Reception Class Appeal - Need help!

[SonalK]

I have lodged an appeal for reception class for my lil daughter on the basis of facilities provided by the school.

Situation is: I did not get 1st NOR 2nd preference....directly 3rd (Still better of than those who havent even got any stated preferred option.). I have been rejected first two preferences based on oversubscription.

We are both full time working parents and at the moment its extremely difficult alter our office times extensively to strike a balance between work and school runs. Our preferred 1st choice of school provides breakfast and after school club which is perfect and helps working parents like us where we can drop our child early and pickup after work. The school that we have got (3rd choice) though it is nearest to our home it doesnt provide an after school club which puts us under immense pressure to find a childminder etc... I have also been ringing a lot of childminders and all of them are not able to accomodate. I am really in a fix.

What I dont understand is why do the council asks us to state preference when they want to do what they think is right based on unreasonable laws!! Council has no idea what the personal circumstances of a family are and why have they chosen a particular school as 1st or 2nd preference...why do they ask us to provide additional comments while applying for a school place....just so they can ignore and do THEY think is right?

Instead of encouraging parents to strike a balance between school and work and helping them out...are they expecting us to leave our jobs and stay home and look after kids and NOT have a quality life. It's sad to see this happen in a country like this!

Anyway, I have appealed with the slightest hope that things will work my way, I wanted some help from any one out there so I can prepare for the hearing and anything that can make my case stronger?

Thanks.

The last government set a target that by 2010 all primary schools would offer access to childcare from 8am to 6pm for 48 weeks a year. The school could provide this themselves, through the LA or in partnership with local providers. However, if consultation showed that this childcare was not needed the school did not have to provide it.

My local primary school, for example, has clubs before and after school during term time plus some kind of holiday provision. These clubs meet on school premises but are provided independently of the school and parents have to pay if their children attend these clubs. They have limited places available so only around 10% of the children in the school can make use of them. This provision meets the target set by the last government.

I agree completely with roadkillbunny on her views on this. I also sympathise with your situation

In my local school the school itself runs the afterschool club. It is not allowed to be subsidised from the school budget. If sufficient demand wasn't there we simply couldn't run it.

We get complaints about the cost, we have to charge for whole sessions (3.30 until 6.00) as we have to pay staff for those sessions. Places are limited.

People, not everyone, but a surprising number, seem to think because it is attached to school it should be free or minimal cost, plus places should be available on demand at a moment's notice. It is not possible to keep everyone happy.

@roadkillbunny: Apologies, I think the conversation took a bit of a diversion. Let me clarify, I dont really mean that working parents should be given preference...ofcourse non-working parents may also have some other issues which may lead to them wanting the same school...working non-working was just a top of my head example.....what I was trying to say is.....everyone has a right to choose the way they want to lead a quality life. If parents have concern about allocation and if it would affect their personal circumstances in a big way then they should be given a chance to voice their feelings and councils should do something about it...

I find it very strange that a body like council who has no clue of anyone's family circumstances decides a school for you and you are left with nothing to do but accept it...We are an average middle class family and cannot afford private schooling. I know of so many people just move into the area within catchment just so they get the school place...is this fair? My daughter has been attending full time nursery since she was 8months old....so you can imagine how much are we spending each month, we struggle each month and we used to think that once she starts schooling it will all be fine...but it doesnt look like...we have no quality life atm whatever we earn is going in bills...taxes and childcare costs...and mortgage...!

I am not expecting anything from the appeal anyway....I have ONLY appealed so that I am able to voice my opinion and feelings to the council...even though it may fall on deaf ears!! :)

Whilst I sympathise, the LA is not permitted to make subjective judgements in the way you propose. The system is designed to be as objective as possible. About the only room for subjective judgement is when the school has an admissions category for special medical or social needs.

Voicing your opinion and feelings to the council will have no effect whatsoever (indeed, the chair of the appeal panel may not allow you to do so as it is not relevant). The council must obey the Admissions Code. This does not allow them to do what you want. If you want it to change you will need to persuade the government but I doubt you will succeed.

Yes, agree. I have been looking for a childminder for a 2months now...I have rung nearly 20 odd childminders in my area who are not able to accomodate due to existing commitments...so they either have children from other schools hence cant be at two places at the same time or they want someone full time OR xyz reasons...I never thought finding a chilminder can be so difficult...hence my frustration...if I was able to find a childminder I would have probably kept shut and relied on the waiting list.

The real problem in my view is not the way admissions are administered. It is that we don't have enough primary schools. We have slightly more primary school pupils than we did 30 years ago but 3,800 fewer primary schools. Just looking at the last 12 months, the number of pupils has risen by 77,000 but the number of primary schools has fallen by 66. The pupils per school ratio is the highest it has been since at least 1977 and the number of children in infant classes of more than 30 has doubled in the last 5 years.

