tough, you’re stupid too: shut up.

Your youngest if they are a summer born then could start school at compulsory school age meaning the following September instead.

Nailed it, thanks!

uld adjust his work hours (he has posted several times during this thread at drop off and pick up time)

I’m posting on Mumsnet right now whilst driving a combine, I’d struggle to do the school run at the same time though.

Wiltshire

OK, so you can work while posting on MN (although how wise operating machinery while using a device is, is another matter), but my point about adjusting work hours still stands and I’m not the only one to point that out.

@Ruralparents Why on earth are you on your phone posting on mumsnet whilst in charge of a massive piece of farm machinery?! And it's almost dark too. WTAF?

Adjusting hours is one thing but the job still needs done. Two kids in schools in opposite directions just sounds like a nightmare that probably makes the school run take 2hrs a day.
Who would want to spend that commuting rather than quality time with kids?

Op I don't know if this is an affordable option or not but it might be worth your wife considering home schooling them both. Might be worth taking that idea to her boss - can't do the school run so can you get them into this school or I resign.

Seriously it's ridiculous that any one is being put in a such a stupid situation. I'm north of border so local authorities still in control, they have to either get kids into catchment school or provide transport

No one is suggesting OP takes on both school runs, or even any if they look at transport. Posters are suggesting OP alters his work hours to either do the school run for one DC or be around for transport.

Give the dude a break, Jeez!

It was a mistake to put one child in an out of catchment school, within checking the policy on siblings. You must have realised it was a risk at the time? I don't understand what it being in the 'depths on lockdown' has to do with it?