school place appeal

[gilmoregirl]

I am hoping that someone will be able to offer some advice on a school place appeal.

We are in Scotland and out catchment school did not have a place for DS so he was put on a waiting list. In december 2011 the school told me he was first on the list, again in March and again in May. I had hoped he could start the new school year in the catchment school.

In June I found out (by chance) that another child had been offered a place in the year my son was first on the waiting list for.

I contacted the school to ask what had happened.

They told me that children with siblings are given priortity over only children.

There is no mention of this on any of the school or council information so I queries this. Emails went back and forth a few times until the council send me what looks like an internal memo which refers to priortity being given to children with siblings "in attendance" at the school.

As the child I am aware of (there may well be more than one!) does not have a sibling at the school - they have sibling who will go into P1 in August I do not feel that we have been treated fairly.

On 20 June I advised the school that I has submitted an appeal.

the appeal was due to take place this week but has not as the Head teacher did not provide a report on the school's decision.

Apparently the appeal cannot go ahead until this report is received.

It seems very unfair that the person who made the decision which I am appealing against can hold up the appeal.

Due to this hold up the best outcome for DS (which would be the appeal being granted and DS being given a place at the catchment school to start the new term) is no longer possible.

The appeal will go ahead when the HT provides the report but it won;t be till the end of August now.

I am very unhappy about this. As far as I can see the school made a mistake and allocated a place to a child who should not have been given priority to DS as they did not have a sibling in attendance.

Do I just need to wait it out until the end of August? Very frustrated and stressed out by the whole process I just want what is best for DS.

Unfortunately, priority is generally given to children with siblings at the school already, even if your DS was No.1 on the list.

Imagine it from the other parents' perspective, they also desperately want/need their child to attend this school and they already have to drop off and collect a child there every day. Having to be in 2 places at the same time is impossible and the alternatives (using wraparound care, taxis etc) are expensive and unfair on the child.

I've been in that position and while I understand your frustration, it really is a lot more complicated when there are siblings involved. Hope you get your appeal sorted though. x

The sibling WASN'T their already though - they were due to start this month (P1= reception in Scotland) , and as such shoudl not have been given sibling priority back in June.

thanks guys.

Yes P1 is reception so the sibling of the child is NOT in attendance at the school, they will only start in the new school year.

There is NO information about this priority system anywhere. All the school and council information simply states that a waiting list may operate for catchment pupils. That is it.

Doingitformyself - I would note that I still feel it is unfair for siblings to automatically be given priority - I am a single parent of an only child and work full time so it seems unfair that a two parent family with two children automatically gets priority over my family. Dropping/collecting my child off would be much easier for me at out catchment school and yet the way the system is working means that my child is unlikely to get a place as the school just moves children with siblings up the list in front of my child!

With my DCs the fact that DS2 was due to start in the September (we had only applied to that one school so there was no option to decline the place) meant that we were able to successfully appeal against my older DS being refused a place in Yr 4. Admittedly there were other factors to take into account, but most of it revolved around the logistics that WOULD be an issue come September.

Appreciate what you're saying Gilmore, but then 2 parents don't always make things easier, especially when one of them is useless or works stupid shifts and is never around to help (I say this as a recently separated mum of 3!)

It's different in Scotland, as every P1 living in the catchment area is guaranteed a place at the school, so as soon as they moved into the catchment area, they would be counted on

OP - is your son at another school nearby? The sibling rule causes a lot of resentment here too. Lots of family (and I mean LOTS) rent in the immediate area and get the first born in and then move back to the larger family home and get subsequent kids in. "Catchment" is now less than 500m.

When did/is the older sibling starting the school? Assuming that the older one is also not starting until September then consider it is possible that the younger sibling had been offered and accepted a place for September before the older sibling was then offered a place. They could be basing the priority upon the fact that there definitely will be a sibling in attendance in September and to deny the older sibling a place would then be unreasonable and effectively they then leapfrogged you in the queue.

If however the older sibling started in June then that changes things I think and ignore the above!

Hi

I think what agentprov said is exactly what happened, new P1 in catchment are guaranteed a place so construed as being "in residence" before they start school.

Is just so stressful. We will just constantly be leap frogged over by other families. Seems that the one time an only child can get a place is P1.

The "guidelines" the school used are not published ANYWHERE. The current council guidelines make no mention of the priority system. It was only when I queried what happened that someone in the council dug out what appears to be an internal report. I must say that I think the process should be made very clear from the outset - including the fact that new P1s are considered to be "in residence" from November the year before they start.......

My appeal cannot go ahead before the start of the term (wednesday 15 August) as the HT did not provide the report requested by the council.

DS will need to stay at his current school so all of this stress has been for nothing.

On the bright side the other family must be DELIGHTED. move into the area and immediately get both children right into the catchment school, trumping others who have been waiting patiently!

If I had known how this would work out I doubt I would have even bothered to apply for a place

I've just realised that I didn't finish my post! The phone went and I forgot to come back to it. What I then meant to say was that depending on what primary your DS was, he's more likely to get a place higher up the school where the class sizes are allowed to be bigger.

What year is he going into?

He is going into P3 so the
class size limit is 30.

There are apparently 5 other catchment children on the list. They said that DS is "first" again but unless those other five are ALL only children I doubt that being "first" means he will get the next place.

He goes back to school tomorrow and so will settle back in. Will have to decide if worth staying on the list (I refuse to call it a waiting list as it so clearly has very little to do with waiting )

Thank you I now understand their policy at least, even if I think it is unfair!

All my knowledge is based on the English system (I chair appeals panels) so may not be correct for Scotland.

I am not sure that Tiggytape is right about how sibling status is defined. In England it's certainly possible for a child to ba classed as a sibling for sibling priority once they have been offered a place, even if they haven't yet started.

Forgive me if I've missed something, but how was your child not offered a place in the catchment school from the outset? Did you move into the area after P1?

You need to check the school's admissions criteria very carefully but it doesn't sound to me as if they've done anything wrong. You also need to check whether (as in England) the legal class size limit of 30 ceases to apply from P4. If so, you would have a mich better chance at appeal next year. Things like convenience of school run don't carry any weight at appeal - you need to base it on your child's needs, not yours.

Thanks Maud.

We moved after P1 places had been allocated and during the school holidays.

I think that the class size restricton moves to 32 or 34 from P4 so hope by then we have a better chance.

Just out of interest what do you mean by saying that the convenience of the school run doesn't carry any weight? My understanding of the sibling priority policy is that is EXACTLY why siblings are given priority

Why are siblings given priority if it is not to make things more convenient?

Unfortunately the school does not provide any information on their policy - all if says is that if the class is full children will be put on a waiting list. I do not consider it to be a waiting list as it has nothing to do with "waiting" and everything to do with siblings! If DS had a sibling he would be sitting in a class room at our catchment school right now.

Yes, siblings are given priority (not so much for convenience as for the benefits for siblings in being together) but other issues such as the school being near a childminder or parent's workplace can't be taken into consideration in infant class size appeals. At least, not in England.