Lost place devastation!

[Elvisina]

A close friend/neighbour of mine has a 4 year old DS about the start school in Sept and she has literally spent the last 2 years visiting and investigating many schools in the fairly large city in which we live. She worked really hard to get him into an excellent local school even though it had a long waiting list and is slightly out of catchment. She was soooo delighted when her DS was eventually given a place there. Her DS has been on a couple of visits, met his new teacher and new classmates and they have bought the uniform. She then experienced problems planning for September because the school has no before school care and as a teacher she cannot be flexible about when she starts work (she would only need about 10 mins before school care as the place she teaches at is very close to this primary school). She investigated many childcare options and phoned the local education authority for advice. The person she spoke to advised her that another excellent school in the area DOES have before school care and that it wouldn't hurt for her to apply there even though it's a long shot. My friend had already known about this school's before school care but as the waiting list is so long for this school hadn't even tried there. Even though she still wanted her DS to go the the original school as she was getting desperate and knew this second school was also excellent she filled out a form last week on the off chance that there might be a late place.
When she phoned up to investigate yesterday she found out that, just as she had thought, she hadn't got a place at this second school but then was horrified when the person on the phone casually told her that she had now also lost her place at the original school. If she had had ANY IDEA that this had been a risk she would NEVER have bothered applying to this second school. She would honestly have done anything else to find an answer to the before school care problem rather than lose this place. She has now been given a place at a far less good school quite far away, with no before school care either!

She is absolutely devastated - floods of tears! Is there anything she can do? She really really feels as though she has been mislead!

She should complain long and loud. The LA is NOT allowed to do this. Once she accepted the place at the original school the LA cannot take it away simply because she has applied to another school. This is a clear breach of the Admissions Code.

She should contact the Admissions Manager pointing out that the LA has made a clear mistake and is in breach of paragraph 1.50 of the Admissions Code. She should insist that they reinstate the original place. If they refuse, she should lodge an appeal on the basis that the LA has withdrawn the place incorrectly.

The PP has given good advice, sorry to hear this, how stressful for your poor friend. Am hopeful that this will have a positive outcome by Sept for her :).

Yes, according to paragraph 1.50 of the Admissions Code the LA cannot withraw the place in your situation. You should put everything in writing. Send the letter to the chair of LA and a copy to another worker of LA. Send evrything by recorded delivery.
The person who did this should be fired.
I cannot believe that something like this can happen just when you are about to start your school.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! She is so grateful for this advice. We've had a look at the Admissions Code and can see the paragraph that says an authority can only withdraw places in very limited circumstances such as a false claim or not accepting on time. Neither of these apply. Does it actually make it clear anywhere that they can't withdraw a place because she tried to get a place elsewhere? They have told her that she 'gave up' her place when she filled out the form for the other place. But there was absolutely no consulation or warning that this might happen.

Thanks so much again! As you can imagine she is desperate!

I would go for email myself and keep copies - she needs to get this resolved quickly.

Personally I would go for officials (the Admissions Manager and the Director of Children's Services) rather than politicians (the chair) as the officials are more likely to know what they are talking about! I would start on the politicians if the officials stonewall or refuse but I would also lodge an appeal at the same time - an appeal panel should know the rules and get this sorted.

I wouldn't push for someone to be fired. That just puts people's backs up. The LA need to figure out how this has happened, who is responsible and what action they should take. That, for you and your friend, is a side issue. You need the LA to fulfil its responsibilities and reinstate the place.

I hope the LA rolls over quickly without forcing your friend to go through an appeal. This kind of thing is really unacceptable. Your friend should not have to go through this.

They are talking rubbish. She did not "give up" her place. Parents are entitled to apply to as many schools as they want and go on the waiting list for as many schools as they want. That is the law. The LA cannot withdraw a place simply because you apply for another school. Even if your friend had been offered a place at another school she was entitled to reject that place and keep the place already awarded.

Paragraph 1.50 is the only one that matters in the Admissions Code for this case. It says there are limited circumstances in which an LA can withdraw a place. It does not list applying to another school as one of those circumstances. That means they cannot withdraw the place because you apply to another school. Period.

I sincerely hope your friend is talking to someone junior who doesn't understand the rules (or is trying to cover up their mistake). This is why she needs to get to the Admissions Manager and/or the Director of Children's Services.

I wouldn't push for someone to be fired.

I would not either. It was a thought.

My second sentence in my last post should have included the words "at any time".

A further thought. If the LA insist on an appeal, that will delay things - it is likely to be after the start of the September term. In that case it might be worth seeing if the Local Government Ombudsman would get involved. They probably won't as they don't generally take school admission cases until there has been an unsuccessful appeal but, on the information you have posted, this is a clear case of maladministration. If your friend can persuade them to take the case it will probably produce a quicker result than an appeal.

Octavio09 - I didn't think you would but I know the feeling. I often want people to be fired

prh47bridge, thanks.

In my county we could not choose more than two schools. However, I have read here on MN that parents in London have been applying to more than two schools.

May be her friend needs to look at their local LA whether it is written anything about the school places withdrawal. When she talked on the phoned may be she was told that if she had applied for another place she would loose this one.

Nothing like that is mentioned in paragraph 1.50.

As her friend I would call to LA and say I want to apply to another school; is my child's place going to be withdrawn because of that or only if she/he get accepted at the new place. No need to tell the names of the schools. If the person says "yes" then she should ask where it is written. Perhaps she should talk to someone more senior than an assistant.

Thanks again. Octavia that's a good idea! I think we'll try that.

It doesn't matter what the local LA say. This is the law and the Admissions Code, which has the force of law. Nothing the LA say can get round that. Unless she told the LA she didn't want the place offered they had no right to take it away.

I agree absolutely she needs to talk to someone more senior. Whoever she is talking to at the moment clearly doesn't know the rules. Unfortunately it seems that many LAs don't know the rules - I've lost count of the number of cases we've had on Mumsnet this year where places where withdrawn.

I would also speak to your local MP and copy them in on the email/letter as they need the good publicity so will probably help. It will add some weight and then the LA know you (your friend) will not simply accept their mistake.