Appeal on Monday for son with no school place at all for 6 months. Help pls!

[badgermama]

Hello lovely folk, all help appreciated. We moved at the end of March this year to an area where all the primary schools are full. The council have been no help and offered no school place so I have had my 5 year old year R son at home for 6 months trying to educate him whilst taking care of his two year old sister. During this time we have gone from no 2 on the waiting list for our catchment school to number 9. The Head told me it would probably be Juniors before he gets a place.

We have an appeal on Monday and any hints would be appreciated. We spoke to the admissions dept at the council today who gave us lots of information I am sure is wrong eg we think he may fit under fair access protocol as he has been unplaced and the council said FAP doesn't apply to secondary. They also said that he had not been out of school for 6 months as it counts per year so he has only been unplaced for one day (?!).

They also said that the council are setting up a room in a school four miles away till Xmas where all the year R and 1 children who are unplaced in the area can go, with no plans for after Xmas. I can't drive due to a visual problem and would struggle to get him there and feel reluctant to put a nervous 5 year old in a taxi. My son is also very able and was taught on his own for much of the time at his last school as his literacy especially was so far in advance of the other 90 children in the year so the thought of him being in a class with possibly mostly younger children concerns me. He used to come home weeping with boredom from the last school and I can't help feeling that stimulation might not be great in this interim holding classroom. The council official also told me they did not have him on their list as unplaced for some reason so had not got him on the list for this temporary classroom set up, I have no idea why they would not class him as unplaced as we have all the documentation in place to show we applied and are unplaced and an appeal date.

I am sorry to ramble. It had been an exhausting year and I really want to do right by my son and feel pretty hopeless about the appeal at the moment.

thank you to anyone who has stuck with this!

[Llareggub]

Where on earth are you? The council sound atrocious. Good luck!

[prh47bridge]

Agree with Lougle.

Essentially what the school is saying is that if your son was admitted normally and was not an excepted pupil they would have to employ another teacher. It is true that your son will be excepted if the appeal panel admit but the panel is not allowed to use that as a reason to go over the class size limit.

Your argument is that the LA can admit your son as an excepted pupil using the FAP and it is unreasonable of them not to have done so given that they have been unable to find a place for him.

[badgermama]

Right....Statutory instrument 2012 no10 states under section d)Cannot get a place At any other school within a reasonable distance Of the home because they have moved into the area outside a Normal admission round'.

Not sure why the pane can't decide he is classed as excepted.

We will obviously continue to argue FAP too although we have been told appeals panels won't consider FAP.




Agh! I am a teacher/psychologist/therapist, my bloke is a senior academic....Why the am I having to delve around in legal loopholes to try to get a place for my son at school. I have one 'working day' to do this (this my working days are 5.00am-8.30pm plus interrupted sleep 7 days a week...) two children to take care of and my partner has to work at open days at the uni this weekend. Sorry, self pitying...not helping...



If two of the panel are laypeople how on earth can they make a decision about legal education changes and requirements...?

[badgermama]

I understand what you have said about the excepted rules...thank you...just seems a catch 22...they can't say he is excepted but if they pass appeal he is excepted....

[WinifredTheLostDenver]

Badger, the laypeople will be experienced in being on panels and will have been informed about the latest laws etc.

[badgermama]

By the way....I can't even put into words how touched I am that you all take this time to reply and wish us luck. This kindness is keeping me going at the moment when I really am at the end of my tether. It seems so obscene...I have healthy, beautiful children and feel blessed in that and this is disgusting unnecessary stress in a world of proper things people should be fighting and worrying about.

[badgermama]

Was about to ring ACE and the advice line is shut until 8th (our appeal date).

[badgermama]

Tiggytape thank you. I read so many things saying ICS appeals are hopeless and LGOs just look for failure in process rather than if the situation s absurd (tho I think we have had failure in process too)

The way you phrase it seems so reasonable.

[badgermama]

I have just noticed on the updated rejection letter from the school that we asked for in June when applying for appeal (and only just got after going in to the school to demand a copy) that the have the wrong postcode for us which is a road further.

That on top of the schools admission person saying she is new and doesn't understand FAP..... plus every time i Have rung she has said things like 'he is number 6..oh...number 8 I can see two sibling people below him so they will go above' (presumably without checking if the person is sibling plus cachment etc) leaves me feeling unconfident that they have managed the list correctly.

I was left ringing the school about the list in april when told by the council that as they always struggled to find him on the system when I rang anyway that I ought t ring the school in future and not ask them.

Typing this all now I can't believe I have been such a patient idiot, I should have complained to the head of admissions ages ago. The councils and schools tone has always been as if we are trying to to sneak something we don't deserve and that the have to bat away these 'cheeky parents' trying to get into their oversubscribed school.

