In year admission - Sibling medical grounds

[lizcambs]

Bit complicated and long but hope this makes sense.

I have 2 children, one son in year 4 and one in reception. R year son didn't get in to same school as eldest.
Eldest child has suspected ASD and has been diagnosed with separation anxiety. School are offering great support but we are waiting for an assessment so no official diagnosis as yet.

I won't go into unnecessary details but there are genuine problems with collections, we have looked at all options and currently youngest son gets pick up early which neither we or the school wish to continue.

It has been suggested by the attendance officer and eldest child's school that we could apply for an in year admission for youngest because of eldest child's medical needs.

I spoke to the LEA about this and whilst it seems they will accept sibling issues into the medical criteria, they were very unhelpful in advising what evidence was needed.

My feeling is that as we are still awaiting assessment that we will not have enough supporting evidence as my understanding is it is a very tough threshold to meet.

I also understand that logistical difficulties are not taken into consideration, but don't know if they can be when it is the medical problem that causes them?

We did not apply for youngest son to attend on medical grounds in the first instance, things have escalated with the eldest since we made the initial application. Both schools are good schools, so we are not trying to move to a 'better' school.

If anybody can offer any advice about medical admissions and supporting evidence I would be grateful.

If the attendance officer puts this in writing that might help your case?
Apply and see. Put on wait list.
In two years oldest will.move to secondary what happens then ?

But there are other options e.g. youngest does after school club. Childminder picks up youngest.

You would need to say what that can't work.

Or eldest is collected by specialist childminder or carer. There is no rule that you have to be the one picking up both?

The younger one does not have the medical issues right ?

So easy ish to organize childminder or after school club for youngest and pick..up second

Secondary school not an issue, significant difference in start and finish times.

No afterschool club or childminder options for youngest. We had one for the first term but she has stopped child minding and the only other one that does that school is full. We really have looked at all options. The head teacher of the youngest even supports the move as she sees no options.

No medical issues for younger one.

Eldest one can not be picked up by a childminder. We are new(ish) to the area so have no friends or family here either. He has quite a few issues around being safe. We would have the support of both his school and our GP with this, it really isn't an option.

It is very stressful and if there was an 'easy' solution available to us we would have taken it. We are not unhappy with the school the youngest is at, quite the opposite. We can't consider moving the elder one unfortunately which would have been the easiest solution.

Put all that on your application. In the meantime advertise for childcare for puck ups for youngest.
See what happens.
How long is the wait list?

You stand a better chance of appealing for the elder child to go to the younger one's school. Then you can base the appeal on the elder son's needs and won't have to worry about ICS if the PAN is a multiple of 15.

Sorry - I've just seen that you wouldn't consider moving your elder son.

Yes, if there are no medical grounds for the younger son, then you just need to wait and appeal I think.

I have been going through difficult admissions with my older child and trying to get everything sorted for both children is a bit of a nightmare. But if younger has no problems, other than your logistics (not dismissing this at all) then there is no fair access protocol that would apply - I don't think.

Look at your LEA's fair access protocol and see if there is anything relevant - it will be under documents and policies on the website. I am not an expert at all. Have just been having to do this myself and it is all fairly easy to understand, then at least you know your rights in relation to this.

And have you tried the equivalent of Parent partnership - whatever it is in your area - in ours it is SENDIAS. They will be able to advise in this area. Hopefully.