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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

moan about school admissions yet again!!!

16 replies

josie2312 · 20/08/2011 09:35

we went from 1st place on the reserved list to 6th and the reason for this is.............5 people have now applied that live slightly closer to the school...we are the last house for the catchement area for our school we live 3 miles away as we live in a rural area but they have given us a place at another school which is 6 miles away oh and they wont provide transport because our catchment school is closer!!! WTF are we ment to do...i work from 4am till 12pm...my husband is disabled our daughter has a physical disability (upper limb) and they are expected to walk along a busy main road with no footpath with my husband on crutches and unable to hold on to our daughter as there is no school car park and all they LA can say is it is our responsiblity to get our daughter to school!!!!....so fed up with the school business surly if its a case of too many for catchment school they should go on first come first served....so it looks like she will remain in nursery school till she is 5 and hopefully there will be a place available...stupid damn system what was wrong with the old system???...

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Lougle · 20/08/2011 09:43

Do they have a place for you at the school which is 3 miles away? If not, they have to provide transport to the one 6 miles away. If they do have a place, why haven't you taken it?

Original poster

josie2312 · 20/08/2011 17:11

we are 6th on the list for our catchment school 3 miles away we have not got a place there but they have given us a place 6 miles away, it went to appeal and we lost and they stated we will not get transport to the school 6 miles away because our catchment school is only 3 miles away but if we got into our catchment school they would provide transport!!!! thats what im no getting..

OP posts:

HooverTheHamaBeads · 20/08/2011 17:41

They must provide transport for the school place they have offered you if it is six miles away. That is my understanding but I'm sure there'll be someone more clued-up along shortly.

oneofthosedays · 20/08/2011 17:43

that does not make sense at all, i can see why you're frustrated!!!

Lougle · 20/08/2011 18:04

They HAVE to give you transport.

coccyx · 20/08/2011 19:10

They are wrong, well they would be in this area. they have to provide transport, there are no places at your catchment school!

edam · 20/08/2011 19:17

You need to get hold of the regulations, possibly from the Dept for Education website (or whatever it's called these days). Or try governor.net the site for school governors. Your councillor might help, too. If all else fails, go to the local paper - bad publicity sometimes makes councils sort their act out PDQ.

prh47bridge · 20/08/2011 22:37

Your LA is breaking the law. Unless they can offer you a place at your catchment school they MUST provide transport to the allocated school as it is clearly over 2 miles walking distance away.

If you hadn't applied for the catchment school at all or had made the allocated school a higher preference it would be different. But, as far as I can see from the information you have posted, you applied for your catchment school but there wasn't a place available. Instead they allocated a school 6 miles away. That means the LA must by law provide free transport.

Complain and keep complaining. Don't take no for an answer.

Original poster

josie2312 · 21/08/2011 09:15

thank you everyone i will be on the phone asap monday morning and i wont stop phoning untill they sort this stupid mess out xx

OP posts:

cjbartlett · 21/08/2011 09:18

Can't you appeal? I'd have thought on the grounds of disability alone?

jimswifein1964 · 21/08/2011 09:21

You mentioned that there is no school car park, hence they are expecting your dh and dd to walk in effect; but there must be somewhere to park surely, just to drop off? How do other parents and staff manage; I',m sure they dont all live in walking distance?

prh47bridge · 21/08/2011 09:22

She has appealed already. Unfortunately the appeal panel rejected the appeal.

prh47bridge · 21/08/2011 09:26

That was to cjbartlett.

And to jimswifein1964 - whether or not there is somewhere to par, the fundamental problem here is that the LA is breaking the law. They are required to provide free transport in this situation.

prh47bridge · 21/08/2011 09:26

park, not par. Oops!

clam · 21/08/2011 20:32

If they have allocated the 6 mile school to you, then they must provide transport. Which might actually work out better for you than having to make your own way to the one that is "only" 3 miles away. 3 miles is still not easy to manage.
Round here, though, the LEA will only provide transport if you accept the school they have suggested. In other words if they say "go to x 6 miles away" and you say, "actually, we'll go to y, which is still 6 miles away but we prefer it to x" you lose the right to transport. Is this what happened here?

prh47bridge · 22/08/2011 00:16

Clam - The LA would also have to provide transport to the catchment school if it is more than 2 miles walking distance away.

The approach taken by your LA sounds potentially questionable. They are certainly within their rights to refuse to provide free transport if your chosen school is further away from your home than the allocated school, even the difference is only one metre. However, if the chosen school is exactly the same distance away as the allocated school or the chosen school is closer I cannot see any justification for the LA refusing free transport.

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