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Original poster

Rejecting 2nd place school because we made a mistake

27 replies

samjar · 16/04/2018 02:07

Hi
So basically, my son has been offered a place to attend primary school at the school my husband listed as 2nd choice.

However, we have just realised my husband made a mistake as this school we did not even attend to view. My husband completed the application for schooling on the last day at work under pressure from other tasks - and has made the fatal mistake of selecting a school we have not seen or read reviews off.

The school has recently been turned into an Academy; but its previous entity as a school was classed "outstanding". It also turns out this school is in a really bad run down area with a higher crime rate.

But the problem is - our 1st and 3rd choice was not offered to us.

What should I do?
I would rather delay his schooling for a year to be honest than send him to this school.

Any advice? Thanks

OP posts:

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3boys3dogshelp · 16/04/2018 02:40

Please don’t reject the offered school. Phone in the morning and ask to have a look around - you might like it! If not still accept it for now (the LA have no obligation to offer another school if you reject this one) but put your name on the waiting list for any other school in the area that you would consider. Hopefully you will get a space at one of your preferred schools by September.

SD1978 · 16/04/2018 02:47

I wouldn’t automatixally dismiss the school: the reviews are important to you, and previously it’s been rated as a ‘good’ school- the area, as long as it’s local to you obviously doesn’t reflect the issues that may be around it. If you look and still don’t like it, then fair enough- but you may end up surely in the same school again next year if it’s in your catchment? At least look and ask some questions; then decide if you’d rather defer than dismissing it out of hand.

YimminiYoudar · 16/04/2018 04:22

As pp have said, don't reject the school. Your situation could get worse. Delaying school start won't help as children stay with their age cohort unless there is a convincing reason that it is in the child's best interests to be educated with a different year group. Facilitating parental school choice would not be a convincing reason. You will find it much harder to find a place you like between September 2018 and September 2021 when infant class size restrictions will no longer apply.

Focus on getting an offer you can live with now. There will be a lot of shuffling between now and September. There will be rounds of appeals. Some families holding offers for good state schools will nevertheless decide to go private. Some people will need to move house for work. Make sure you are on the waiting list for every school you would find acceptable.

Accepting or rejecting your non-desired offer place will have no bearing whatsoever on the success of any appeal or waiting-list hopefulness. Rejecting can leave you much worse off than you currently are.

WS12 · 16/04/2018 04:26

I would ask for your third choice. I'm sure someone would be able to swap places. At the end there's always some left. We ended up with 3rd choice but then actually got first through appeal- but we don't live in the UK any more.

WS12 · 16/04/2018 04:27

That's just to say we don't live there anymore so not sure if things have changed. I'm sure it will still be the same.

Rainbowqueeen · 16/04/2018 05:36

3dogs is correct. Accept the spot, put yourself on every waiting list for any school that you would be happy with.

Then go look at the school, although you may not like the area the school itself might be fine

Charmatt · 16/04/2018 05:37

Accept your offered place and see if you can make a late application for preference 3 school. Ask to stay on the waiting list for prefence 1 school. Also have a look to see if there are any other schools you wish to make a late application for.
When is your child's birthday? You may not be able to defer entry if they are not summer born. You have to apply for deferred entry or admission outside normal year group.

meditrina · 16/04/2018 06:41

I posted this to you on the main thread:

Do not murder your DH, and do not reject the school you've been offered, unless you really can HE indefinitely.

People are only ever offered one school, and it will be the highest up the preference form (if they qualified for more than one).

So in your circumstances, it means that you did not qualify for school 1 (it was filled with applicants who fitted the school criteria better than you did). You don't know if you would have been offered school 3, if you had listed it higher up, because once they know you qualify for school 2, you will be taken off lists for lower choices (shuffling everyone on those lists up one, as ranking lists for every school,are turned into single offer for each candidate).

It is likely you will have been put on the waiting list for 1 automatically, but do check. You can also ask to be added to the waiting lists for your lower preference school, as you actually want it now, or indeed any other school.

Ring admissions as soon as you can about that. If school 3 isn't full, you want to get your interest known asap.

If you delay a year, then it is likely that your DC will miss reception year completely, and when it comes to applying for an ad hoc admission to year 1 the school will still be full (any spaces would be filled from waiting list as they come up) and you would be offered nearest school with a vacancy

BertrandRussell · 16/04/2018 06:46

If it’s an outstanding school, why don’t you want it?

Somersetter · 16/04/2018 07:31

You do know that being an Academy is not a bad thing? In the past failing inner city schools were turned into Academies but in recent years and Outstanding schools are able to take a kind of fast track to becoming an Academy which means they are independent of LEA control and can manage their own budgets. It's not a negative marker in any way!

