Failed primary school application- advice please

[Firsttimemumofboys]

My DS has been offered his fourth place primary school. This is a good school; however, we really wanted him to go to our first choice. It is our second closest school but our local village school. We would have been applying under the ' other applicants criteria'. Most years we seem to be 250m within the boundary but obviously a busy year.
We also applied under special social measures which was unsuccessful. My DS becomes very anxious with any change in circumstances. He is still on an Individual Support Plan at his preschool as required one to one for a few months to settle him. He also took months to settle at childminder and becomes unsettled even if we have a weeks holiday. He knows the local school as attended sure start there and it is where all his friends have now got places. I know he does not have SEN but would we stand a chance at appeal based on social and emotional issues? I have contacted school and emailed the county council to ensure he is on the waiting list.
Many thanks.

Just about no chance, if it is a ICS appeal. Sorry. That said, it won't hurt to appeal - except the uncertainty may not be good for your ds (or you).

I am not sure having attending the sure start centre at the school is a good enough reason why your DC should then attend the primary school at the same site. I don't think any of your arguments would win an ICS appeal as any school should be able to deal with children who find it hard to settle.

If you being an "other applicant" means it's a faith school which you don't qualify for on faith grounds; then sorry, not a hope.
His friends going there is completely irrelevant.

Base on what you have written, your best chance would be to argue that the admission authority should have put your son in the "special social measures" category. Whether that could work depends on exactly how this category is defined and whether you submitted adequate evidence.

He has settled at the childminders and at the pre-school though. And he hasn’t got a strong link with the first choice school at all.

The sure start session won’t be in the same room with the same adults or the same activities and routine.

Thank you all for replying.

To answer some of your questions, it is not a faith school. The first offers go to nearest school, then siblings then distance - we're in the latter.

I know it is unlikely but thought worth asking. It is so traumatic for him whenever he starts somewhere new that I wanted to try and avoid that. He likes familiarity and as it's the local school, he's been to sure start and all the fairs there. Plus with his friends attending, it will alleviate some of the anxiety. I know all children are anxious with new environments but his seems more so - hence requiring one-to-one at preschool.

I can see why you are worried and sympathise. It may be though that your energies could be better spent working with the new school to achieve a good transition (you should peak to nursery SENCO and the school SENCO and get them talking to each other about this asap) than fighting an appeal that you are unlikely to win.

By all means appeal, along the lines suggested by prh47bridge, but do also prepare for your child to go to the allocated school because your chances of winning the appeal are so slim.

What does "nearest school" mean, do you mean catchment?

Some schools don't have an official catchment but they prioritise children for whom the school is their closest school, children form whom the school is not their nearest get places in a lower admission criteria which is based purely on distance from the school - it is this criteria that the OP is in. Most of our local schools do not even offer to this category and fill all their places from children in the nearest school criteria.

Sorry to be dim, but how does this differ from the distance criteria, which is Category 3 (for op)?

Iamagreyhound, we live 800m from one school (A), 850m from another in the opposite direction (B) and 900m from school (C) - we are in the middle of a triangle with a school at each corner. School C operates a “nearest school” criteria. If you live on the other side of School C (ie outside my little triangle, if you draw a map) the next infant school (D) is 2km away.

Someone who lives 901m from School C in the direction of School D who applies to School C has applied to their nearest school and will get priority over an application from us, because it is not our nearest school, even though in fact we are closer in distance.

Oh, I see. Sorry

(In my example I should clarify there is 2km between schools C and D, ie School D is 2.9km away from us, in case you read that as School D being 2km from our house, in which case my example would make no sense!)

Cross post and glad you understood me :-)