Infant School Year R - Appeal -

[vicj69]

i live in north east hampshire and we have been unsuccesful in our 1st preference infant school Year R ad its our catchment school! so were very shocked, apparantly the school is oversubscribed as their PAN is 90, we have been offered an out of catchment school which is 2.5 miles away! and offers no transport so i have no idea how i will get my child there and back every day!
i have appealed the decision and am also on the waiting list.
what do you think the chances are of being succesful with the appeal as this is my catchment school and this particular school offers transportwhich we were relying on?
i'm hoping some parents have lied about where they live so we then get their place, as i heard that people lie about where they live to get into schools and will use a relatives address, and the school place can only be confirmed if they show a recent bill with the parents name on.
the school said that the distance from school to home is measured in a straight line and where 2 or more children live in a block of flats the child on the ground floor flat takes priority to the next floor and so on! i'm on the middle floor, but there are 2 of my neighbours who have also had the same result as me so we're not at all happy to say the least!
gonna keep our fingers crossed.

"Help with transport to school

Your child will qualify for free transport or a free travel pass on public transport from near your home to and from primary school, or free transport or travel expenses on public transport from near your home to and from secondary school, if:

he attends the catchment school or one that is nearer to your home, and
*

the distance (measured by the shortest available walking route) is: more than two miles for children up to and including Year 3
*

more than three miles for children from Year 4 to Year 11, or
*

your catchment school was your first preference and it was over-subscribed. In this case, we will provide transport to the next closest school, using the distances in the previous paragraph. "

The LEA should provide a bus pass for your DC.

Double check the admission criteria also to make sure you were put on the right category.

Unfortunately, if the PAN is 90, and there were 100 in catchment children, some aren't going to get a place.

Although your catchment school may have a dedicated school bus, if you fail to get a space there and are given a school 2.5 miles away the LEA should provide transport (usually a taxi). We were offered taxi transport when we were in a similar situation.
Do you know whereabouts your child is on the 'continued interest' list. There is a lot of movement between now and September so there is time for you to be offered a place yet.