No school offer and moving!

[sweetpea2]

Hello to you all. I am new to this but find all the topics so heartbreaking.
Here is my story and I hope someone can help me.

MyDD did not get any school offer this year (2011) alongside 166 other children in the borough. We were waiting for the result as we wanted to move houses knowing which school our DD is going to. However we can not wait any longer so are moving anyway. The new home is closer to the school we were hoping our DD to get into- our fisrt choice.
What would this mean in terms of any waiting lists/ offeres for school placement/ appeals?
I just do not want to find out that we have lost out on placement from the waiting list just because we have moved now. I hope they will not put us at the end of the waiting lists as we are still within the same borough!
The whole system is so confusing?????

From what I understand (and there are people much better placed to answer this than me) - if you move and you are closer to the school then you will move up the waiting list. I spoke to my borough today who told me I was 9th on the waiting list and had no chance at all of getting into my preferred school ( a whole other story) and that the only way I would get my ds in is to move closer.... It's actually quite clear I think. It continues to work on a distance basis but your place on the list can move up or down depending on who may move nearer/ move away, choose other schools. Hopefully you'll be in with a better chance.... Hope it works out!

Different local authorities have different rules (and even different schools; if it is a religious school, for example). Does your LA have a helpline?

Horrible situation for you. :( I hope it works out.

It does depend on the admissions criteria - if your admissions criteria has taken all the kids who meet their first level of criteria (it tends to go 'looked after children, siblings, distance, special circumstances etc') then yes it might make a difference. But bear in mind your LEA will not consider moving you up the list until you have a signed exchange of contracts or tenancy agreement to prove your move is happening! But don't worry too much, there is a lot of movement even within the first term. I'm in the same boat, have no idea where DD will be going because we are moving but we haven't found a house yet. :(

Whoever on the waiting list lives closest to the school irregardless of when he moved to the area automatically goes on the top of the waiting list. I was told so here last year and it's part of the admissions code.

To be precise, the admissions code says that the waiting list must be ordered using the admissions criteria. So being closest to the school doesn't guarantee you will be at the head of the waiting list as there may be children with siblings at the school ahead of you, for example. However, moving closer to the school will usually move you up the waiting list once you provide whatever proof of your new address the council need.

Hope it all works out for you! My sympathies - you must be feeling so stressed on top of having to sort out a home move as well. Am hanging on to a teacher friend's advice that something usually comes up between now and September. One friend was only given her daughter's school place a week before school started.

Thank you all for the sound advice and sorry to hear there so many of us in the same boat. I find it so hard to deal with it and find it all so unfair!!!!!
all we want is an education for our children and the goverment is so lame with the service provided that if they were an independent body they would have no business from us. I would like them to be more accountable for the ammount of stress they put us all through. We all pay our taxes but get very little in return!!!!!!!!!
I will keep youposted on the outcome. and the best luck top you all.

I think blaming the government is a little unfair. Your local council is responsible for ensuring there are enough school places for all the children in the borough who want them.

True, but the responsibily is ultematly with the highest person in chrage. The director of aducation within any council reports to its chief executive and he/she reports to council cabinet who reports to the ministers and so on and on until the top =the secretary of state and ultematly the goverment and prime minister!!! Just like any corporation. It is just this one we are investing in and getting a poor service back!!!
Just my view.

I understand what you are saying but that is an argument for abolishing local democracy entirely and doesn't reflect the reality of the situation.

The local council is responsible for services in its area. The council's cabinet are answerable to the council, not to government ministers. Councillors are answerable to the electorate, not to government ministers. Government ministers cannot sack or discipline local politicians and they only have limited powers to tell local politicians what to do.

Ministers set the legal and regulatory framework within which councils must operate. If there is a problem with the framework it is fair to blame that on the government. However, if the local politicians fail to meet their responsibilities or ignore the legal and regulatory framework they are the ones who should be held accountable.

It is clearly the local council's responsibility for ensuring there are sufficient school places in their area. This has been the case for a very long time.

A large part of the current problem is that many councils were closing schools a few years ago as there was an oversupply of places. The birth rate ha risen over the last 10 years and some councils don't have enough schools to cater for their children.

Not that any of this directly helps to sort out a place for your child. I hope your council get that sorted out for you quickly.

Makes sense, thank you for your kind wisdom.