Is the distance to the allocated primary a good enough basis for an appeal?

[leothelioness]

We moved to Wokingham a month ago and I filled in applications for school places for my 2 dc. My younger ds who will start Reception has been allocated a place in the designated area school which is great but my older ds has been allocated a place 5 miles drive away as the council claims it has no other places.
There are atleast 12 schools which are closer to our house than this one am I right to think that there must be a place available somewhere closer. Accepting this place would mean me driving 20 miles every day for the school run for just one child not to mention the time and petrol costs.

There may not be a place at any schools closer. Sorry but South East schools are becoming increasingly crowded. Surrey for example had something like 350 more applicants than places this year.

Get yourself put on the waiting list for any schools closer to which you would be happily send your older DS. I assume you have already put him on the waiting list for the school your younger child will be starting.

Is your older DS going into years 3 or above? If so it might be worth appealing, as class sizes can go above 30 for this age.

i would ask to go on waiting list for local school. another reason for us to move to oz. local schools have to accept local students at the cost of those not in area. they don't seem to have a problem as there are many schools in the area and don't have half the amount of children

could you ask for the council to fund transport to allocated school as you can not afford to take dc to school. it's not your fault theres no space at local school so why should you be put out

My DS would go into year 2. It said on the council website that they have enough places for all the children in the borough but obviously only in certain schools. The schools I am trying to get in to are not even oversubscribed but all seem to be full for that year group.
We would not qualify for funded transport ben but it will be really difficult to get him to and from school once I start work in a
couple of months as my mum looks after the kids and does not drive.
I am waiting for a call back from the council to let me know if there is anything closer as I have not yet accepted the place but will have to if nothng else is available and then ask to be on the waiting list for nearby schools

Not sure what your older son is in terms of age but I guess that he is still at primary school level.
Firstly as he has been allocated a school 5 miles away by the LA they have a responsibility for travel to school, so you should be asking long and loud how they are to get to the school.
Secondly you should be asking to be on the waiting list for the preferred local school and then asking to go to appeal. In legal terms the panel has to accept that 5 miles is still an acceptable level of travel, assuming that the LA are providing such transport, though many members of panels will have misgivings over such a distance. However the fact that a sibling is in the school will have some effect potentially on the panels thinking. By going to appeal you will also tend to force the LAs hand in finding a more appropriate nearer school.
If however your elder son is at secondary school well I dont believe you have much of a case as 5 miles will not be consiered excessive.

He is not secondary he is 6 years old and will go in to Year 2. I am still waiting for council to call me back as I seem to be unable to get anyone on the phone whenever I call.

its not grounds for appeal.

There will be a statement in the LEA admissions (or school admissions if voluntary aided) that states they do not hold any places for children moving into the area. Im afraid all you can do is go on the waiting list for the school of your choice. Then you will (or wont) be allocated a space in that school against the admissions criteria for that school, should another child leave.

I would write a nice letter to the head/s of each school you favour, telling them where you live and asking them to contact you should any spaces become available. Sometimes people dont turn up and have moved or got a space in another school on first day back.

However, as its a SATS year, I would consider very carefully moving a year 2 child mid year.

See here - as your child is 6, he is entitled to free school transport as he has to travel over 2 miles.

Thanks Shongololo I will wait to see what the council says before making any decisions as they have promised to call me back later today.

I work in a Wokingham school and we are not allowed to contact parents on a waiting list directly to tell them we have space - it has to go through the LA.

There was a massive demand for places this year, and three schools have had to take extra classes; at least one of them will be in a temporary classroom - this was reception of course, but other years have also been under pressure.

Thanks Rusty I think you also helped me out on my house hunting thread in Wokingham :)
Well the council lady has said to wait and has added DS1 on the waiting list for the local school so hopefully something comes up and she also said we could appeal the decision and would have a decent case.

They are supposed to offer you a place at the nearest school with a vacancy, and as this is an infanats admissison the statutory limit of 30 per class will apply. You can ask them to confirm that the nearer schools have no spare places, but it doesn't sound to me as if they have done anything wrong.

You can join as many waiting lists as you wish. Presumably, your older son will, as a sibling, be very near the top of the list for your younger son's school. You could, as has been suggested, appeal. Again, there don't seem to be any compelling grounds for appeal - nothing has been done wrong or (presumably) against the provisions of the admissions code - but if you can highlight any reasons why your older son will be disadvantaged by not being in the same school as his brother (and the reasons should be about your son rather than about your personal circumstances) then you may find a sympathetic panel.

infants admission

I would put your name down on the waiting list for the nearest 3 schools that you are happy for your eldest to go to, so that you are aware of any places becoming available.

I would also get in a written request for a place at the preferred school also confirming that if there is no place available that you wish to go to appeal. There is a fair bet that the school will be subject to infant class size regs, but there is no reason to wait. You might as well go for it and just plead for a place on the basis of the distance that he will have to travel and that he needs to be with his younger sibling. It just may be that a panel will, despite the infant class size regs, believe that 5 miles is too far to go. Given that your son would be an excepted pupil for the full year and in year 3, the school can have 31 in the class, you might find a sympathetic panel.
I would certainly be minded to believe that 5 miles was too far for a year 2 pupil and be asking the LA some hard questions about what alternate schools are available.

Make sure you keep your son's name on the waiting list. With our Lea you have to re-express your intention to stay on the waiting list every half term.

I know someone whose twin dcs are in a similar position (same academic year and same town). They moved into the area around Easter and her older (then Yr 3) dd got a place in her catchment junior school but the infants have been provided with a taxi to get them across town. For next year she will apply to the junior where she has a high chance of getting places as they are in catchment and can take larger classes than infant. For some reason your older child's year is a bulge year in this area.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have put DS1 on the waiting list for the nearby schools so hopefully something comes up soon but until then we will have to manage with the commute also DS2s start date is Jan 2011 as he is one of the younger ones so I don't have to worry about clashing school starts just yet.