Siblings

[Hopeful88]

I have a daughter currently in reception, class size 24. I have applied for a reception place for my second daughter to start in September but she has been allocated a different primary school instead.

The school has taken in 18 pupils to start in 2018. Some of the pupils have no sibling attending the school and live further from the school than we do(as the crow flies, walking and driving distance), however they are in the 'catchment area' so have been admitted.

How likely am I to win an appeal? There are 9 other siblings who didn't get a place.

What's the school policy? Possibly it's "Looked after children, then catchment then siblings" Have you checked?

It should be possible to get your DD on a waiting list. It sounds most unfortunate.

You might win an appeal, as it sounds as though Infant Class Size rules do not apply here (though check, because if they are combining classes anywhere up to year 2, then it might be even though the number is a tidy factor of 30).

What were the entrance criteria for the school? It's quite unusual for siblings not to be included somewhere. Can you see if there is anything that looks like an error?

If not, and if it is not an ICS appeal, you can also make a case on 'balance of prejudice' which means you have to show that the detriment to the school in going over numbers is less than the detriment to your DC in not attending. You know the school can cope with more pupils per year group, but that does not mean they can necessarily cope with being six over numbers every single year.

You will also need to list why if benefits your DC to go to this school. Not convenient logistics for you, but things that make a difference to him. With a DC already int he school, you will know a fair amount about it, which should help you say wh up your it is a uniquely good fit for him

Thanks for the replies. I have found out that 75% of the places have been filled by children with no siblings. Their catchment randomly includes an area that's not part of the village but part of my village (the other side). I'm hoping this is an error and we will be allowed in.

What kind of things are they looking for to show that the school is in the best interest for my daughter?

A few things- -

• I expect you have done this already, but double check the criteria and that you have been assessed under the right criteria, they have the correct distance for you, etc. This should be in the letter you received.

• Check whether the appeal will be ICS (Infant Class Size) - if classes in KS1 are 30 at any point, it will be. With an intake of, for example in Sept 18, 18 children in Yr1, 24 in Yr1 and 18 in Y2, that's 60 children in all so If they will be taught as 2 mixed year classes of 30 each the appeal would be ICS.

-If it's not ICS, then you need to show that the detriment to the school of taking another pupil is lower than the detriment to your daughter of not attending. Does it run clubs in subject/extra curriculars she is keen/talented in? Are there any strong arguments that can be made about friendship groups etc?

What is the criteria. Where is siblings on the list

1 is looked after children, 2 is siblings in the village, 3 is children in the village, 4 is all other siblings.
Their classes are mixed but only from yr3. They have the correct distance for us, although they seem to have included this extra bit of village in their catchment lines.

It might be worth going back to the circumstances in which your elder DD got a place. If you are outside catchment, were you offered her place instead of your chosen school, or did you choose this school as your first choice?

If it's the former, then you may have a basis for an appeal. This happened in my county, when a local school took in a bulge year, so lots of children out of catchment got a place, but their younger siblings didn't when they reverted to their original PAN.

The admissions dept at the County Council agreed to treat siblings as 'in catchment' in future years to the same school where the older child had been given a school which was not of their choosing.

Does that make any sense?

The big question here is what is the PAN of the school? Based on the numbers for 2018, it could be 18 and that for some reason the school took 24 last year.
The school should have an agreed PAN and they should have admitted to that number, no matter what numbers there were in other year groups.
It seems unlikely that they are going to run a class of 18 reception
age children as it would simply not be economic and so they are likely to be combining nursery children or year 1 children to get to a class size of 30. You need to check what the PAN is, which will be in the LA admission information and that they have admitted to the PAN. If not then that is a good reason to appeal. Also try and establish how many are in current year 1 class as that will then give you numbers for reception, year 1 and year 2 in september and you can work out whether it is an infant class size regs case.
However the other issue is that you are saying that you are one of 10 who have siblings in the school, who have not got a place. This means that the school have a horrendous mess on their hands with a very significant number of parents with their children in two schools. The LA and the school really need to try and sort this out because it is going to a major issue.
What I do think you need to consider is the school that you have been offered for the younger child and also asking the school whether they have spaces in year 1 for September. I suspect there are going to be a good few parents trying to decide whether this is the route to go, so that both children are in the same school.

The PAN is 18, there are currently 24 in reception, the class is not mixed.

A happy update, all the the appealing siblings had their appeals upheld.

Well done! What a pain that you had the hassle of an appeal. Did they make a mistake with the catchment or is it an odd shape?