Over the next 6 years the forecasts suggest the number of primary school pupils will go up 100,000 a year. It is, of course, better in some areas than others. Roughly half of all LAs already have enough spare capacity to cope with the next 6 years. But we need to be opening around 160 new schools a year for the next 4 years - that is 2 per year for each of the 82 LAs that doesn't have enough spare capacity.

If you live in an area where there is some spare capacity you are more likely to have a genuine choice. However, if you live in an area where there is a shortage you don't really have any choice at all.

@tiggytape: I have already...got a few names but they cannot take any more children.

@prh47bridge: Correct...completly agree with you or they could increase the number of classes as opposed to just one class with 30 children.

Choosing subjectively would surely just create a bias toward the articulate,
who knew how to word their applications to get what they wanted. It would end up more unfair.

Re wrap-around childcare. I am a governor at a primary school and our school has a breakfast club. It is run directly by the school by a TA and a LTSA and starts at 8am. There are very limited places mind you.

Anyway we looked into providing an after school club but were told that for some reason ( which I can't remember?!) the school could not run an after school club directly. It would have to be a separate identity potentially using a school building or maybe the on-site Children Centre. The reason it never got off the ground is that we as a Governing Body were told we would have to run it ourselves. As in deal with setting it up, employing staff, insurance, finances, legal issues, day-to-day management. Obviously as a group of unpaid volunteers with no relevant experience who already give a lot of time and effort to the school we felt this was an ask too far. So no after school club, which is a real shame.

Anyone whose school does have an after school club do you know how it is run?

Hairytoe I believe the two schools nearest me , one uses a local sure start centre which is quite small and the other uses their main building but an outside company runs it.

I didn't know about the rule you mentioned but it would make sense of the above!

Sons if they add a bulge class then that has a knock on effect for following years meaning more places go to siblings. If they have to plan to expand from eg two form to three form entry then space for three more classrooms is needed (and knock on to primary if any feeder school set up). I think this is fine in principle but the school might not have the space.

PRH that is shOcking about pupil numbers I didn't know that!

sonsitis it does sound like you have a bit of a problem for september but I must say that your thread has narked me off a bit! I do work so does DH but the whole idea that working parents should get priority is bonkers as explained by other posters.

I know you are blaming the council for your situation but really:

-did you research/understand the admission criteria as your post suggests that you didn't

The two schools in debate here is the one I have been offered which is 0.31 miles and the one which was my first preference is 0.36 miles...they are both 0.3miles from home (schoolsfinder.direct.gov.uk/)...then why wasnt I offered the my first preference?...0.05 difference?

-if having after school/before school care was absolutely essential then why didn't you make sure that all your preferences had this even if pref 3 was a school perhaps further away than the one you chose

-you started looking for childcare 2 months ago - application forms were submitted in January - you left it late - some parents will have sorted childcare a year in advance. I got my second choice but had already sorted a childminder for that possibility. and yes I had an option for my third choice because like you I really really need after school care! Do you have a plan for school hols?

I appreciate that you didn't anticipate getting your third choice (see above re didn't understand the admission criteria) but you were totally unprepared for that option are now in a predicament. blame the council all you want but you chose it as one of your options! If you look at some of the threads on here you will see the amount of time and energy that people put into researching school options etc - in some cases moving house etc.

anyway - some practical suggestions:

-put up a notice at the school 'childminder wanted'
-try this website www.childcare.co.uk/
-try local nanny/childcare agency

good luck - start thinking about the hols, thats your next issue!

hairytoe the GB, of which I am a member runs ours. It was originally set up as a private enterprise, along with a nursery, as a separate entity in its own building within the school grounds. Due to various circumstances things changed and the GB took over the extended services.

And yes, we pretty much do all that's on your list. Day to day stuff it is handled by the manager we appointed, who is managed by the HT. Policies etc are another GB responsibility.

It is possibly also worth pointing out that many of these things are done by govs who are are SAHMs

Muststartexercising and how is it working out? How onerous a task is it and how much time does it take up?

I have to say we talked it through and weren't prepared to take on that level of ongoing commitment/ responsibility. I think we were considering worst case scenarios ie emergency staffing issues ( phone calls to individual governors at 8.00 in the morning) disputes with parents over payment or other problems , legal responsibilities ( ie what if something went wrong, a child was hurt or went missing).

Not to mention the fact that without sounding petulant ( though I'm sure I will) a small number of us already give quite a lot of our time for free to the school and felt we didn't want up take on what seemed like a significant extra workload .