single mum and student needs help with appealing a school refusal

[nesey1]

i would like some advice regarding appealing a refusal for a reception school place. My daughter has been refused her preferred school choices due to not being in their catchment area, and has been offered a school that is round the corner from me. However when applying i asked for my parents address to be taken into consideration as they will be taking her to and from school, they live 0.7 miles away from the preferred schools. i am a single mum and currently studying on a full time Nursing degree, i will be starting my 3rd year in September. There is no way possible that i will be able to take my daughter to and from school whilst on placement which consists of 50% of my degree. I would have to quit my degree in order to take my daughter to school, which inevitably will have a huge negative impact on my daughters life. my parents are not willing to take my daughter to the school that she has been offered as it is 4 miles away from their house. My dad will be taking my daughter to school after completing a night shift due to my mum working days and he does not drive. My daughter currently attends the preschool of one of the schools that we chose however she was still refused a place. i will be appealing their decision. do you think that i have a good enough case or should i quit my degree from now? could i change my daughters address as living with my parents, as she spend the majority of her time there while i study? will that help secure her a place at the preferred schools. im desperate.. help....

what ever i chose to do, i will thoroughly investigate and weigh up the pros and cons.. i have not looked into moving my daughter to my parents, it was a suggestion as i honestly thought that i had good enough reasons to win the appeal.

i will have alot more flexibility when im qualified in regards to choosing shifts, there are various areas that i could work in which will have working hours that will suit me better as opposed to the dreaded 12 hour shifts. my 3rd year placements are all clinical which means i have limited choice in terms of hours.

currently my daughter attends a preschool that is within walking distance of my parents house... so they mainly do the school run, they usually collect her when she is ill or in worse case scenario i have taken days off to look after her when she is ill. my parents have been great however they have stated that they will not travel 4 miles in order to take my daughter to school.

yes i guess i will have to look into childminders (something that im reluctant to do)... i hope i can find a good one with plenty of good references

For your research - this is the School Admissions Code 2014. Section 2, part 15 explains the Infant Class Size (ICS) rule and lists the criteria for exceptions to the Infant Class Size rule.
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389388/School_Admissions_Code_2014_-_19_Dec.pdf

The Local Government Ombudsman offers a very clear, easy to read fact sheet. Although this is for parents whose appeal has failed and want to lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman, it does explain very clearly the very limited circumstances under which an ICS appeal would win.

www.lgo.org.uk/make-a-complaint/fact-sheets/education/infant-class-size-appeals

One other option would be to look for a school with vacancies closer to your parents. It is unlikely to be a good school but may be good at EYFS level and be a place for her while you are on the waiting list.

Which part of the world are you in that will allow you flexibility in choosing shifts? The reality is that you take what you're given and you do what needs to be done .

I used to sit on appeals panels. You have a 0% chance of success in the grounds you list above. None at all.

Moving your DD will only be possible if it is her permanent residence. The council is unlikely to view it as her permanent residence if you are living elsewhere and getting child benefit and tax credits for her at that property, etc.

Even if you do convince the council that her permanent residence has changed, it will only serve to possibly move her up the waiting list. It won't be able to be used as a grounds for appeal.

You do realise that all the desirable shifts (that are already as rare as rocking horse shit) will be taken. Or will you try the 'single parent' line to try to get your own way there as well?

I think you need a more robust plan in terms of the future, which a cm could provide.

I must admit i know of no nurse (newly qualified or not) that always go the shifts they wanted because everyone wants the same shifts :) and hey doing three long days has a lot going for it so don't knock it till you've tried it.

I'm a nurse with 3 young children at two different schools because one has special needs so needs to attend a special school. I only work 23 hours per week. My shifts over the last few weeks have been night shifts on both nights of the bank holiday weekend, long days on Friday and Saturday last week, then a long day yesterday...in fact it's fair to say that working in my area means that I work 50% nights and 50% weekends. If course, that doesn't mean I'm always either on a night or a weekend, because some shifts are weekend nights.

Childcare is never easy in nursing.

part time/term time health visitor, school nurse, practice nurse etc.. their hours tend to be more flexible than being based on a ward in a hospital however some wards may offer split shifts..

ive worked with nurses who work part time or term time therefore i know that it is possibility.

anyway im off to bed. thanks again peeps :)

All of those roles require post qualification experience and training. It's increasingly rare to get term time contracts. Bank nursing is a possibility but not ideal for a newly qualified nurse.

yes i am fully aware of that n i never mentioned that i will be given lovely shifts or even shifts that i specifically want.. i have been working as a student nurse for the past 2 years n i have had to work lots of unsociable hours.. including nights, weekends, bank holidays etc.. i am fully aware of that... your telling me what i already know... but there are nurses who work part time hours, term time or split shifts which suit them better!!! fyi not all nurses work in the hospital, not all nurses work 12 hour shifts,not all nurses work nights, not all nurses work bank holidays etc... i have plenty of options

im not gonna get dragged in to going back and forth with ppl who are just nitpicking...

peace out

OP. Just a quick message of sympathy. I was on my own with my FMDD for years, and it is SO tough trying to make everything work, and SO first rating when there is a logical solution which is hard to make happen. I wish you the best of luck.

i agree.. i would ideally want to gain clinical experience and build on my skills before working into the community. however i will see what vacancies are available when i qualify...

thank you for understanding exactly where im coming from.. it is soo hard.. i just want the best for my daughter and myself. thank you civilfawlty

I think you need to investigate getting a childminder to help you out. I work part time and one of my DC has SEN with social issues too. He adores his childminder and she is fantastic with him. He looks forward to his days with her.

I'm a single parent. I was in a similar position to you when I did my midwifery placement - kids school was a 2 bus journey away and I had to take them in myself for breakfast club and they stayed for after school club. When I went on my placement I explained my situation and they went out of their way to give me a 8:30- 4:30 shift 95% of the time. I had to use a childminder for the rest of the time.

You need to be realistic. It is highly unlikely you would win an appeal. You have no grounds for an appeal. Look into childminders.

I think you've been a bit harsh on lougle there.

I think she was gently trying to point out that you may need a more realistic plan for the future. If your current childcare is unwilling to travel to the area where you live, then you can't really afford to work on the basis of seeing what shifts come up without having to compromise somewhere.

Is moving closer to your parents an option at all. Being closer to the school in question would also move you up the waiting list.

TheTartOfAsgard, I think it's worth pointing out that during placements you are supernumerary. Clinical areas can be flexible because you have no responsibility for the patient. One you are a registered practitioner in the rota, you can't turn up late because that means that a set of patients don't have a nurse for the time between the night nurse's departure and your arrival.

OP I wish you well but I do think that you need to work on your communication style. You've been quite hostile in response to reasonable challenge and you'll get a lot of challenge in your future career.

Ok, seriously, don't dismiss the taxi idea out of hand. Realistically how many shifts are we talking about? You'll do three to four shifts a week, some of them maybe on a weekend, some maybe nights (in which case you can do the school run).

You'd be looking at £20-30 a week, I presume you're doing block placements so it's five weeks at a time.

You would end up paying that for a childminder over one day. I know you get help with your childcare fees, so this may or may not be an issue in terms of affordability.

But seriously, you need to work on the basis that your daughter won't get into the school near your parents. Get a plan in place and go from there. It's one year out of your whole life. These issues won't go away if you defer for a year and you'll end up kicking yourself later down the line for not grinning and bearing it.