No school place offered - what next ?!

[forfucksakejanet]

Opened the admissions email and really wish I hadn't. Ignorance was bliss and all that

None of our 3 allowed preferences have been allocated and no named school in the email

I've been lying here for an hour trying not to panic but I have no idea what happens next

Any advice or experience gratefully received!!!

@Addictedtohavingbabies you have a strong case for appeal. Get a doctors letter/medical letter saying she can't walk far and it would be detrimental to her if they were to go to a school further away etc. You need to prove why the school you want is best for her such as attending nursery there and made friends etc, but the doctors note will give you a strong case if you document her needs and it's currently being met by that school xx

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Did you give all the medical evidence in your application, and do you know if they put her in the right category?

Did you get through to them OP?

Kidssendingmenuts - It may not be as simple as that, assuming that the PAN for the school is a multiple of 30 and this is therefore an infant class size appeal, where the scope for winning is very narrow (essentailly a mistake has been made, depriving the child of a place). I agree, though, that it is worth checking whether the application was made and considered under the social/medical need category and seeking health care professionals' help with an appeal. It will be important that any letters they provide confirm that the child needs a place at that school in their professional opinion and not just that of the parents.

Not every school has a medical category so it might not help unfortunately although an EHCP would have.

Yes, that's why the point is worth checking.

Thanks for the advice offered on this thread. I tried to start my own thread but wouldn't work so sorry to derail the thread. I've just got together doctors assessments as evidence to take to my appeal.

@Kidssendingmenuts, unfortunately that isn't the case if it is an Infant Class Size appeal . To win an Infant Class Size appeal, even with such needs as @Addictedtohavingbabies's DD has, she would have to show that there has either been a mistake in the application procedures, or that the decision not to admit was unreasonable (legally unreasonable, not commonsense unreasonable). Unless there was a medical criteria in the admissions criteria for the school, her DD should have been accepted as qualifying for that criteria and should have been awarded a place under that criteria, she can't win an ICS appeal on medical grounds, unless the panel deem the non-admission to be Unreasonable. In the legal sense unreasonable is taken to be "a decision that no reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case."

As all schools are deemed (and I use the word deemed deliberately, as I think it's a political stance rather than a statement of truth) to be able to provide an education with children with the majority of SEN, the only way you could possibly swing this is if you had some sort of evidence that specifically states that only this one school could meet your DD's needs, for x,y,z reasons, but I would be amazed if there were any reasons a health professional could think of for a 4 year old with joint hypermobility syndrome, GDD +/- ASD that would stick. Additionally, for the LA to be found to have been Unreasonable, they would have had to have had the evidence before them to make the decision in the first place (although that wouldn't apply if there wasn't a medical category in the first place).

As a last resort I'd be happy to take another place in a nearer school even if not the one I originally wanted. I'm just going to find it impossible to get her to that particular school on time and am struggling to understand their decision.

I had the same letter with DD1. Within a few weeks I had appealed and she was offered a place at our number 1 preference, which we were in the catchment for.

Don't worry it will work itself out one way or another

The decision was that your daughter did not qualify for any of your preferred schools. Either they didn't have an admissions category for special medical needs, or you didn't provide enough information about your daughter's disability, or they decided that, since your daughter will clearly be entitled to free transport, she can attend any school. As your daughter did not qualify for your preferred schools they offered the nearest school with places available.

You can appeal and a sympathetic appeal panel may decide to ignore the rules and admit your daughter. However, on the information you have posted, an appeal is a long shot. You may, of course, get into one of your preferred schools via the waiting list. If not, make sure you chase the LA for free transport.

They aren't looking at her name or circumstances. It's a big sorting pile. A list. Everyone is put on the list in order of qualifying for each school they have chosen. So, for simplicity, if it was only about distance, and each child was a whole number of metres away from each school, and nobody could be exactly the same distance away as another child (oh so easy!), then the child who was 1 metre away gets spot 1, 2 metres away gets spot 2, 3 metres away gets spot 3, etc.

But each child has chosen up to 6 schools, depending on the LA. So it may be that the child in spot 3 in school A actually chose school B as first choice. So they will get struck off of the list for schools A,C,D,E, and F, no matter where they were on the list in those schools. Everyone else on those lists below them will move up one spot. The child in spot 1 in school B wanted school C, so the child who desperately wanted school C, and would have otherwise got a rejection letter because they were going to be in spot 31, will instead be getting an acceptance letter, because they will move to spot 30. This process happens before offers day until all the places at all the schools are full. The schools will just shuffle the list up and up as names are removed because other schools have a space for them, at the same time confirming the status of their list.

Once all lists are full, there will sadly be a group of children who fall below spot 15/30/45/60/90/120! or whatever the PAN is of the schools they applied for, and they also didn't make the cut for the schools that they didn't apply for but were close to. Those children get the 'no school allocated' letters.

Thanks everyone for your advice

I spoke to the admissions people and they advised that I should have had another email alongside the confirmation with an offer.

They sent me a copy and it shows she has been allocated a school about a mile away from us so that bit is ok. It's just in the wrong direction for work etc

Turns out I wouldn't have got a place at the catchment school either, lots of people living near me are in the same boat.

So, onto appeal and waiting list for my preferred school.

The school offered has gone from a 4 to a 2 in OFSTED ratings since 2008 but people don't apply for it, hence it's used as a filler school as it's under subscribed

The next issue to tackle is before and after school childcare as the school doesn't provide and there doesn't seem to be much about but we have time to sort

Thanks again everyone, glad I posted as I got some great advice

Off for a hot bath and a big fat glass of something cold 😁

Glad you have at least something!

If you're speedy you may be able to get a childminder for the allocated school (as other people will also have been allocated a school they weren't expecting, so will have given up a CM place).

Waiting list for your preferred school is a great idea, and we got in from a waiting list, but do you have grounds for an appeal? There's usually really good advice on here about appeals; but convenience isn't really grounds for an appeal.

get in touch on message boards etc and people you might know tat live near your new school.various mums who didn't get a place and also others often start before and after school lifts.helps between eacohter as there are so many now not getting the places they thought or wanted to.

Its a horrible system at both primary and secondary level. We live in a village with no secondary school and generally all children have either been allocated a reasonable school two villages away or have gone private. This year for some reason only half of the village has been allocated the reasonable school and the other half has been allocated a school with a very bad reputation currently in special measures six miles away.
We've kept DS in private (he was allocated the school in special measures) but talking to a friend yesterday her daughter has been given the poorly performing school and she has said whilst there's no way she's sending her DD there it will be fine because she'll just apply to another school in a nearby town. Having lurked on these threads I've had to explain that the system has changed a fair bit since we were at school 30 years ago..

The local authority where DGC lives has changed the rules around catchments and feeder schools for their over subscribed senior schools. It's an area where quite a few are sought after.

After the usual LAC, sibling rules, they now allocate on distance. DGC has got a place in 1st choice school because of the change. it makes so much sense IMO.

Well it seems that according to the LA, we missed out on a place by 20m!

There is potentially a lot of movement happening as there are parents who got a space who are moving but kept their place just in case.

Also they have advised we are currently top of the waiting list so fingers and toes crossed

forfucksakejanet that is looking very promising! Good luck

So we had a call today from the LA offering my DD a place at her first choice school!

No reasons given but I do not really care, so very very happy

Fabulous! I have had similarly positive news today....

That is great news!! Congratulations I hope she will be very happy there.

Good news banana

Thanks Downey