(DERBYSHIRE AREA) How to get my child into another school when I can't physically get them to school and no other school will accept them?

[Throwaway4444]

Recently, we've had to move area because of an abusive relationship I was in with my kids' dad. I can't drive because of my epilepsy so I can't get them to their old school.

However, I'm not able to get them into any schools around them as they didn't tell us about the appeal date for one of them (and did it without me being present), and the other ones we live too far away / aren't in the catchment area for.

They're threatening to fine me if my kids miss any more days off school but I just don't know what to do. Is there anything I'm able to do or am I just going to have to put up with the fines?

Sorry to hear about the reasons for your move.

I don’t know anything about Derbyshire but where we live, the council has to offer you a place at a school, and if the school they allocate you is further away than anyone could reasonably walk, they have to provide transport. Round where we live that means a free bus pass for the local bus as our nearest school is about 4.5 miles away.

yeh surely the LA has to offer you a place at a local school. How far away is their current school? Is it possible by public transport? Is this secondary or primary?

I am in Derbyshire if that helps; do you want to say whereabouts (understand if not)? I may be able to suggest some possible schools?

@Throwaway4444 if you believe your appeal was not conducted correctly you can complain to the local government ombudsman. (However, it sounds unlikely that they didn't tell you about the date - perhaps the email went to your spam folder and/or the postal letter went to your old address).

That said, a parent who can't drive would not normally be strong enough grounds to win an appeal - lots of parents can't drive. Why can't your child travel to school independently?

Have they offered you any school at all? Have you explained your situation to the local admissions team and asked their advice?

Yes!

This has happened to me. I moved into Derbyshire with two children.

One went straight into year seven, no problems. The youngest they could not find a place for. They would not tell me where there were schools with places, I had to contact each school directly. They were no spaces within a 30 minute drive so I started to appeal.

Admissions were spectacularly unhelpful they kept saying things like oh yes Janet will get back to you after she’s come back from lunch and when she didn’t, I would ring up and they wouldn’t be a Janet at all.

They kept telling me people were going on holidays and I wasn’t able to get any information about appeals or where there was a space or anything. I was appealing, waiting for the appeal for a month being successful and then moving onto a different school.

in the end, I got some advice here on Mumsnet about the fair access protocol and I talked about that in my next appeal and I was given a place. The whole thing was a total nightmare and it took months to sort out.

One of the problems is that you can’t come off the school roll At your previous school until you accept a place and on the register at a new school. It’s your responsibility to get your child to that other school even if it’s hundreds of miles away. This didn’t happen to me as I had moved here from another country (I am British we have been living in another country for work reasons).

If they genuinely failed to notify you of the date and time of the hearing, you have grounds for having your appeal heard again.

What year is your child in? How far is it to their old school?

Has your application been discussed under the fair access protocol? Have they offered a place but you can't do the transport? What distance is the offered school and what year group? (different mileage will apply to primary or secondary)
Your local authority have to find a space somewhere, within a reasonable distance BUT it doesn't have to be any of your preferences. If you've refused places that have been offered, then the local authority doesn't have an obligation to find an alternative.

@Lightuptheroom she won"t currently be eligible for FAP because she is still registered at a school in the same local authority.

@clusta yes she would.. if she contacts the FAP team and explains circumstances they can discuss as an exceptional case (I'm a fair access officer in another county so the caveat is that Derby might not do that!)

Derbyshire is absolutely massive.

https://observatory.derbyshire.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/reports/maps/district_map_OS_background.pdf