Admissions technicality - help please!

[Runoutofideas]

I have posted before about my friend who has two children - one in reception going into year one in school A and one starting in reception in school B. The elder child is on the waiting list for school B and will have sibling priority from when his brother starts in Sept.

A child is leaving school B at the end of term, freeing up a place to start in Sept. This place has been offered to the child currently first on the waiting list. (My friend's son is currently second but would be first with sibling priority)

My query is - should the place have been offered to my friend's son instead - as by the time the new child takes up their place my son's friend will have sibling priority. Should he be in instead of the child offered? Hope you've managed to follow that - if you think she has grounds to argue the point, what should her next move be? Thanks very much.

PS. This is what the council website says:
"2. Siblings
Where there are siblings in attendance at the
preferred school or paired junior school and who will
still be on roll in the year of entry."

From reading what you have written I would say no, because technically the younger child is not currently in attendance at the school.

Presumably the parents of the child currently in first place on the waiting list would feel even more aggrieved if they were passed over for the place.

I dont know if there may be precendent for this working differently in practice though.

I would say the sibling rule would not kick in til the child was actually attending the school, which would be in the next school year, in September.

I think they have applied the criteria correctly, sorry.

I would agree if the new child was starting this week, but technically he is not in attendance until Sept either. Does the fact that the start date is not until Sept make everything a bit less cut and dried...?

In theory the space isn't there until Sept as the existing child hasn't left yet. (Clutching at straws...)

It would be impractical if the school were not allowed to allocate the space until the potential pupils first day of attendence (which is effectively what you would be proposing)

Yes I can see that it would be - Is this how a space would normally be allocated at this time of year then? - ie. just going into a new year? It's just that if the existing child hadn't said they were going and had just not turned up in Sept, my friend would have been first in line for a place and she's gutted!

I can understand your friends distress.

But the criteria must be applied as they stand, so they will allocate any spaces that come up between now and the new school year based on the criteria, which unfortunately means that your friend will not be given sibling priority until September, the child starts at the school. Therefore anyone who is currently above her on the lists will be allocated a place first if one comes free, until September when sibling priority would kick in, and move her up the lists.

She'll just have to hope someone else is going who hasn't officially said yet. At least now she's first on the list distance wise without waiting for the sibling link. Thanks for your help.

The admission rules are that as soon as the space becomes available then it has to be offeed to the person who is top of the waiting list. That from your post is not your friend, though they will be from the first date of the autumn term.

So I believe that the LA have acted correctly, though I would agree it is bit harsh on your friend's children