NoNoNoNoNOOOOO Please help, I have fucked up splendidly (or someone has)

[RoooneyMara]

I took ds2 out of school in Feb as he wasn't happy - temporarily I thought, he was very mixed about it, I had a new baby, he was just upset about the past year and all that's gone on, I think.

I applied a month or two later for a casual admission. I sent off the form with the three schools we'd consider on it, including obviously the one he's just come out of, as he kept saying he wanted to go back there if he went back, his friends are there etc.

I still have an older child there as well.

I got the usual letter saying no places, here is a place at [insert undesirable school], please let us know if you wish to accept by letter or email.

I emailed saying, thankyou very much, we'd like to wait till a place comes up at one of the other three.
I heard no more about it and assumed we were on the waiting lists.

Just rung up and found out that we're not. School had been looking for us on the list, and couldn't find us, because a place just came up but it has been offered and accepted by another family.

I rang the LEA and the woman was great and said she will get back to me - I forwarded my email from the beginning of May, which says, thankyou but we will wait for the other schools - she's going to talk to admissions and ring me later.

She seems to think I was sent a letter which said, fill in this form if you want to remain? or go, on the waiting lists for the other schools but I don't remember any such statement or form, if so, why would I have emailed? And how can you send the form back by email anyway?

So I'm thinking I just misread it in my new baby sleep deprived haze and now, we're stuffed.

What should I do now? I thought the original application was in itself a request to go on the waiting list for the other schools or have I got that wrong?
I can't even check on the site, because they changed the procedure at the beginning of July (apparently - no one told me this) and the forms have all changed.

The big question is whether you would have been offered the place if you had been on the waiting list. If the answer is yes you should appeal if the LA don't sort this out for you. Form or no form, they should have accepted your email as a request to go on the waiting list.

Really? Thankyou,

I've had a response from the woman I spoke to (who spoke to the 'team' - she's not on that team she says) and it says that as they didn't receive the form, which I have now found (they were right, it does have a section for waiting list applications) he's not on the list.

She also says no places have been available during this time and none have been given to other people.

The school says a place was just filled, and they have been looking for my application but couldn't find me on the list.

So I'm applying to the school now but it does look like it was my fault.

The thing is I KNOW at the time I was worried about not going on the list automatically but was either told or gleaned from the letter, (can't find that yet) that it would be automatic, and that I could respond by email. Looks like I was mistaken.