school admissions

[kimajckac]

I have just applied for my 4 year old daughter to attend the reception at the school she already goes for nursery which is the same school her 6 year old sister goes to but I have been refused and offered a place at a school 2 miles from my home and its a catholic school which I feel the government are preaching to me and trying to force religion onto my child when we have no religious beliefs, I questioned the reason to why she was not given a place and it due to being outside the catchment area which i dont understand as my child got in last year and my other child got in 3 years ago and there has always been a high demand for this school, and i was told that even if I appeal I will loose and should either find another school for my youngest daughter or both my children and should take my eldest out?? I can not sleep properly and this matter is stressing me out beyond belief how can I be at 2 schools in a morning and afternoon and why should I take my child out of a school she is doing well in and happy in because the education authority wont let my youngest child go to the same school as her sister??? Im at my wits end.

OP, why didn't you specify your second, third etc. choices?

Your child getting a place at the school's nursery does not guarantee a place in their reception. This is made very clear to people although seemingly not clear enough for some. They have to re-allocate places for Reception, allowing for those who've been in alternative day-care for pre-school. In my school, with an intake of 60, there are 9 Nursery children who haven't got in to Reception. Those parents aren't happy of course, but those are the rules.
Saying you're "not standing for it" won't help your case, I'm afraid.

Yes as I did not no it was out the catchment area as my daughter got in 3 years ago and then my other daughter got in last year for nursery and I only put 1 school down as I can not be at 2 schools at the same time and the other schools in my catchment are of poorer education standards. I will not be sending my daughter to a catholic school that is strict on religion and run by nuns that is not my idea of education and having it pushed on to my child is wrong they have low standards so poor ofsted lowering my daughters education is unbelievable and I am not standing for this at all.
So what are you going to do about it? All you seem to be doing is ignoring everyone's advice and throwing a tantrum!

"Not standing" for it will get you nowhere Nursery applications and Reception places are completely separate. For one thing demand will differ as there are those for whom daycare nursery or cm are better choices due to work commitments and standalone preschools including those at Children's centres and in halls. Preschool/nursery is not obligatory therefore some children attend nothing until School age. This range of options does not exist for infant school and therefore entry is more competitive, hence the published criteria by which you have not got a place. Just to be clear in case you come across the scenario, you may even have lost out to those who named that school as 2nd , 3rd or lower preference if their child met the criteria of a higher category than your dc, didn't get allocated their 1st choice but would still take precedence. Of course should they then get a place at their 1st choice school it will free up a place for someone on the waiting list but again your dc may not be top if catchment - siblings and non - are placed higher.

You made a mistake. Now you have to investigate and rectify your mistake. The problem you are having now is entirely your fault. It is not the fault of the LA that you couldn't be arsed to read any admission info. Had you been bothered to do this you would know that nursery placement means nothing, and that the catchment for the school has changed.

If you approach the LA with the attitude you have here, you get nowhere, as you are already experiencing. You need to be polite and not have tantrums. Blaming them for your fuck up isn't going to help.

Unlike some people on here who have given excellent advice I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure that just repeating " I'm not going to stand for it" doesn't generally make the LEA totally reverse their decision.
You may need to change tactics OP!!!

OK, deep breath, call the school on Monday, find out where you were on the list, how high your DD would be on the wait list. It could be there will be movement in the list if you get on the ait list, my DS starts the september and so far, I have spoken to 3 different mums who are planning to privately educate but still applied for a state place (I do wonder why they bothered and didn't make the decision between state and private earlier). I know others who have been offered what are outstanding schools, but have/will move house before September so are wait listing other closer schools, so all in all, there will be lots of people moving around in this town before September.

However, none of that helps you if you haven't got yourself on the wait list!

Are there any other schools you could use - even if it involves using the breakfast club for one of your DCs? (I know there's just over a mile between 2 in our town, perfectly possible to drop one at the breakfast club at school A then take the other to school B. See if you can call the council and ask if you can go on those wait lists as well as the one you applied for. Remember, that solution doesn't need to be forever, schools are allowed to take an extra 2 places at KS2 (so 7), and people move house, I know someone who moved after the christmas of her DS's reception year when someone else left the area so a place became available at her 1st choice school. It might be your DD2 could move to your DD1's school, or you might have to consider moving DD1 to a school DD2 is at.

Granted, the faith school doesn't sound good for you, but you aren't going to get your prefered school so you need to start looking at other solutions. They can't just make a space for your DD2, so unless someone else declines, you can't get her in.

As others have said, you shouldn't decline the place without another offer on the table. If the catholic school is more than 2 miles from your house you might be offered free transport, would that help, even if it's just for a year. Can you go view the catholic school? Specify that your DD isn't catholic and ask about how they accomodate other faiths.

I didn't think the school ran the waiting list? I thought it was County? The secretary might have a rough idea, but as it can change quickly, they can often be out-of-date.

As a lot of people have now given advice and the op doesn't seem to be reading it perhaps we should all agree to wish the op the "Best of British" and leave her to it.

I sympathise OP. The current system IMO is a farce. It is ruining much of family life. Write to your local paper, MP, get on twitter. If nothing else you'll at least feel you have voiced your displeasure.

Macademia,

What do you think woukld be a better system?

Wuld your preference be for a 'sibling trumps everything' order of admissions (which some schools do have)? The issue with that is that a family can get a single child in, then move away, with all siblings still being able to attend the school - which puts other families in the situation where they may live just yards from a school but be unable to get their eldest child in there because the class is full of siblings.

Or for a school to be allowed to expand to accommodate all children who apply to it? That one is hard because it requires huge and rapid investment in one place while school resources elsewhere are under-utilised.

There isn't a 'perfect' solution for everyone. Every possible system has a downside for somebody - even if it is simply the downside of much higher taxes.

If you think the current system is a farce, what do you see as the best alternative?

The OP could have expressed at least 3 preferences but didn't - I don't see how that makes the system a farce.

Religious education part funded by the state - well, we can have an argument about the farciality of that, if you like (perhaps better on a new thread though !)

Do you know what the admission criteria are? Is it possible you DD has been put in the wrong category? That would be the thing I would be checking first. Also you need to see a map with the catchment area marked to make sure you are not in it. Then see if there any grounds for saying a mistake has been made.

In the meantime get on as many waiting lists for local schools as you can and hope a place comes up at one of them by September. You can stay on waiting list after September too. If you are prepared to wait it out a place will probably come up at a school you find acceptable.

I know that they are run in the same way, according to the same admission criteria. But you would get a more accurate picture of where you are on the waiting list from the LA (if they are running it) than from the school, whose information might be out-of-date.
And the OP would need to know that even if you are 1st on the list on one day, you might be bumped downwards by the next.

All you can really do now is apply to waiting lists and look into whether there are breakfast and after school clubs at either school. Is the school your daughter has been offered far enough away that the council will provide help with transport or consider paying a taxi for you? or does your eldest have any friends who live near you that she could walk/get a lift to school with?

Unfortunately siblings don't always get into the same school (which is why my children are at different schools) It makes life more difficult but there are ways you can make it work.

Have you been to look at the Catholic school? It might not be as bad as you think, DS is at Catholic school and a lot of his friends are either not religious or a different religion.

Sounds like the nuns will be having a lucky escape.....