RedSkyAtNight · 16/04/2018 07:57

I'm slightly puzzled as to why you are so instantly against a school that you have not seen, have not read any reviews about and was last rated "outstanding" by Ofsted.

Picking a school based on the area that it is in and (presumably) local gossip is really not a good plan! Why not go and visit before you dismiss it?

LadyPenelope68 · 16/04/2018 08:05

You wouldn’t be offered your third place school because as far as admissions are concerned, from your application they’ve given you your second choice. You need to accept the place you’ve been offered and then put your name down on all the waiting lists you can. If you reject the place, the LA have no obligation to find you a school.

As a Pp has said, not sure why you’d totally reject an outstanding school you e never even looked at, just on the basis of crime rates in the area. Go and have a look, it might be perfect.

I never understand why people leave applications to the last minute, or complete them at work under stress etc, etc, etc for something as important as a school place.

Somersetter · 16/04/2018 08:14

You really can't blame this on your DH - you could have made the application yourself or at least double checked the application he made.

I'm sure it will all work out ok in the end - you might even get into your first choice school if you put yourself on the waiting list!

BertrandRussell · 16/04/2018 08:28

"You really can't blame this on your DH - you could have made the application yourself or at least double checked the application he made."
Really? If anyone's to blame it's the person who got the application form wrong. Why should the OP check what another adult does?

prh47bridge · 16/04/2018 11:23

Just to reiterate some of the good advice on this thread...

Do not reject the offer unless you have a backup plan (home educate or use an independent school). If you reject the offer the local authority is not under any obligation to find another place for you.

Make sure you are on the waiting list for your first choice. This should happen automatically but it is worth checking. You can also go on the waiting lists for any other schools you would prefer, although the local authority may limit the number of waiting lists you can be on.

To be honest, like others, I am not entirely clear what you are unhappy about. You have a place at a school rated "outstanding" - the highest possible rating. Many parents would kill for that. The fact it has converted to academy status won't immediately change that and may result in it getting even better. I could understand your concern if it was rated "inadequate" - is that what you meant?

Somersetter · 16/04/2018 16:15

But I'm not sure the DH did get it wrong as such? The op just doesn't agree with what he put. Possibly (like many people I know) they assumed they would get their first choice so didn't think too hard about second and third choice.

BarbarianMum · 16/04/2018 16:22

Accept the place (you can always reject it later but fgs at least look at the school before you do this).

Go on the waiting list of all schools you prefer

Wait and see if you get a place somewhere else

Decide what to do.

It's all very well saying "I'd rather homeschool for a year than send him there" but it may not be a case of a year, it might be several.

BertrandRussell · 16/04/2018 16:24

I sti want to know why the OP wants to turn down an outstanding school......

PatriciaHolm · 16/04/2018 16:29

Betrand - I sti want to know why the OP wants to turn down an outstanding school......

I suspect this may be the issue - It also turns out this school is in a really bad run down area with a higher crime rate.....

BertrandRussell · 16/04/2018 16:55

It's a primary school-the child concerned isn't going to be hanging around on street corners....

TransVisionTerf · 16/04/2018 17:00

To be fair, being classified “outstanding” on a poor area just means it’s outperforming expectations for the area. I made this mistake, stuck my kids in an upstanding school in a poorer area. Ignored the good school next to our house. The good school is FAR BETTER as you can see that a mile off. Barely anybody goes for the 11+ for example at our school, at the one near us, they’re all doing it.

BertrandRussell · 16/04/2018 17:36

Outstanding isn't just about results.

LadyLapsang · 16/04/2018 19:58

My advice would be to read the full Ofsted report on the school, easy to find on Ofsted's website; look at the progress and attainment information(fourth tab marked Further links on the Ofsted site, this will take you to DfE performance tables) and visit the school. You will then be much better informed to make a good decision. Think hard before turning down an outstanding school, your child may end up somewhere worse.

TammyWhyNot · 17/04/2018 08:11

My kids went to a school in a notorious area with a high crime rate. Great little school, high progress, high achieving, happy atmosphere. The crime wasn’t taking place IN the school and primary children tend not to go to and from school unaccompanied.

Put yourself in waiting lists, as advised, of course, but also visit this school. You might love it!

TammyWhyNot · 17/04/2018 08:13

“The good school is FAR BETTER as you can see that a mile off. Barely anybody goes for the 11+ for example at our school, at the one near us, they’re all doing it.”

That is not, per se, an indication of a good school.

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