School won't tell me waiting list position

[SummerIsComing2019]

CoE primary, it is our first option and we did not get in.
I have called the school at least 20 times since May, I have emailed them as well and still have not heard back. I just want to know where on the waiting list we are and they are blatantly blanking me.

I have left numerous messages with whoever picks up the phone and asked kindly to be contacted. No one has ever called, not only that, but the person in admissions never picks up the phone. This has been going for months.

What should I do? I have no idea how to tackle this.

I hardly think that the school will be calling parents of DC ranked below OP’s DC on the criteria and advising them to get their kids baptised / go to church every week / move closer to the school than OP’s address / get their kids diagnosed with a suitable SEN etc etc just to make sure OP’s further down the waiting list.....

You'd be naive then. Take my friend who moved into the catchment area of the school she wants DD to attend next year. She moved there when she was under 1, has attended every open event possible (PTA, Xmas, Summer fete). Donates/volunteers for various things. Is on 1st name terms with HT and several staff. Nobody can give her DD a place but you can guarantee that they've told her how to absolutely maximise her chances.

But what do you mean by maximise her chances?? In most schools' criteria, the only ways to maximise your chances are either impossible (travel back in time to manufacture an older sibling, or get yourself taken into care) or equally blindingly obvious to anyone who gives a glance at the criteria (move nearer to the school, or start attending church more often). I grant you that some rectors do fudge the supplementary forms, but that's generally between the church and the applicant, not the school.

Church. ?SEN. Or something that not many people know is that you can use your own health needs to justify why your child should go to a particular school. Like my wheelchair using neighbour put in evidence of her needs to justify why her child absolutely had to be in the school on our doorstep.

Well yes, but all of those are still perfectly obvious from just reading the admissions criteria on the school website. Including a parent's ability to use their own health needs to argue for a school space - it's no secret that it's an option, it'll be right there in the criteria, and the bar is set very high in terms of evidence (and certainly here, it's the LA that judges that evidence, even in a faith school application) . Actually, SEN is more often used IME by schools to argue why they can't take a pupil, not why they should. And if the child's got an EHCP already then they're outside the admissions criteria anyway.

Or something that not many people know is that you can use your own health needs to justify why your child should go to a particular school

In a lot of schools you can't. If the school actually have a social/medical needs criteria at all (they don't have to), it often applies only to the child.

All schools have it. It is rarely part of their official admission criteria but it can be used at any time. Official criteria is usually in care, SEN, sibling and distance/catchment area.

That's just not true! If it's not in the criteria, it can't be used. Unless it's in an appeal situation, when you argue anything you like. SEN is rarely part of the criteria, unless you're talking about children with an EHCP naming that school, who are admitted first before any of the other criteria are considered so are sort of outside the process anyway.

All schools certainly don't take parents medical conditions into account, nor can schools have "unofficial" admissions criteria-this would lead to chaos!

Wrong. You can submit additional information to LA and school to justify your place. I've never known it to fail but then I've only known people with real reasons which can be substantiated by professionals.

SEN is always part of the criteria. You don't necessarily need an EHCP. Solid evidence of ongoing assessment/investigation is sufficient.

I'm a SLT and a helicopter mum. I really know my shit.

And this is as part of the normal application process. Not as part of the appeal.

I'm a SLT and a helicopter mum. I really know my shit.

IIRC (though i may be mistaken / muddling her up with someone else) spanieleyes is something fairly senior in a school, and genuinely does know how the process works.

If you are a member of the Senior Leadership Team of a school and your school is operating its admissions along the lines that you are stating against the Admissions Code here which is statutory, ie having the force of law), then i am surprised that no-one has yet reported you to the Ombudsman for running your admissions incorrectly....

Section 1.9 of the Admissions Code, starting on page 10, is particularly relevant here, and particularly states that school must not (ie are legally not allowed to) use any criteria other than those in their published admissions arrangements in deciding who to admit, nor can they take into account any support the parents give to the school.

