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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

my daughter hasnt been give a school yet

60 replies

arjuna · 01/09/2011 22:28

dear friends could you please advise me what i should do as my 4 year old daughter hasnt been offer any school yet out of 6 school choosen. all her nursery friends has been offered a school so she is really feeling neglected.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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TheMitfordsMaid · 01/09/2011 22:33

Have you rung the admissions team in your local council? Worth making a nuisance of yourself, I think.

Original poster

arjuna · 01/09/2011 22:39

yes i have. i call them every day and visit them once a week and they still say i have to wait. its very frustration not knowing when my daughter is starting school.they should be able to atleast offer me 1 school out of six.

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Original poster

arjuna · 01/09/2011 22:43

first choice school is 5minutes walking distance from my house.

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yellowsubmarine41 · 01/09/2011 22:49

How stressful for you. I thought that LEAs HAD to offer a place to all applicants, albeit not necessarily at one of the preferences stated if others are placed ahead aka admission criteria.

When you say that 'they still say I have to wait', what do you mean - what are they asking you to wait for?

Where are you on the waiting lists and what exactly did the allocation letter you were sent in April say?

Someone more knowledgeable than me will be along soon and hopefully can offer advice.

Original poster

arjuna · 01/09/2011 23:10

. the last round was 30/8/11. i don't know how long do i have to wait so my daughter could go to school as i don't want her to miss out on anything. yes i am still in waiting list on chosen school as none of them offered a place for her. i would be grateful even if she could get a school.

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yellowsubmarine41 · 02/09/2011 07:07

Have they not offered you any school at all? That's a breach of the admissions code, I believe.

mankyscotslass · 02/09/2011 07:10

Did you get offered a place, not one of your choices, and refuse it?

Have you appealed for any of your chosen schools?

How many waiting lists are you on?

What place on the lists are you? Bear in mind that your place will go up and down dependent on whether someone moves closer to school you want than you are.

My understanding is that the LEA are under an obligation to offer you a place at school, but not necessarily at any of your choices if other children fit higher criteria and fill all the spaces. Then the LEA would offer you the next nearest school with places.

Keep contacting the LEA, people often don't bother to let them know they don't need a place and just don't turn up at school, so things can move around a fair bit when terms starts, depending on your area.

Original poster

arjuna · 02/09/2011 08:20

no, i haven't yet offered any place. if they did i would have happily accepted even it wasn't the choice. when i went to visit LEA i have been told that by law my daughter could stay home until she is 5yrs old is that true? she turns 5 in January 2012. me and my daughter is feeling very neglected by LEA.

currently i am on 6 waiting lists.

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Lougle · 02/09/2011 09:06

I'd be surprised if your DD was feeling 'neglected by the LEA' at the age of 4

Having said that, you are not unreasonable to be feeling that she is being neglected.

Have you, or can you, appeal for one of the 6?

prh47bridge · 02/09/2011 09:25

It is true that your daughter does not have to start school until the start of term following her 5th birthday. If her birthday is in January she doesn't have to start until Easter.

However, that is beside the point. The LA is clearly in breach of the Admissions Code. Your daughter has the right to start school this month. The LA is required to offer you a place somewhere. It doesn't have to be at one of your preferred schools but they have to come up with something.

Things you could do:

Speak to the Admissions Manager and point out that they are in breach of the Admissions Code as they have not offered a place.

Threaten to refer the situation to the Local Government Ombudsman and be prepared to go through with the threat if it doesn't have the desired effect.

Appeal for the schools for which you applied if you have not already done so. You will have missed the deadline for appeals but that doesn't matter. You still have the right to appeal. Appealing may push the LA into finally offering you a place. If they still don't offer a place it will increase your chances of winning your appeal.

Good luck.

admission · 02/09/2011 11:31

Have to entirely agree with PRH here, this is completely unacceptable practice by the LA and they are simply relying on people not knowing the law to be able to bambozzle them into not making a fuss.
It is now time to make a fuss arjuna and insist they allocate a place at a school within say 7 days or you refer them to the LGO.

Original poster

arjuna · 02/09/2011 21:34

i have previously spoken to LEA regarding appealing but again said that i have to have strong reasons to appeal such as disability. is that correct? i haven't appeal for any schools yet. is it a good idea to phone individual schools at this stage. as she is been going to the local nursery since she was 15months i don't know if it is good for her to stay home until she turns 5.

thank you very much for all your advice and suggestions. they are very informative and has given me a hope

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maree1 · 02/09/2011 22:07

Write to your MP. Urgently (They are not all on holiday.) And watch the process speed up.

Lougle · 02/09/2011 22:24

Not having any school is a very good reason for appeal!!!

prh47bridge · 02/09/2011 23:55

Whoever said that to you about appealing is talking rubbish. Indeed, if the LA said that to you that is potentially a further breach of the relevant codes. Whilst disability can sometimes give you a strong case it is by no means the only way you can win an appeal. One of the ways to win is to show that the LA has failed to comply with the Admissions Code. Your LA has indeed failed to comply with the Code so you have a good case, although if you did appeal I would expect that an offer would magically appear.