[badgermama]

Yes, tiggy I thought appeals were usually like tha too. Thanks to the council telling us the other children's names (grr) I know one is a girl who lives in another area who has a local school place but her parents want her to come to the 'better' schools in the area where we live. I don't blame her parents for trying this, we all fight for our children, but that is nothing like our situation.

[badgermama]

The school seem to have the wrong postcode but the council don't and we have been told the school hold the list.

[prh47bridge]

I agree with Tiggytape.

The rules about excepted children and appeals are a little complex but you don't need to worry about that. Based on the information you have posted the council has wrongly failed to use the FAP to find a place for your son. If they had used the FAP he would have been an excepted pupil and therefore could have been admitted to any school without breaching the infant class size limit. Your argument is that the LA has therefore been unreasonable in failing to admit your child to the appeal school. Set out the councils failings as Tiggytape suggests. I think that is a very good case.

The council attempting to ambush an appeal in the way Tiggytape describes is unusual but it has happened. There was one case reported here where the council started the hearing by announcing that an offer was being made for another school. This turned out to be completely fictitious. No such offer was ever made. If the council do say they are making you another offer insist on them producing the offer letter in the hearing. If they are unable to do so tell the panel that, since the council is already claiming that they have offered a place when in fact no offer was made, you don't trust the council and would like the panel to proceed on the basis that no offer has been made.

The LGO is concerned with failures to follow the Appeals Code and/or the Admissions Code which undermine your ability to win your appeal. They do not act as a further appeal and will not, in theory, intervene just because they disagree with the panel's decision. They will, however, intervene if the panel's decision is unreasonable, e.g. it is clearly at odds with the facts of the case. Based on the information you've posted I think there is a good chance the LGO will intervene if the panel reject your appeal.

[badgermama]

Thank you PRH, this is all invaluable guidance.

[badgermama]

And Tiggytape.

[badgermama]

Just Had a really long email from the head of admissions at the council in response to the mail we sent this week about the conversation where we were given misinformation, saying all sorts of nonsense and that they think we have no chance for appeal. It basically feels like a long intimidatory letter. I can't even begin t say how horrible this is all making me feel. The mail says things that are untrue and suggests we are being difficult to appeal.

I literally feel sick and like the council are threatening us.

[badgermama]

Se Says that it is our fault that the council gave us no support or offers because we said we would teach him at home and that it would have been an intrusion to keep bothering us. We only put him as home educated as we were told we were breaking the law otherwise and stressed we were doing this reluctantly whilst waiting for school places.

[badgermama]

SHe also insists the bulge class meets their legal requirement and that might get taxi assistance so the really is no chance of us winning the appeal


. (slight aside but the taxi is a no way for me , my last job was therapy with sexually abused children, some who had literally been abused by taxi drivers in this sort of situation. I would never, ever put my five year old in a taxi. CRB checks just show someone hasn't been convicted.... saville and Harris would have both passed a CRB check. My son is nit used t cars and just not old enough t understand what to accept from an adult. He is also tiny having been growth restricted and in neonatal care and more like a three year old in physique) I can't ge him somewhere four miles away with poor transport links and minimal services with all the walking and changes, let alone consider how his two year old sister would manage.

The thought of trying to keep educating my son and caring for his sister whilst so exhausted fills me with dread. I love him and the idea of home educating him but in reality I am so damn exhausted that I am on a tiny fuse and doing him a complete disservice.

[morethanpotatoprints]

You say he is showing anxiety about going to school, well this shows that H.ed has worked for him, it's good and far better than him being upset at not going, even though it wasn't your first choice.
As he was coming home crying from his last school and he is advanced, what makes you think that the new school, when you finally gain a place will meet his needs any better?
It seems like he is in the best environment to work at his own pace, not one dictated by the system.
Have you enjoyed H.ed over the past 6 months?

[morethanpotatoprints]

I have just seen your update.
You will have been deregistered if you said you were going to H.ed.
I've never heard of anybody on a waiting list being told they were breaking the law and have to dergister. I would complain tbh.

[badgermama]

Ok...calming down...

Surely her putting in writing that they didn't help us find a school place because they thought we were home educating is a good thing in that she is admitting they didn't help us?


Also...


In it she says 'FAP cannot be Used at schools where they have met their infant class limits'

Wrong????

[badgermama]

When we put him HE we insisted that it was recorded that we were only HE whilst waiting for a place and when the home ed consultant came t see us the first thing he noted on his report was that it was important to note we were waiting for a school place.

[morethanpotatoprints]

OP, they may have handled these lists inappropriately but once you have deregistered that is that.
If you want a school place you have to reregister, maybe why they found it hard finding your ds on the system.
They may have recorded your wishes but it doesn't make a jot of difference to the law of registration.
If you hadn't gone down the H.ed route as sorry as this sounds he would have a place by now as they have to provide a place by law.
The problem you have is that you don't put H.E, you deregister from the system.