Who do I take this up with?

[Stardolly]

I recently moved and have applied for school places for my two children, one is in year 2, one is starting reception.
Since we moved, I've been on the phone to the admissions for progress almost every day. I have contacts from the school and I have known how many kids have left the school (yr2), so it's just been a case of chasing admissions. Daughter 1 was number 3 on the waiting list (yr2), and daughter 2 was number 2 on the list for reception.
Last Monday, the school informed me that there was a place for my daughter (yr2) and that if my other daughter was indeed number 2 on the list, it would look like she would get a reception place as well, but she had not received the list from Waltham Forest school admissions department.
On Tuesday, admissions informed me daughter 1 had been allocated a place.
On Thursday I called the school to ask when my daughter could start and she said right away. She had a copy if my offer letter so I could go and collect it, and we agreed to start her on the Monday (today) - I asked about daughter 2, she said she hadn't heard anything from admissions about that year, but as daughter 1 had been allocated a place, daughter 2 should be top of the list. That afternoon, I emailed back my acceptance letter.
On Friday I was informed by admissions, that daughter 2 was currently number 2 on the waiting list and that she had been number 4 (slipped down) and therefore, was not allocated one of the two spaces that came up.
Obviously I went a bit berserk, that one daughter would be allocated a place and the second daughter not moved up the list..... They said it's not how it works and that I have to accept the place and start my daughter before the second one will move up the list!!! Surely this is absurd???
They said that the school didn't inform them how many spaces were available in year 2 until Monday.... Technically, the space has been daughter 1's since Monday, but how can they not give me opportunity to accept the place on Monday, before the allocations are made for reception, and then turn around and say that the reception allocations were done before you have a chance to accept the place????
The school agrees with me and says it does seem absurd that they would technically be forcing an appeal situation on the school.
Their argument is that daughter 1 hadn't started the school when daughter 2's allocations were made - my argument is that as the place was available to me on Monday, if I had been emailed or telephoned, I could have started daughter 1 on Monday afternoon if I had to, just to get daughter 2 moved up to 1st place on the waiting list before the reception allocations were made!!!!
What do I do???

Stardolly:

Sorry didn't meant to make you angrier - just was trying to point out that the 3 children in higher positions on the wait list than your DD2 may have been there for equally valid reasons under the school entry criteria:

i.e. distance
in care
religious affiliation
etc....

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I see that your DD2 has been offered a school - but 2.3 miles away. You've implied that you need your mother to collect your DD2 but she doesn't drive. Can I ask - are there any convenient buses?

Alternatively - does the new school offer clubs/ after school child-care - which will give you the window to collect DD1 and then come for DD2?

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Sincerely hope this works out for your DDs - have absolutely been there myself and had 6 months of chaos/ extra child-care expenses to make it work - but we're through that now and I hope this is swiftly resolved for you as well.

forgot to say - the 'impossible to know' comment was meant that you can't know what criteria meant that the other students ahead of your DD2. At least around here, that kind of thing is recorded (reported to governors/ LEA) but not public.

that's all.

It's ok I'm not angry, it's just that I do know, because I have been told, the LA told me my daughter would have been 1st on the list if the sibling priority rule had been in place, and therefore would have been offered one of the two places that were available in reception. I already know that one place was offered to a child with a sibling but living further away, and the next child lived closer but no sibling.

2.3 miles does not sound a big distance but in London, it takes a while, especially by bus. I do work so it would have to be my mother in law (who is nearly 70) taking two buses with my two year old in two as well. I have worked it out and, accounting for travelling times and bus clashes, you are looking at 45 mins to get from one school to the next.

Stardolly - Don't refuse the place you have been offered. Someone with more experience than me will no doubt respond soon, but I think if you do the LEA has no obligation to offer you a different place and you could be left with no place at all.

Hi, well she doesn't have to be in school until she's 5, which is not until December.... So I will refuse the place as we would be busting a gut to get to a very poor school, on a rough estate, before she legally has to start!

Stardolly, you would be better to defer the place (as is your right) until January, instead of refusing it.

Unless your plan B is to home educate, or you have a private place lined up.

Agree with Spindelina.

If you refuse this place the LA is under no obligation to find another one before January which is when she has to be in school (i.e. the start of term following her fifth birthday). If January comes and no other places have been offered you may have no option other than home educating or going private. Refusing this place will not have any effect on your chances of getting a place through the waiting list elsewhere. You should accept the place and tell them you are deferring entry until January.

Please do what PRH and others suggest.

I will defer it but it's highly likely that we have have to send her to the private school that my mum works at, that way at least it solves my collecting problems... Just ouchy on the bank account.
I've submitted my appeal this afternoon. I am hoping they read it and decide to admit as an excepted pupil.... Doubtful but live in hope!

So I handed in my appeal on Friday and today I get two email notes from primary admissions, one in reply to my acceptance of place email and one that I sent to the manager... The second I sent 4 times and never got a return receipt email. The first I did.
Baring in mind that the acceptance of a place email plays a big part of my appeal, do you think they are replying now so that they can say that they didn't get the email until now???

I think you are reading too much into it. Apart from anything else it doesn't matter when you sent the acceptance email. I do not see any way they could use that to damage your case.

Hi, just to let you know, my appeal is next Friday.
I added a couple of extra points to it today as I just felt that I didn't want to not mention something and then wish I had.... as I am sure they made a mistake, I added that they also offered me a place for my daughter in June, addressed to me at my new address, even though I had not moved there yet or sent them evidence of change of address.... that's two mistakes made by admissions, not just one.

I also know that there are 2 appeals that day. I am told that the other person appealing had also appealed in the summer. I didn't think you could appeal twice.... so I assume that it will be an appeal for a different year group and not reception? The person who told me there are two appeals said that it was for reception and it was one of the 20 appeals they heard after the initial allocations were made in April.

The most likely explanation is that the LGO ordered a fresh hearing due to a problem with the way the first appeal was handled.

The other explanation is that the parent did go to appeal as one of the 20 appeals in April and that for some reason the admission authority has granted another appeal because there has been a material change in circumstances. Given the situation of the appeal, that must be something to do with the parent / pupil involved and as such you are highly unlikely to get to find out what that is.
It does of course complicate your situation slightly in that there are two appeals for reception year but as your case is based around mistakes made it does not have any specific impact on your appeal. The panel either agree with you that mistakes were made and your daughter should have been offered the place or they do not.

Just popping on to
Update and say thanks for all the advice, especially prh47bridge for reading my appeal.
It turned out to not be straight forward as we thought, but we obviously proved that their was an issue on the LEA's part with consistent wrong information being given, we won the appeal.
Thanks again.

Oh and also, there were two other appeals and both of them were appealing for a second time as they had lost appeals in July. Both of them were lost on distance. They must have used the September as the start of a new school year.