Do lac kids get priority in school placing?

[Whatutalkinboutwillis]

We are in the process of adopting a child, I have to apply for his school place in jan. we are right on the edge of catchment but do have a older child already at the school.

Will my new dc have priority for placement due to being a lac and having a sibling there?

Many thanks

Check out the admissions criteria for your school/local authority. Where I am in care or previously in care would put them top of the list. Sibling in catchment is also likely to be high up the priority list. I'd be v surprised if you didn't get a place for him. And congrats

Yes, the Admissions Code 2012 now gives top priority to LAC/Former LAC. The fact that s/he has a sibling will have no bearing because sibling priority, by law, has to come below LAC priority because Local Authorities are not allowed to place anything higher on their oversubscription criteria.

Additionally, for Infant Class Size regulations LAC are exempt from the 30 children per class rule if admitted outside the normal round of applications, so if you ended up getting a later placement, after all places were allocated, the LA could still offer the child a place even if the year group is full.

Thanks ladies, I did ask the school and he said being a lac makes no difference to placing requests which goes against everything I have read. Fingers crossed he gets in!! My oldest son only got in as they put an extra class on that year but its since gone back to 2 classes which is why I am worried.

Thanks lougle don't think my school have seen that!

Probs not relevant but I'm also pretty sure LAC kids can only be placed in schools working at grades one or two.

Bugger, meant to say good luck with your adoption process!

I take it it's in England/Wales? We don't have 'placing requests' in England - that's normally a term used in Scotland?

"1.7 All schools must have oversubscription criteria for each ‘relevant age
group’ and the highest priority must be given, unless otherwise provided in
this Code, to looked after children17 and previously looked after children.
Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but
ceased to be so because they were adopted18 (or became subject to a
residence order19 or special guardianship order20)."

"2.15 Infant classes (those where the majority of children will reach the age of 5, 6 or 7 during the school year) must not contain more than 30 pupils with a single school teacher
44. Additional children may be admitted under limited
exceptional circumstances. These children will remain an ‘excepted pupil’ for the time they are in an infant class or until the class numbers fall back to the current infant class size limit. The excepted children
are:
a) children admitted outside the normal admissions round with
statements of special educational needs specifying a school;
b) looked after children and previously looked after children admitted
outside the normal admissions round; "

All lac I know got priority anywhere they chose , but that's England

(Adopter here).

Assuming you are talking England or Wales here, not Scotland or 'abroad'. Scotland has its own rules.

If you apply within the normal admission round (which as you are saying Jan) I assume you are, then LAC/Adopted do get priority except
if this is a faith school the school are allowed to prioritise children of faith above looked after / adopted children not of faith.

Random school person may not properly know the criteria, look up the admissions priorities on the school website or LA website.

NB Adopted means adopted from care, not adopted from oversees.

(Mind you as the child will have a sibling in the school they'll possibly be pretty near the top of the lists anyway.)

Congratulations.

( JonSnow That's interesting, haven't heard that before. When we adopted a number of years ago we chose the local satisfactory school for DD1 as it had the best pastoral care and would help her fit in with the community. No one from the LA batted an eyelid)

I certainly seems to be the case here in Northumberland, TeenandTween - my Head told me in relation to a lac girl in my class, then it was mentioned in a separate meeting by her social worker. Have no idea whether it's statutory across England though.
Also, I didn't know faith schools were allowed to prioritise children on faith above lac children. That makes me sad.

yes they are supposed to I believe, certainly the schools we applied to all had it top of the entry criteria however I do remember seeing that the Church schools said 'Christian child in care' presumably they can say this because the non church school across the road also has LAC children top of their list.
congratulations

JonSnow is correct, DfE guidelines now state that LAC should be placed in schools rated 1 or 2 by Ofsted, except in exceptional circumstances. Of course, this does not mean a LAC should be removed from a school they are happy and settled in just because it receives a poor Ofsted report, but SWs and Virtual heads have a responsibility to ensure that education is given the highest priority when children are placed.

TeenandnTween is also correct about faith schools- they must have LAC and former LAC of the faith (this can mean having been baptised within a certain timeframe, or attending a particular church for a certain amount of time) as the highest priority, and can place LAC not of the faith below all other children of the faith, but above other children not of the faith.

LAC and children adopted from care are excepted children and do not count towards Infant Class Size regulations. In practice, this means that a school can accept a LAC or adopted child even if they are full- many admissions authorities don't properly understand this, and refuse a place at a particular school because 'it is full'. The legislation was brought in to address this- LAC are far more likely to need a school place mid-year and all the good schools are full; which, in many areas, led to LAC only being given places in schools which nobody wanted.

If your child is still in care and the chosen school refuses to admit them, then the LEA can move to direct them to do so. If it is an academy, the Secretary of State has the power to do so.

Find the school you think is best for your child- this should be the only consideration.

Sorry lougle, I see you had also made the point about excepted children.

JonSnow is correct
So rarely are these words uttered on MN! (Or indeed anywhere...)

As an aside, before the law was changed to allow children adopted from care the same priority as LAC, it was not unknown for adopters to sometimes delay applying for an adoption order for a 3 or 4 year old, to ensure they got priority on school applications. Happily this is no longer needed.

Agree Tween, definitely a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, I know several carers who have delayed applying for an SGO due to the lack of educational support once this happens.

I'd like to see adopted children have the same level of support as LAC (certainly PEPs and Virtual school involvement etc.)- the PPP is a start.

I'll agree with you anytime, JonSnow- especially if you're right

We are in Scotland and my ds is being adopted from care through our local authority. We don't have a adoption order yet but he has been with us 6 months. Long legal process!! I know when I asked about a nursery place at the school they refused saying they were full even though I explained he was a lac. Fingers crossed I have nothing to worry about but want to be sure of my facts just incase. Thanks everyone for the advice and congrats!

Ah, then unfortunately the legislation doesn't extend to Scotland.

Yy, Scottish system is different- more information here and here... Although I think there is legislation about to be passed relating to vulnerable children, I'm not sure if this extends to school admissions...

Thanks everyone

I don't think LAC makes any difference regarding placement requests. There is really no such thing as priority in Scotland - you are either in catchment or you are not. If the school is completely full with catchment children, then there are no places left to allocate to anyone else. If there are some spaces left, these are usually allocated to siblings, so there is a chance your DC would gain a place on this basis. If they have to choose between a number of siblings, the fact that your DC was adopted from care may carry some sway, so certainly worth putting in your request.