Ok, I'm panicking now.

[shroedingersdodo]

I'm in SE London and DS1 needs a place in Reception in September.

He was given a place in a school that is very far, (takes an hour in public transport each way and I don't have a car), and has a bad ofsted. And, incidentally, won't start until January for the summer born!

I asked the LEA to include him on the waiting lists of other schools nearby (that weren't included in the original application because I was considering homeschooling him but circumstances have changed and I won't be able to homeschool him anymore).

LEA (Greenwich) keeps telling me they are still processing late preferences and won't tell me if he's got a place in any of the other schools!

They didn't provide me any timescale of when they will have all the late applications processed (I suppose they are able to calculate that?).

Soon all the schools will be closed for summer and I won't be able to talk to anyone. I have to have a plan in case he doesn't get a place anywhere!

It's getting late and soon I won't be able to speak even to the private schools nearby (and I know they are probably full for Reception and I can't afford them anyway, but I'm panicking).

Help? Please?

Unless you go down the private option it doesn't matter that the schools are closed as it is the education authority that allocates places not the school. Authority have to provide you with free transport if school is far away.

You do need a plan to cover till January, could he stay at nursery for a term? Speak to the nurseries in your area, or a childminder, or home ed for a terM

Well, I don't know if I'm going private!! That's the thing.

And free travel doesn't solve the problem of 4 hours commuting every day.

I can't afford to pay for childcare until January.

(If we go private I'll probably have ask for family to help us to pay the school. And I don't want that)

I can't believe people think it's ok to waste 4 hours a day commuting, pay for months of extra childcare, etc!

I didn't think any schools still did a January start. I am in Lewisham and the council have always been quite helpful with giving out information. Is it always the same person you speak to when you ring?

Just out of interest, why didn't you include any of the nearby schools on your application?

Clux, because I was considering home schooling as a plan B. But now circumstances have changed and I won't be able to homeschool.

It looks like Lewisham is much better than Greenwich. I've called them loads of times - they don't let me get past the customer service and then book a call back for 10 days ahead.

You could email your local councillor. When my DD didn't get a place at any school my local MP responded very quickly to an email and was able to get information from the LA about school admissions.

Don't panic you have plenty of time. Schools don't close down entirely. Apart from a two week renovation period our school office and admin team are still there.

As said, the council process applications not the schools.

If I understand this correctly you put in a late application and got allocated a school you don't want mostly due to distance.

First, accept the place.
Second, make sure that the council have you on the waiting lists for your preferred schools. You are in London so movement will be quite high.
Third, ask the LA and also neighbouring boroughs for all schools with vacancies. These will be poorly rated schools but so is the one you have been currently allocated. Look for a school that is more convenient eg easier commute, or close to where you work, or starts them in September etc. If you find one put in an application for that place. MAKE sure you are still on the waiting lists for your preferred schools.
Fourth, what are you doing at the moment? Is your child at a private nursery? Childminder? Look into keeping them there till January IF needed. I am fairly confident that in your area a place at your preferred school will come up by then.

But nobody is saying 4 hours travel a day is reasonable? Why do you say that?

Op were you a late applicant?

Clux I'll definitely email them now.

NynaevesSister I accepted the place. I asked to be included in the waiting lists of other schools - I never heard back about these waiting lists.

I was not a late applicant. I applied in January but included only 3 schools in my application (because at the time homeschooling was a viable alternative. It's not anymore).

Then, in 16 April I contacted the LEA and asked to include DS in the lists of the other schools.

And I never found out what is his status re these 3 schools. They say they are "late preferences" and say they are still processing late preferences.

Heels as I said above, I was not a late applicant. And if they allocated us a school one hour away, I'm assuming the LEA thinks it's reasonable. (I was ranting...)

Wrt the January start- the school MUST give you the option of starting in September if you want it, no matter what term your DC was born.

But if you applied in January before the deadline those three schools were not late applications and you should have received a letter saying why you didn't get a place at those schools and what school you have been offered and from that point on the LA can keep you updated about where you are on the waiting list.