If someone gets in, having supported the school a lot, then it will be DESPITE the support - ie they would have got the place anyway - not BECAUSE OF that support. Or else the school is breaking the law....

(And sorry, should have referred to the Schools Adjudicator, not the Ombudsman, in my first post.)

I'm a Head and know mine too!
You can submit any additional information you like but it will be ignored unless it meets the published admissions criteria.
SEN is not always part of the criteria ( I'm SENCO too) although an EHCP will trump that.
and knowing the Head gets you nowhere either

[Glad I remembered spanieleyes' level of expertise correctly!]

It's like all the myths about admissions - 'I got a place because i put the same school down 5x' etc. People wrongly imagine a causative link when there is simply a coincidental one - you got the place because you satisfied the admissions criteria best, not because of how you filled in the form / knowing the head / submitting extra information / having some SEN short of an EHCP / appearing at fetes etc

Op..

Assuming your dc started school a few weeks ago why would you even entertain moving them at this point.

Some children have to move due to parents separation/ moving house/ lots of other reasons but unless you are in a dire school I wouldn’t move my child at this point.

I do think while receptionist sounds rude she has a point .

I live in an area w very good schools . There is movement within w schools but usually because the school isn’t the right fit for the child rather than to improve academic results .

How is your dc settling into new school?

If we are willy waving, I sit on Admissions Appeals panels. I know the admissions code.

There is nothing in the code requiring schools to have criteria about social or media needs. IF a child has an EHCP that names a school, that is different, but schools do not have to have social or medical needs as a criteria. Many do, but many don't, and many do but only in relation to the child not the parent.

If they are not laid out as explicit criteria, they cannot be used as part of the admissions process and to do so would be breaking the law.

My first choice was a faith school, literally at the bottom of my street. Second choice non-faith within walking distance. Third choice non-faith long walking distance. I didn't get any. I was allocated a faith school just under 2 miles away, so driving was the only option. I appealed and was told I was 3rd on the list, was looking at Easter time at the earliest when a place might come available. HM was lovely and understanding why we wanted a place, I'd have loved to been able to walk my child to school. She kept me informed each term, but never once did I pester her. By Easter we had moved to 7th on the list, due to various factors which were out of the HM control. At that point I decided to leave my daughter where she was. She was settled, had formed friendship groups and although this was a catholic rather than my 1st choice Christian school, she loved it, going to mass, learning new things etc. So my advice would be, form a good relationship with the HM, perhaps go see them? Don't hassle them as my understanding is they do have some sort of say. And perhaps consider leaving your child where they are?

Thanks for a hilarious (but quite disturbing) mental image, Patricia!

Sage advice, but just one point. Heads, no matter how nice, have no say in the admissions process. I can't shove someone up the waiting list because I think they would be a good match for the school or because Mum helps out with the potwashing. But conversely, nor can I push someone down the waiting list because the parent is a pain in the arse!

Agreed with spanieleyes,.

I have had people beg me for a place 'we go to church', 'we are good people' etc. None of these matter as they're not part of our admissions criteria.

I am sorry the school administrator hasn't got back to you but there is a very strong possibility that they have no idea where you are on the list. This is such a busy time of year for schools (when isn't), settling new staff, new children ensuring all safeguarding in place, new ofsted framework, policies, risk assessments etc. I am afraid your calls may be low on the priority list (unless they can offer you a place).

You can submit any additional information you like but it will be ignored unless it meets the published admissions criteria.

I'd say to all parents reading that you can believe this if you want. Or, you can submit any evidence that you have which would support your child going to that school such as a parental disability (like my wheelchair bound neighbour) and IME, it helps your application significantly.

Your EHCP need not "name a school", but it would help if both the EHCP and the application stated why the school is thought to be a good fit for the student. The EHCP can do this by recommending specific features that would aid the individual.

If you don't get in the 1st time. This will aid an appeal. But you have to have good reason other than simply wanting the best school.