Stick to the LA rather than individual schools. The LA is responsible for co-ordinating admissions. They are the ones who have broken the Admissions Code, not the schools. If the schools concerned are LA schools (i.e. not faith schools, foundation schools or academies) they can't help you anyway. All places for those schools are offered by the LA.

I think your main line of attack should be to speak to the Admissions Manager, tell them that they are in breach of the Admissions Code as they have not offered you a place and give them 7 days to come up with one or you will refer the matter to the LGO. I would also appeal for at least your first choice school.

Don't let them push you around. The law is on your side.

Original poster

arjuna · 03/09/2011 23:51

thankyou very much for all your suggestions and advice. i am glad that i joined mumsnet. first thing on monday morning i will be speaking to LEA regarding appealing for the first choice school. today i have also written it to my MP. hopefully that should help me towards finding school for my daughter.

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prh47bridge · 04/09/2011 09:01

Please also insist on speaking to the Admissions Manager and tell them you will refer the matter to the LGO unless they come up with a place within 7 days. That should get you a place much quicker than appealing or writing to your MP.

Cinnamon06 · 05/09/2011 01:26

oh well...i'm not surprised if it's haringey....we have been given a school place and then found out that it was taken away.... so I will follow your advices to see if something changes for us too... I feel quite sad and very powerless in all this...

prh47bridge · 05/09/2011 10:11

Cinnamon06 - Please tell us more about them taking your place away. There are only very limited grounds on which they can do this. If they took the place away incorrectly you have an excellent case for appeal. Indeed, you are in an even stronger position than Arjuna in that, assuming they haven't offered you another place, Haringey are guilty of multiple breaches of the Admissions Code.

Helen42 · 08/09/2011 05:14

I can fully empathise as we are in the same position and I can't sleep over it! Have you had any luck yet in being allocated a place, and do you have any tips? I understand that you can apply for other schools at this point and Haringey should advise which schools still have places available, or you can stay on the waiting list until your child is five (I think the first her after their fifth birthday)

prh47bridge · 08/09/2011 12:27

Helen42 - Have you been offered a place which you rejected? If so you are in a weak position. However, on the assumption that no offer was made, if your child is 4 the LA is required to come up with an offer NOW, not wait until the term after the child's 5th birthday. The place doesn't have to be at one of your preferred schools, of course.

Kick up a fuss. Tell them that they have 7 days to come up with an offer or you will refer them to the Local Government Ombudsman as Admission suggested earlier on this thread. You can also appeal for the schools for which you applied.

Original poster

arjuna · 09/09/2011 10:27

hi prh47bridge

since i have written to my MP. he has actually replied back saying will look into my case and will be solving it within 3 weeks.

i haven't still gave up on calling LEA every day however i am unsuccessful to speak to the manageress as she seem a very busy lady. at this stage they haven't came up with any school yet.
bad news is my daughter is in no 32 in waiting list for her first choice. should i loose hope on sending to my first choice? i really want her to attend the first chosen school. it is the only school which is in our catchment area and is in 5minutes walking distance. Shall i accept any random school they offer me or shall i wait? please advice me what shall i do?

OP posts:

prh47bridge · 09/09/2011 11:19

Good luck to your MP with that timescale. He may achieve it but I wouldn't hold my breath.

If you are 32nd on the waiting list for your chosen school at this stage it is highly unlikely you will get a place there unless they decide to add a class to Reception, allowing them to take another 30 children.

When the LA comes up with an offer I would strongly recommend that you accept it. Once they have made an offer they have fulfilled their legal duty. If you reject the offer they don't have to find an alternative place for you, so you would be hoping for a place through the waiting lists which may take a very long time.

If you have been unable to get through to the Admissions Manager I think you should write to her. Email will do. Tell her she has 7 days to come up with an offer or you will report them to the Local Government Ombudsman.

jintygeorge · 11/09/2011 22:17

Arjuna - it may not make you feel any better, but we are in the same position as you. My DD should have started school last week but we have not been offered a place by the LEA. We too have a school 5mins away. It completely breaks my heart - and it is tough because everyone I know is talking about their first week at school right now, we were at a party on Saturday and it was awful, for me and for my DD... and we are about to spend the weekend with my brother and his DS started last Monday, it's going to be really hard. I have written to the MP twice, and complained to the LEA twice - nothing seems to have had any effect so far. I have written to the LGO to see what grounds we would have for a complaint there, and I'm waiting to hear back. I don't know if it is worth an appeal, but I will do anything to resolve this. I'd love to hear if you get anywhere - it will give me some hope!! Good luck. x

jintygeorge · 11/09/2011 22:19

I've been ringing the LEA daily in the hope that there will be some movement - we did go from 36 to 35 on one of the lists at a school that is about 10mins walk away from where we live.

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