There is a good reason you get 6 choices. If you choose not to use them and there are no places available at your 3 choices, then the authority is deemed to have acted reasonably by allocating you a place at a further school. Some people choose 6 and still don't get places

You need to get on the waiting lists for every school you would accept, not just the 6, you can be on as many as you want. You also need to start arranging something else for September if your child isn't going to be starting at the new school till jan. A place you find acceptable may come up, but you need to organise an alternative in case it doesn't. Contact the private schools as well and see if they have got places, maybe you would on,y need them for a short time.

Good luck

Are the three schools you initially applied to the schools nearest you?

My understanding is you are only placed on waiting lists automatically for schools you have applied for.

If you call the schools direct they may be able to help- waiting lists are run by schools themselves, not central admin.

Have a look at neighbouring boroughs- there might be a school easier to get to because it's on a better bus route or train line.

Like others have said, mobility is high in london so most people on wait lists do get in somewhere within a term or two.

What a shitty situation to be in . I don't think that length of commute is acceptable for a 4 year old on a daily basis, but if there are no places available closer I suppose you may have to.

I imagine whether or not you are offered a place at one of the 3 "late preference" schools will depend on the number of people offered places there who have now declined. If there was a space at a school nearer to you initially, then that is where you would have been allocated (as I understand it).

Did you include your catchment area school as one of the initial 3 or one of the later 3? Or are you in one of the parts of London where the catchment areas are so damn tiny that you're not actually in one at all?

One thing I've definitely learnt from MN - use all 6 of your preferences and make at least half of them catchment area schools or schools you know you have a decent chance of getting a place at rather than ones you actually prefer.

Only to add that the school you've accepted must offer a place from September if you want one. It's the law.

Clux the schools I applied in January are the ones I have the positions on the waiting lists. It's the 3 other ones I have no idea about!

Yes, the 3 original schools are the nearest ones.

Heels You said: "You need to get on the waiting lists for every school you would accept, not just the 6, you can be on as many as you want." --> that's precisely what I did. In April! And so far the LEA didn't tell me the positions on these waiting lists!!!

Micah I contacted the schools. They don't deal with the waiting lists.

Santas that's precisely the situation. I'm not in any catchment.

In fact, I WAS in the catchment of our first option last year (just in the border of the catchment) - but the school received an outstanding and the catchment shrunk enough to put us in 16th on the waiting list...

The LA are taking the piss, frankly. Would they reply if you e-mailed them? Personally I would email them asking for the date that you were put on the waiting lists, your position at that time and how many places have since been offered in those schools. I'd also hedge my bets and put in an appeal for those schools just in case.

The LA are supposed to deal with applications in a timely manner. I'm not sure if there is a specific time frame but nearly 3 months is unacceptable. It might be that they are doing things properly but are very bad at communication but it is worthwhile checking that they haven't made a total cock up that's cost you a place.

MrsKCastle is right. Your son has the legal right to start school in September. The school cannot force you to wait until January, no matter what his date of birth.

I would email with a cc to the director of children's services, saying that you are aware that para 2.14 of the statutory school admissions code requires the la to provide a school place from September, not January. And ask them how they will comply with this statutory guidance.

Rafa, thanks a lot, that's exactly what I'm going to do now. I'm very uneasy at their lack of transparency, but I didn't know what I could do.

Littlefish and apermanent thanks! It's good to know that (although I don't know what would be worse: 4 hours commuting from September or from January).

Thank you very much to everyone who wrote on this thread. You have no idea how much you've helped me.

It might just be that they have done everything above board and are just exceptionally bad at communication. But if they haven't I can't see that it is reasonable to still be processing a late application made in April, in July.

If you would have been at the top or close to the top of some of those lists and children have been admitted off the waiting list who would have been placed lower than you then I think you would have a argument that the LA's delay has cost you a place. Which is grounds for winning an appeal even in Infant class size cases.

The advantage of doing things by e-mail is that you have a paper trail and they can't later deny what they have said to you.

Rafa, They are very bad at communicating, that's for sure :)

I'm requesting the information you suggested, and I'm also writing to the councillors. I have two questions:

1 - should I write to all 3 councillors at once, or chose one first?

2 - should I fill an appeal for each of the schools my son has applied for, on the grounds that the schools he was offered is an hour away from home? I mean, should I fill 6 appeals, all of them saying the same thing (that I can't take my son to the school he was placed at)?

Thanks!