Late application for reception class - Help.

[Phil78]

Firstly, apologies if similar has been posted, I've had a quick browse but found nothing.

This is my first post and the reason I've registered, hopefully people will understand that and give me the benefit of the doubt regarding etiquette, but I think time is of the essence here.

Back Story:

My ex-partner and I seperated when our daughter was 2, unfortunately my ex decided it would be better to return to her home town to raise our daughter as she had more of a support network there and that's where her family are. In the time since we have maintained a friendly and close relationship and I'm getting to see her regularly, we still spend plenty of time together as a family and all in all things are going great for us all.

My daughter is in Nursery and is due to start school and join her reception class in September.

As we are seperated the school application forms were sent to my ex and she managed to forget to fill them out until two weeks after the application close date.

She lives opposite her first choice School, so in a panic, went to speak to somebody there, I believe it was the school receptionist who informed her that due to late application it is highly unlikely that she will recieve a place. The selection criterea apparently favours accepting children with siblings already at the school, then children who live nearby.

My question is the obvious one, what, if anything, can I do from this point to speak to the relevant people (council, school headteacher) to see if there is any possibility that her application be considered disregarding the lateness of submission?

I undestand how unfair it sounds to ask to be considered ahead of people who adhered to the process, but I feel that I'd be letting my daughter down terribly if I didn't at least try to look into this.

I can't and won't put strain on the otherwise good relationship with her mother by falling out about this but in truth I'm devestated for my daughter that she should suffer. She struggled to fit in at her nursery and all of her classmates are going to be joining this school too.

Thanks in advance for any information or help, and thank you for taking the time to read.

The first thing you need to do, if you haven't already, is to go through all the information on the council's website. You can also contact the admissions department (details will be on the website). I don't think the school are the right people to approach tbh.

fwiw (different circs though) I was told by a school receptionist not to waste any of our three options on their school as we had no chance of getting a place living where we did. Turned out to be bollocks.

Even you're a late application and don't get this school - as you live across the road you'll be top of the waiting list.

Which means you could get a place in it very quickly. Even before Sep.

I think that you should contact your LEA and if your ex hasn't filled in a form then do so asap.
I guess that the best case scenario is that she is top of the waiting list for the local school and that she gets a place quickly.

If your dd is allocated a different school on allocation day then keep an open mind and visit the allocated school. Hopefully it won't be too far away .

Like everyone else has said - you'll be top of any waiting list should it come to that. If you live in an area where people come and go a lot, then you'd probably find that you get a place for your daughter before September starts.

You're right - no point in falling out over this, but understand how frustrating to be in this unnecessarily nail-biting situation.

This must happen a lot though - you won't be on your own

Good luck!

yes go to the local council website.

Also contact your local councillor at ONCE.

The school will almost certainly have no role in the admission process.

if the school is oversubscribed and you make a late application - (Which is what will happen if the attempt you are making to have a special case made to have it considered "on time" fails) Then you will not be offered a place initially but be put on the waiting list. I would then expect (but check this -check everything) that the children on the waiting list will be put in order not when they join it, but the normal criteria for the school. So siblings first then distance. If she lives as close as you say she will be very near the top of the list and would have a good chance, in the end, of getting a place.

Yes, you will be treated as a late application.

Yes, if your first choice school is fully subscribed from on time applicants, you'll be unlikely to get a place in the first round.

Yes, there is often a lot of movement, even before the start of term. So do make sure you get her on the waiting list if you are allocated elsewhere. There is a good chance that living so close you'll go to the top of the waiting list.

Do however accept a place somewhere. You could always defer entry to avoid shuttling her in and out of schools, but would you be able to keep her at the same nursery?

I am afraid that the answer is that you can do nothing that will have any impact on the situation. I am sure that you can appreciate that if schools and LAs started to move away from the rules then there would be chaos very quickly. There is a small period of grace after the cut off date to allow for families moving into an area but my understanding from your post is that your ex has been living in the town for a while, so there is no real reason for late application.

As a late application, the application will only be considered after all on time applications. You will be offered a school but it will be at the nearest school that has places available after allocations to on-time applications.

The person your ex spoke to at the school should not be making the kind of pronouncements that she did, they have absolutely no idea what the level of applications is and whether they will be over-subscribed. History may say that will probably be the case but there is no certainty. After the initial allocation of places, parents have a period of time to confirm the place or refuse it and as soon as any place becomes available then the admission authority will offer it to the next person on the admission criteria order. As soon as the initial allocation is complete those that were late applications also come back into the equation. Normally siblings will have registered on time, so if your ex lives opposite the school there is a reasonable chance that they will be first on the waiting list as they live so near.

The only advice I can give is that your ex accepts what school is initially offered as a fall back position and then you cross everything that somebody turns down an offered place and that you are the top of the waiting list. There is no way of knowing how much movement there is on waiting lists between different schools but you will have from April to August to hope something comes up.

You can also appeal for a place but i am afraid that forgetting to fill the form in and then arguing any other school is too far away and all your daughters friends are going to the school is highly unlikely to be successful.

Admissions are dealt with centrally not up to the school. Contact the Local Authority today and ask what you need to do to apply and either your ex or you do it today.

If it is a faith school it may have additional requirements eg to file a baptismal certificate or letter from the vicar.

Check the policy on late applicants so you know what you are dealing with.

If you are alloctaed a different school check the policy with wait lists etc.

Don't panic!

Most children attend reception but School (or Home educating) isn't compulsary until term after she is 5.

Your child will remain eligible to the 15 hours funded at nursery until the end of the term she is 5. If you go down this route make sure the nursery know she will still be attending.

Agree completely with Admission. The only thing I would clarify is that your child's position on the waiting list is not affected by the late application. Your position on the list does not depend on when you applied. It is determined entirely by the school's admission criteria.

But I'm afraid, as Admission says, there is nothing you can do to have your application treated as on time. It is late and there is no valid reason for it being late. It must therefore be dealt with according to the rules for late applications. Sorry.

Thank you all for your contributions, gives me plenty to think about and some great information as to what my options are and where to focus my attention.

Feel much better for just having somewhere to stress out!

Thanks again.

we were late admission as we moved back from o'seas, and another time late admission as we moved area with work in the summer.

both times we applied in the late round for september start. the first time we were lucky and allocated a place. the second time we were waiting list. six weeks before the end of the summer term the ht called around the parents who had places but had not confirmed taking them up (she even went and door-stepped a family who were refusing to answer her calls) and we were offered a place after that. so both times for late applications we had a place by septmeber anyway.

it isn't a guarantee, but a lot of peoples plans change during a year, and as long as your application is in and you have confirmed you want a place on the waiting list, if she lives opposite then there's a pretty good chance she'll get one soon enough.

(the six weeks was just because this is the max amoutn of time that a school can hold a place by the way - no toher rationale)