how do you get an only child into your catchment school after P1?

[gilmoregirl]

Hello

I am very upset as my child has not been offered a place at his catchment school despite having been first on the catchment waiting list since December.

It transpires that another child who has a sibling going in to P1 was given the only place that became available as priorty was given to a child with a sibling.

Until this happened I was unaware that the waiting list was not simply a waiting list. I had been in touch with the school as recently as 15 May and been assured that my child was first on the list.

Does anyone know if this is standard practice? I am aware that this is used for placing out of catchment requests but it was news to me that another child would get priority over mine purely on the basis that they had a sibling who would also join the school.

I feel that this policy is unfair to only children as the school explained that at any point a child with a sibling will be given priortity over an only child. This seems to mean that unless all the other child on the waiting list are also only children my child will never get a place.

I had so hoped that we would get a catchment place for next school year.

Does anyone else have experience of this?

I don't have experience of it, but does this prioritisation simply mirror the standard admissions policy priority list? It may appear unfair to you, but to a parent faced with otherwise having to get small children to two different schools it would seem otherwise.

It does seem wrong that you were told you were first on the list if that wasn't truly the case though.

Had the sibling started at school before the place became available?

I have never heard of this, but am in England.

It might be worth googling your county's school admissions site and find out if there is any information on this.
It seems bad to me. If you were assured in May that your child was next on the list, this is what he should have been surely. I'd ask the school about it.

I don't know about the position in Scotland but in England waiting lists aren't static - you can move up or down as it is based on the admissions priority - someone moving into the area can leapfrog over you if they move nearer and if a sibling gets into the school then this will mean that child will become a higher priority.

Thank you. I have been in touch with the school and that is when they explained that children with siblings are given priority.

A colleague found the council's placing policy and it does not give any information on priority for catchment pupils - only for out of catchment.

If I had realised that the waiting list was not actually a waiting list in the usual sense then I woudl not be so upset. It just seems so unfair. The child that was offered the place does not have a sibling already at the school just going into the school as well.

The school have said that we are still "first on the list" but there is no place availalbe now and presumably at any point another child with a sibling will take priortiy again so it would seem that an only child is unlikely to be admitted no matter how long they are on the list

OP have you spoken to your local authority about this? Can they clarify this for you? It does seem a strange situation to have been leapfrogged like this merely on the basis of a sibbling starting the school in August.

Are you in Scotland? If so as far as I understand it there isn't really information on how they prioritise applications within the catchment as they expect a place to made available for every child in the catchment. When that doesn't happen - i.e. school is too small, then I guess they probably mirror the out of catchment policy. Where I have a problem with what you have said is this, all applications from catchment children will have to have been submitted at the beginning of the year, usually a few days in Feb. Any applications received after that date would have to be considered on the basis if there was any space free. So, whoever it was that now has your space is unlikely to have already had a child in the school at that point or if they did, they missed the enrolement date and that is therefore their issue. The only other explanation is that the school mucked something up. Or, maybe they moved into the area and have therefore offered the older child a space which they have to if there is one, but then been asked for a space in P1 which the newcomers should have been refused.

I just can't see how this situation arose.

I think the child with a sibling would only get priority if there was a space in the sibling's year so they could start right away, if that makes sense.

If there was a space for the sibling to start then there is still hope that there are times when there are spaces in a year.

yeah but oddboots - if this was people moving into the catchment and the OP already lives in the catchment and was on the waiting list - regardless of there being a place available for the older sibling, the younger sibling should not have been offered a space over the OPs child. There is either been a mistake made that they are now trying to cover up or the OP has grounds to complain.

As long as the older child was offered a place higher up the school before the spare place came up in the OP's year, then it all seems above board to me?

In English schools, when a space becomes available, the whole of the list is looked at and whichever pupil meets the most of the admission criteria (regardless of how long their name has been there) gets the place.
Waiting lists are NOT queues.

If a place comes up and one of the children on the list has a sibling in the school and also lives in catchment, then yes, they tick more boxes and get the place.
If both children were singletons, it would have been done on distance. Not the time on the list.

not really, it all seems a bit underhand to me. I'm with the OP here, there is no way in this circumstance that someone moving into the catchment should get priority for a school place over a catchment atrea child on the waiting list regardless of the fact they have a sibling. The sibling was not already attending the school. if they were then absolutely their younger brother or sister should get priority. Otherwise, if there was not space for both children then both children should have been offered spaces together at another school.

Sorry, was the sibling of the other child already at the school - OP ?

in scottish schools, unless you are applying to a school outwith the catchment then distance is irrelevant, (so to a point is the fact you have a sibling) its time on the list that counts. For a place in a school outwith your catchment then you get an extra point for a sibling, but you get no priority over someone in the catchment. Our local school had 47 children in the catchment for P1 and only 30 places - at one point they said that unless they had 17 volunteers to go elsewhere then the first 30 kids, regardless of siblings, would get a space and the rest would be given a place in anothe rschool. As it happened, there was ahuge appeal and they have added a temporary classroom so that all the communities children can have a space this year, but with the same expected next year and no space in the school and no space in the playground for another unit then who knows what will happen.

Thank you all for your responses.

I am in Scotland so we have a one school which is our "catchment school". We live in the catchment and have been first on the waiting list since December last year.

The child who was offered the only place in the year group does not have an older sibling at the school. They have a younger sibling who will start in P1 after the summer. The school gave this child priority over my child on the basis that their younger sibling will start in August.

I would be less upset if the waiting list policy had been explained - when I put my child's name down the response I got from the school was that he was top of the list. It did not even occur to me that this woudl change as it seemed he was likely to get a place based on what I was told.

a-ha, must be different in Scotland then. The scenario the OP has painted would be standard in English waiting lists though.

I'm in England, and this sounds familiar from our local school....

A friend has an only child on the list, waiting for a Y2 place

A new family moves into catchment with a child about to enter year R. He gains a place, through the standard admissions procedure for year R. His older sibling (also Y2 age) is then put on the waiting list.

When a place becomes available in Y2, this older sibling (with a sibling already now at the school) is higher up on the list, so gains a place instead of my friend's daughter.

Unfair in one way, you might say; but just how the system works - based entirely on the standard school admission procedure, which rates siblings higher than catchment (at least, it does at our school. Not all schools do this - religious schools in particular I think can have their own admissions criteria).

The difficulty/confusion may arise (in england at least?) as to defining when exactly the sibling child "has" a place - is it from the date they start school physically? or the date the school allocate the place to them? At our local school, it is the date they physically start school, ie from September. So if a place had come up in Y2 on the last day of term in July, it would be for my friend's daughter. But if that place comes up on the first day in September, then it will be given to the sibling.

As far as I am aware, the priorities stated in the schools admissions procedure have to be followed exactly, and you should be able to see a copy of these (check with your local authority, or with the school themselves - I thought they were obliged to provide this information)

I'm fairly certain that in English schools your child would have had to have been offered the place , as it is available now and the sibling is not in school yet.

sorry, gilmoregirl, when I started writing, you message hadn't been posted! (I got interrupted by DS)

That sounds like it is different in Scotland then from England :(

Sorry I may be being thick here but is your child already at the school in P1? Or have you moved into their catchment area in time for P2 By law all schools in Scotland have to offer a place to children within their catchment area

Is there any basis for you to appeal? (I've no idea how the system works in scotland)..

I think my last post might be wrong. Have a look on this link from Sottish Government website www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2003/12/18623/29936

so you are not looking for a space in P1 then, that then makes more sense - i think!!