In year application. Place offered then few days before due to start it was withdrawn

[Macca18]

We have moved house within same local authority.
Submitted in year school application for our twin boys who are in year 1 (they could be year 2). They are educated out of normal cohort due to being summer born and very premature. Current headteacher has been very supportive of this.

The school's we applied to were also aware of the situation and supportive of them remaining in their current year group.

Our application to the council very clearly stated we were applying for year 1.

On the last day of term before the Easter holidays we received the outcome letter offering them a place at one of our preferred schools. I called the new headteacher and we agreed a start date of 26th April so they could go back to their current school for a week to say goodbye to classmates and teachers. The headteacher suggested looking at videos and information on the website for new starters. She told us where to get uniform from.
Understandably the boys are anxious about changing schools but we've been practicing the walk to the new school, they've tried on the uniform, the videos on the website really helped and they were starting to feel a bit excited.

Today we got an email saying the offer is withdrawn because they made an error. They were allocated a place in year 2 and year 1 is full. They haven't been given a place in any of our preferred schools. They've been offered a Catholic school further away and we are not religious.

Does anyone have any advice about appealing and how to submit a formal complaint?

I will summarise some of their arguments:

1. all classrooms are below DfE minimum recommended size (they are between 49m2 and 52m2).

2. no classroom has access to outdoors. children have to pass via corridors/staircases. these pathways are narrow and can become very crowded.

• one pupil in Y1 requires SEN support. others are below the expected level and require additional support. There is limited TA support across Y1 and Y2 classes. Where there is additional support within the classroom, this places additional pressure on the available space.

3. limited outside space, inadequate for 250+ children. the small playground has to cater for split playtimes, outdoor learning environment, outdoor PE. all children use it at lunch. crowded playground puts pressure on behaviour management and the provision of suitable play experiences.

4. school hall is small and crowded at lunchtime accomodating 253 children.

5. toilet facilities are barely adequate . the ones upstairs cannot be used at break times. an increase in pupils will place further pressure on toilet facilities during breaktimes.

6. external access to the school is cramped. it is on a cul-de-sac with no turning facilities. rising numbers will exacerbate problems caused by vehicle deliveries and parents in cars. coaches must park two streets away to load and unload.

7. the leadership team and governors believe to admit above PAN in this yr group will create overcrowding in classrooms, increase burden on infrastructure and compromise teaching and learning. there is a concern around the impact of further admissions on the high levels of attainment for this yr group.

I don't agree with some of these arguments. we are 0.2 miles away and would not be driving. it is nothing to do with us if coaches and deliveries cannot get near the school.
Why should the fact there are children with SEN or working below expected level have an impact on our appeal? Surely this is the case for all schools?

And putting them in y2 would still increase the overall numbers so those arguments don't make sense.

I had a friend with a similar case - albeit they had moved to a different local authority.

They wanted a Yr 1 place in their new local authority and were offered a Yr 2 place.

They were told they had no right to appeal this decision (which was confirmed by the ombudsman - summer born guidance attached), as you can only appeal against the decision to refuse a school, not against what year group they were placed in?

Is that not the same case here because it's the same local authority? Are both schools (current school and new school you want) both local authority schools and not VA schools/academies etc? Or else they don't have to honour the summer born deferral if so. I'm surprised they haven't tried claiming the "no right of appeal" thing anyway because you have been offered a place, just not in the year group you want.

As keiki says, they were willing to put your twins in Y2 which undermines their arguments a little.

The classrooms are below current size standards but many older schools have 30 pupils in classrooms of this size.

I don't think the fact that classrooms don't have direct access to outdoors areas helps them particularly other than potentially increasing crowding in corridors. I would ask them how many accidents there have been in the last 12 months directly attributable to overcrowding. The answer is probably none.

With a PAN of 91, if they only have 1 child needing SEN support that is well below the national average. Schools tend to put this in to argue that additional pupils will mean they will struggle because of the number of SEN children. In this case, the number being so low helps you. The national average is 1.6% of pupils with an EHCP and 12.6% needing SEN support.

Points 3-6 are undermined by the fact they were willing to take your twins in Y2 and the fact you won't be driving. Point 7 doesn't really add anything to their arguments.

yes that is a good point about overall numbers since they offered them a place in year 2. I will mention that. Although they could say that the year 2 place they were offered has since been offered to another child.

Yes only 1 child needing SEN does seem low. They seem to be most concerned about maintaining their high levels of attainment.

also there is no legal requirement for the size of classrooms, only recommended sizes

Update
We had the appeal this morning and found out this afternoon that we won! I'm so relieved. The advice on this thread really helped. Thank you so much everyone!

That's great news. Well done.

Phew well done! Great news

Congratulations, what a relief for you all.