Appealing decision

[amatuermummy]

I wonder if anyone can help, we chose two schools for our DD and put them as 1st and 2nd choice. They are both within 1/2 mile of our house and we were hopeful we would get one of them. Unfortunately we have been allocated a school that we did not choose nor have any intention of our DD going to (it has a very bad OFSTED report and a bad reputation). We have no idea what to do next. We have rejected the offer and asked to be put onto the waiting lists of the other 2 schools but do we need to do anything else and what will happen next? Sorry if this has already been answered but I couldn't find it.

As a side note, our DD is only going to be 4yrs and 3 months in September so would be be within our rights to keep her home until a place comes up at one of the other 2 schools or until she is 5yrs old? This is not something I want to do because I want her to start with all of the other children, but not at the school we have been allocated :(

Hopefully one of the experts will come soon but from what I know your child does not have to be at school until they are 5 and you can home ed after that while you wait for a school place you want but there is no guarantee how long that will take.
You should get on waiting lists ASAP, you could appeal but what are your grounds? Unfortunately not wanting a school isn't grounds for appeal, only a mistake or lack of fairness are I think

Presumably you could have listed more than 3 ? By rejecting the offer you are putting yourselves at risk of no place as LA are not obliged to reallocate one of your choice and it may not carry any weight with your appeal. Think you need to sit it out for a couple of weeks and then see where you are on the waiting lists once acceptances/rejections are in . Things will change over time but if you want a place it may not be at one of the two, revisit any possibles. You can legally keep her home but if you wait until she has turned 5 you may be no better off if you are then looking for a year 1 place.

I'm not an expert but I'm sure it's strongly recommend you accept the place offered (even if its the last place on earth you want) and appeal for a preferred place. Rejecting a place means your LA doesn't have to find out DC a place at all and its now your responsibility.

sorry x posted

I won't repeat the good advice that Tiggytape has already given, but to answer your question about what happens next, the answer is nothing - unless you make it happen.

The LEA has fulfilled its statutory obligation to offer you a school place. It's under no further obligation to make a fresh offer.

You need to join the waiting list for any school you'd be willing to accept. Why did you only express two preferences? Most LEAs allow a minimum of three preferences and some allow as many as six.

Ask some questions about the allocation process. You can only appeal basically if the admissions criteria haven't been lawfully and fairly applied, or if the admissions authority has acted wholly unreasonably. Therefore you need to do so digging around about how they allocated the places, how did they measure distances, did they properly apply their own admissions criteria etc.

I strongly recommend that you speak with the admission office and ask whether it is possible to get the place back at the school you rejected. As Panelchair says the LA have completed their legal responsibility and you have made it easy for them by rejecting the school. They do not have to do anything else. However you will need a school place and the LA will find you one, which will almost for sure be significantly further away and probably every bit as bad as the school you have rejected out of hand. I would also visit the school you have rejected ASAP, you might be pleasantly surprised.

You should also ask the admissions office which other schools have places available locally - it might be no school places available in many parts of the country.

You need to ask in writing to be put on the waiting list for both the schools that you want and to also put in appeals for those schools, even if the likelyhood of success is very small. I would also ask to go on to the waiting list for every other school within say 2 miles radius.It does not mean that you have to accept any place offered but it does maximise your chances of getting a place at a school that you find acceptable.

Hi all mums out there.

I'm a desperate mum who strongly feels that my son is not ready for reception 2014 and ive requested that he be allowed to defer entry to reception 2015. This application I've been told yesterday was unsuccessful. This isn't an unusual request however not many people are aware of this option being available to them. Any ideas how I could fight for this further as I'm not going to accept it and want to appeal.

I'm in no way an expert but just from mumsnet lurking I know that not filling all your places on the application form is crazy, and that you need to look at the distances accepted last year, so you may need to accept that your application could have been done better.

Would your daughter have got into either of those schools last year? If so, then you may be lucky on the waiting list. If, in retrospect, both applications were unrealistic as you live further from the last allocated distance last year (which may have shrunk this year) then you need to adjust your expectations towards a different school, home ed or go private. And a May/June born child surely wouldn't be accepted to defer if August born ones are regularly turned down - you would be asking them to defer a quarter of the year!

Rejecting the offer goes down badly at appeal as it can make them think you are trying to blackmail them by your child not having a place (so the experts on here regularly say.....)