Nursery admissions - is this right? What to do?

[StarshitTerrorise]

We applied to 3 nurseries. The council and individual schools state that offers will be made by the 11th May.

We have one offer already, but they want us to CONFIRM by the 11th May. This will mean not knowing if we have been offered our first choice as well as preventing us from visiting each of the nurseries prior to choosing. (We moved day before deadline so had to fill in the applications for the three local without seeing them).

Anyone have a clue what is going on?

Bump!

Can you not confirm the place, then if you get your first choice, decline the place?

Hmm, I'm not sure. Won't my accepting of the place wipe out the other offers?

Say yes to everything, with gusto.

I have accepted a place without seeing the nursery and I have arranged to look around next week.

As blondie says, decline the ones you don't want.

No , it won't wipe out the others as you apply direct to each nursery rather than through LEA admissions as per reception.

Oh Blimey. If all parents say yes to everything and then decline later isn't it paperwork he'll for all the schools?

Hell!

The LA publication states all offers to be made by 11th May and then you have 2 weeks to reply, and yet this letter asks me to confirm by 11th May?

Mighty confused.

Suspect foul play too as we are in a tribunal situation with a sibling the LA WANT to place at school attached to offered nursery, but I could be being paranoid.

But still, why not stick to published process?

Not sure- all the LEAs I know treat nursery applications separately and do not process them centrally.

You may be better off contacting the LEA directly; in the meantime, try and visit the nursery.

No, I understand that, but this school has been consulted with regards to placing my DS there and pulling him out of his independent placement. Given I mentioned him in my aPplications for dd and his school etc I'd be surprised if the HT and Govs 'hadn't' linked the two.

It really is very odd.

A polite note explaining that because of your circs youre unable to confirm or refuse earlier than the previously published date. Gives you another fortnight until you've heard from the other two and had a chance to look around them.

It's quite possible they are being helpful because they accept dd has extra social/family complications and so have given you a pre-offer of the place before they allocate the spaces to the normal queue. Was this your first ranked of the stated preferences?

Maria you could well be right of course. They have given us the most popular time slots too and it is an excellent provision on paper. I'm pretty happy with what they are offering overall and tbh, with sibling policy we're lucky to get a state placement at all.

But, you know, wired things happened with old LA and I know they and new have been 'talking'.

No, you don't get to express a priority for a nursery, so there is no way they'd know they weren't the preferred but we did explain our social need for a state placement although provided no evidence (didn't really need to as school have been consulted with wrt Ds' so paperwork is in their hands even if not supplied by us)