Inadequate school place offered

[Bicyclethief]

Hi

I would be very grateful for some advice. We recently moved to a new area and had to apply for a reception place for my ds who is due to start reception this September. I asked my previous local authority to transfer our application to the new (we had applied within the timescales and had a place for him in that borough). We have now received an offer for a school which was not on our list and is according to ofstead, inadequate.

Has anyone got any experience with appealing under these circumstances? I really want to appeal but I'm unclear as to what grounds I can do so. Am I really required to accept a inadequate school for my child?

I'm in a bit of a panic at the moment(just literally got the news) and can't figure out what to do!

Many thanks in advance!

Don't panic - get on all the waiting lists, and make sure that you check if you need to re-register with waiting lists after August 31st.

There will almost certainly be a fair amount of churn once term starts in September. The bigger the PAN the better.

To give you a bit of hope... DD was 42nd on the waiting list for the school we wanted at the end of July, and we got a place 3 weeks into the start of term: before the 1st September, anyone who hadn't been allocated their 1st choice was automatically on the waiting list - only a few of us re-registered, then 2 children moved overseas over the summer and another 2 never turned-up, so the Outstanding school we wanted had 4 reception places spare and we got the 3rd one.

London schools are often in this position - much better than the situation in more rural, less mobile areas where almost nobody moves.

Also, if you haven't visited all the schools in the area that you would consider then do it - we had a 'Needs Improvement' in 3rd place on our application above three 'Outstanding' schools that I really only put down in order to fill the spaces. The issues that contributed to the 'Needs Improvement' were being addressed and didn't affect early years at all. School is now rated 'Outstanding' five years on.

as others have said, do look at the school. It's quite possible that there are some excellent Reception teachers and EY/KS1 are generally good, but the lack of leadership means problems may not get dealt with or weaker teachers supported or KS2 may be bad. Equally an excellent school may not seem that way if your child encounters a less-good teacher and gets bullied by some classmates.

Get on the waiting list of every school in any borough you could feasibly get to, look at the ones where you're nearer the top of the list. On the edge of London there will be a lot of churn in September - my kids' school starts 3 kids a day and the last 6 or so are usually ones not on the list on 1 Sept!

Sorry been at work. Will review latest messages and get back!

Thank you all for helping me think this through. I feel much calmer about this today. I will accept the place offered and put his name on the waiting list (apparently I'm only able to put his name on the waiting lists for my preferences).

I will book to see the school and see if they have a plan for tackling these issues and ask what progress they have thus far.

Having read through all the helpful advice here, I am now hopeful that a place will come up at some point. I am willing to wait for it even if it's a year from now and if I am not convinced that the school is heading I the right way.

In the short term and if the school is failing to meet the required standard we will look at getting him a tutor to ensure that he doesn't get left behind.

Thank you all

Living close to the school and extended family would not carry any weight at appeal. Minimising change for your son would only be considered if you have medical evidence showing that he has a particular problem with change. Showing that the school offers things that will be of benefit to your son will be of interest to the appeal panel. That's the kind of thing they are looking for.

However, if it is an infant class size case none of this will help. You can only win if your son has been deprived of a place by a mistake or the decision to refuse admission was unreasonable. You can still try even if you can't show these things. You may strike it lucky. But you need to be realistic about your chances of success.

I think legally you can go on the waiting list for any school you like, not just your original preferences?

In my old borough you were automatically added to the waiting list for your preferred schools and had to request all others.

Are you sure you haven't misunderstood Bicyclethief?

I think legally you can go on the waiting list for any school you like, not just your original preferences

Yes and no. Some LAs limit the number of waiting lists you can be on. So if you are already on the list for all your preferences you would have to come off the list for one of them if you want to go on the waiting list for another school.

What 47bridge said. I specifically asked them which schools had vacancies and was told that I couldn't apply for one which did as it wasn't one of my preferences. If i wanted to be considered I would have to resubmit my preferences to include it. I guess it's only fair that parents who have it as their preference should be considered before those who don't.

Bicycletheif but if they had vacancies then you wouldn't be on the waiting list? So oter parents cannot be waiting for it, or they'd have accepted the vacancy offer?

Yes, that ^^

Vacancies on school which was not on my preferable list. Also I understand this has arisen since the offer was made to us.

Have you fully read the ofsted report? My ds is at a lovely school which was in special measures when he was given the place. The reason it was deemed inadequate were things that I didn't feel in any way affected his schooling. It was things like attendance was unacceptably low as there are a lot of kids from gyps families round here that barely attend the school after Easter as they are travelling. Also that the playground space was too small and the playing field they used for lunch times instead involved crossing a road which Ofsted declared dangerous (it's a tiny village and the road has about 3 cars a day). It could be that the school is inadequate due to daft things like that?

My kids were in an inadequate school, nursery and reception were good but the older years, OMG, they Ofsted was spot on. Issues were around management, marking, progress, teaching of English, behaviour. It was a terrible school at that point. 3 years later and it has had a good ofsted but it's not a good school. Teacher motivation is still on the floor, children are still being moved to other schools. It takes time to properly improve. I would feel the same as you, I'd start him, reception should be fine, and get him on all the lists of schools you're happy to accept places at.

Mymumisanighthorse, For a myriad of reasons including inadequate leadership and teaching and student poor behaviour. This is just for starters.

Sysysy, this is our plan. Did you manage to your DC out of this school?

The issues listed by Mymumsanighthorse are not enough for a school to be inadequate. There would be a lot more than this and allowances are made for travellers. However do read the report and ask how it is being addressed and whether the measures are working. You can judge a new Head and behaviour in classrooms when you visit.