Hello all!
I am here to kindly ask your opinion/expertise on the following: our family has moved to Cambridge and we have two children; one was given a school place at our school of choice and will start reception this year; the other one needed an in year transfer and was not given a place at our catchment school (where his sibling got a place) but instead he was given a place at a school considerate "inadequate" by Ofsted.
We are obviously not happy with the situation, specially because we have chosen our address in Cambridge close to our school of choice because it had (and has) places available at my older child year group. School say they have places but due to a child with special needs they are not taking new children. School is also aware that a sibling was offered a place, but said no to my other child. We have appealed to the decision and we were given a date to attend the appeal panel.
Should we take someone to this appeal panel? What are the chances my child would be accepted, given our situation? Is it a bad start to have to challenge the school before my children start? Any info is very welcome.
My older child is confused and upset that his brother has a place at the school and that we can't tell him the same; we try not to go into details, but the reality is that he's keen to know which school he is going to and why he is not going to the same school as his brother... small things like buying uniforms are now a source of anxiety to my son and all the family.
Thank you!