reception school places

[bakerboys]

Hi,
Will start from the beginning. I applied online for a reception place for my son. There was a drop down box which said do you have a sibling in this school Sep 2012,(ie the infant school i was applying for) with the you will be in trouble for supplying false information. So i did not tick it as my other son would be in the junior school next door. However i did state in the box underneath (other info to consider) that i had a sibling next door. The criteria for my area is children in care followed by siblings. So based on this i would of 100% got a place,as the school secretary said so also she had even contacted the council before i saw her as she noticed my son was not on list to find out why he had not .I have now been given a school 3miles away and not my chosen school as they said i should of ticked this box. Which i feel was very misleading it has also happened to at least 1 other person the exact same thing. I know of at least 6 children who were lower down on the criteria than myself and have been given a place. Surely nobody even bothered to read them properly and if these additional notes carry no weight what is the point in including such a box?. I am number 1 on the list and the other person number 2 but should no place come available do we have a strong case with the appeal panel?. I have my copy of the emailed application which clearly states my sibling case,and all the people who ticked the box surely provided false info as most who have siblings who got in where moving up to the juniors so would not be in the Infants?. You even have to apply to the juniors from the Infants. I would appreciate any help from anyone.
Thanks

Good and so they should i am fed up with the sleepless nights now worrying about this,and they deserve some of the headaches i have been feeling!. Thanks.

Its not right things need a real good shake up!! Our trouble is they built a lot of family homes and NO schools and also on low birth years took in from quite far away and now there following children are getting in on this sibling rule. Senior level is even worse. Well good luck with your efforts and will keep my fingers crossed for you. Iam a good advert for Anadin!!

This is madness the schools should not fill up places and leave small gaps rather than fill with people outside of the area! We got people 5miles away and beyond getting priority now not to mention the nightmare they cause locally when parking outside peoples houses,and school have cheek to put in newsletters about bad parking would not occur if they did not encourage people from far away. We pay a lot higher council taxes and prices for our homes with no extra benefits i am going to be so careful in 2yrs time when my middle 1 moves to join his brother at high school i will tick every box going!!. Yes i also having the benefit of a smaller waist! Council just informed me they are doing all applications online next year and how nice for them are looking at there online form because of what has happened to me and at least 1 other from my school. I have told them to post me nothing i will go and fetch it i am leaving nothing to chance!. I also inquired about how they check addresses and said they hoped the school did a proper job?? Surely councils have the best access to that info via where you pay your council tax. I know for sure the exact same thing rent for 6mths and leave or parents address!.

We moved from Edinburgh to London since my husband's job got transferred.We had applied to the LA in Redbridge listing our school choices.Our house is very near to the 2 choices we had listed.They have placed my daughters reception admission on the waiting list .The letter says that the waiting list change and they would write to us once my daughters names comes to be top of the waiting list.The letter also says that they cant take more than 30 pupils per class and that appeals may not be granted even if we have an option to do so.There is no clear indication of whether admissions would be granted.We are very concerned since we dont want our daughters education to get affected. Can we get advice on what would be best way forward?

Rathi,
Are you looking for a place in reception from September or a place in reception now moving into year 1 in September?
By law the authority have to give you a school place, whatever the year group as you have moved into the area. The problem is that this can be at any school anywhere the LA deem is suitable for your child and certainly does not have to be at the schools that you prefer.
The first thing I would establish is where on the waiting lists for the two preferred schools you are. If you are top of the list then that is good, if you are 35th on the list then that is not good news.
I would also look at all the other schools within reasonable distance of your house and see whether you think they are suitable and if so ask the LA for a place. If they are full get on the waiting lists for these schools.
The waiting list and appeals are not the same thing they are a different process. If a school is full then you can appeal for a place at the school. However if the school has classes that are 30 then the infant class size regulations come into force. That regulates all reception, year 1 and year2 classes to a maximum of 30 pupils with one school teacher and puts restrictions on what an appeal panel can award a place for at the school. In effect it is only where a mistake has been made in the admission arrangements.
So a question that you need to answer is how many pupils are being admitted to each year group at the preferred schools. You need to establish from the LA internet site what the Published Admission Number is for the schools. Many will be 30,45 or 60 when the ICS regulations will be enforced.