School admission.. social reasons

[Bbbbbbbb2017]

Hi.

My child is due to start next september. I left their father two years ago for dv, there is police conviction, a now expired restraining order, a final court order of NO CONTACT so he is deemed very high risk. The man's wife also has a son due to start next september and they only live a few miles away. I am concerned we are going to end up with the same school.

Do I have grounds under social reasons to apply for a school in the opposite direction so I can ensure there is no risk of my daughter ending up with her son and their father who does pick ups for him etc?
What is the best way to go about it?

Hi op- how worrying for you.

From what you have said you will have a strong case for social reasons BUT you need to check that the school (s) you're looking for actually have this as an actual criteria in this admissions policy.
Some do and some don't.

I would start looking through admissions policies for any schools you are considering for dd as there is very little point in applying for a school that doesn't use this criteria and it would be a waste of choice.

Good luck

I think you need to talk to the local authority about this. Assuming that any decent school that this other child isn't going to is acceptable, you need to enlist their help as any application for any school could be wrong as you simply don't know what the other child's application form is going to say. Obviously they can't tell you that info but they can confirm that the school your child gets a place at doesn't have this other child on the admissions list.

I would actually prefer my child to go to our catchment school, but it is a realistic option for the otherchild. There is another 1.6 miles away which admitted up to 1.2miles away this year but is in the opposite child to ex/his wife so they would have no chance.

I am going to ring admissions as i am happy just knowing they wont be in the same.school

They certainly won't decline the other child a place that they qualify for so the onus will be on you to put in a late/in-year application for a different school if you find that the other child does have a place. Is the 1.6mile school the only other nearby school or are there others that could also fulfil the need to keep the two children in different schools? How likely is it that your catchment school will be the assigned school of the other child?

Our catchment school is a realistic option for them albeit not their catchment, downside is its an excellent school which we are lacking. The only other schools would be a 30 minute drive to the opposite side of town OR the one their dad's oldest daughter goes to.

Wishing i had stuck it out when we went into a refuge away from here :(

I should add as well there is SEN involved for my daughter.

The securist option would be the one 1.6 miles away but it is so crazy over subscribed I dont know if we would have grounds for it

There is nothing you can do to stop their child getting a place at the school you want. If they qualify for a place under then admission criteria it must be offered to them by law.

You need to look at the admission criteria for the school you want to see if they have a category for social reasons. If they don't I'm afraid your situation won't make any difference. You can apply for a place at the school but you won't get any special priority. However, you should make sure the local authority is aware of the situation. If you don't get a place you may be able to argue at appeal that you have been refused unreasonably.

Im not trying to stop their child getting a space, more trying to see if I have grounds for getting my child a space somewhere their child has zero chance of getting into.

One way or another though it has to be seperate schools, the risk is too high for my children to be near their father.

I wonder if it might be helpful to return to court and ask for a clarification on the existing court order to state that the zero contact requirement includes that your children and the children of the household living with your ex absolutely must attend a different school from one another.

I suspect only a court order like this would protect you as without it the LA must apply the existing rules scrupulously and that could lead to the two children being sent to the same school. Someone who didn't understand how bad things were pre-court-order might think they were being reasonable to say that you are over-reacting - the court order still applies even with your kids in the same school and it will be pretty easy for him to avoid contact. (Nb That's not my opinion but if it is the opinion of the person who deals with your request at the LA you will get nowhere)

The OP won't get a court order in those terms. The nearest she could get is a court order prohibiting the father from applying for places at certain schools, but even that is unlikely. The court cannot use proceedings between a mother and father to order a local authority to do something (or not do something) as the LA is not a party to the case.

You say SEN issues, does you child have an ECHP?

Do you have an IDVA? I would speak to them as, if the risk is that high, it may be worth a referral to MARAC.

We are in the process of an EHCP but we dont think we will get one until she is at school.

The court order is a no contact indirect or direct with the children, a prohibited steps order to prevent the removal from my care/where I leave them and penal notices attached. It states he is high risk. We were in and out of MARAC and refuges when I decided that my daughter needed the stability of her routine, and we had a good restraining order and measures to keep us safe at home so we returned to our home address.

I know court can't insist on anything but I will give admissions a call so they are aware incase I need to appeal/apply to move schools.