ACCEPT THE OFFERED PLACE EVEN IF YOU HATE IT

[TeenDivided]

End of public service announcement.

The only reason not to accept would be if you can genuine home school for the next 3 years (until infant class size are in the past), or you confirm a private school place.

Go on waiting lists.
Appeal (but in ICS situations there are few reasons that will win)

But accept the offered place

Not necessarily incorrect. If there’s a high number of siblings and EHCP’s, then it’s possible you won’t get a place if adopted. Adoption doesn’t guarantee a place if there are large numbers in the other categories.

I think this is a little harsh, parents always want the best for their kids and it’s upsetting when that doesn’t happen because you don’t have (let’s face it) the cash to go private or move to the catchment of an amazing school. I don’t think it’s ‘entitlement’ just general desperation because the system is really unfair.

I'm staggered at the number of parents I've seen who put just one school down. Some luckily got that school but others didn't. I just can't imagine having the chance to choose 3 or 4 (or 6 in some cases) yet not taking that opportunity. I put down all 4 near me, as if I didn't get my first choice I wouldn't have wanted to be allocated anything further away and I had a preferred order for the other 3.

Adopted beats pretty much everything except EHCP. It certainly beats siblings. That's the whole point.

Unless the whole class is full of EHCPs (highly highly unlikely) then Adopted is pretty much the next priority along with currently Looked After. (Unless exceptional Medical is there above that, not sure, but again there wouldn't be more than 1 or 2 of them either).

So unless it is a faith school that deprioritises adopted non faith then I think it would be surprising if it isn't an error.

Sorry I don’t understand this why wouldn’t she get a place at all? Isn’t it mandatory for every child to be given a school place?

@cantkeepawayforever Absolutely right! And I assume this is why - in London particularly - there's so much more movement with secondary

I put one down because where I live isn’t very competitive and it is the second nearest to me. The nearest is a bit sad and concrete and the parents stand in groups vaping at the school gates while their kids eat Mars bars.

The third nearest school would’ve been too far to travel.

I assume the posters child will be attending a special school. Not all special schools are suitable for all disabilities, and often parents have to push hard, very hard ,to get the one that meets their child’s needs.

I'm not sure I fully understand the appeals process. If I accept, does it waive the appeal right?

I genuinely believe an error has been made as I can see the lowest category is "within the parish" and the distance of further place offered is more the 3x than where I live in relation to the school.

I don't want to be stuck without a place at all, but it's ludicrous that we will now have a 45 minute minimum round trip for drop offs in opposite directions, rather than a 3 minute walk.

Ok but what has that got to do with other people’s applications for mainstream?

1. Accept the place (unless you accept a private place instead). It will not affect your appeal, or your chances of a waiting list place.
2. Make sure you are on the waiting list for your preferred schools. You may now be able to apply for waiting lists of other schools that you prefer to the allocated school, whether you applied originally or not.
3. Consider an appeal, but for primary school it is unlikely to be successful unless the process has been wrongly applied to you.
4. Wait. Your place on the waiting list can go down as well as up as the lists are held in order of how you meet the criteria. Late applicants might join higher up than you.
5. Last resort: remember that many kids do do well and can be happy even in schools you have strong reservations about.

Siblings are irrelevant. Looked after or previously looked after children come ahead of everyone except children with an EHCP. That includes children who were in state care outside England and ceased to be in care when they were adopted. The exception is faith schools, which must have looked after/previously looked after children of the faith first (apart from EHCPs), but can put all other children of the faith ahead of looked after children who are not of the faith. RC schools seem to do this, but it seems to be much less common in CofE schools. I can't comment on other faiths.

@Waitingforsummertocome If your child was in local authority care or being provided with local authority accommodation before you adopted her, that is a clear mistake. There is no way the school will be full of children with an EHCP and other looked after/previously looked after children. Your council should fix this immediately. If they don't, you should have no trouble winning an appeal.

Team Divided. Thank you. No it isn’t a faith school and DD was adopted in the U.K. I will contact admissions tomorrow and see what they say. I’ve just double checked and the school
use the council allocations priority and they say on their website that looked after children and adopted children from care are 2nd after children with an EHCP naming the school.

I think the poster made it clear that it was the oh me oh my moaning and groaning about places and preferences that were pretty identical in most respects that got up her nose, since the preferences offered to many parents of children with disabilities are of the like it or lump it variety. Parents of children with disabilities learn very quickly that they have to be very firm when dealing with local authorities.

No, accepting the school you've been offered does not take away your right to appeal for the school you want.

That's what puzzles me.

Wow!

If it is not a faith school, looked after children and previously looked after children are definitely first priority for admissions once children with an EHCP naming the school have been admitted. They may force you to appeal even though this sounds like a clear mistake, but don't worry about it. It should be a straightforward win at appeal.

@Waitingforsummertocome you did say she was adopted on the application didn't you?

Thanks @prh47bridge what a palava

@Coffeeandbourbons only putting one school down is a huge gamble unless your are guaranteed a place ie have a sibling there, an ehcp or your child is looked-after. I kind of get why parents think it might work in getting them their first choice, but anyone who reads the admissions criteria can see that it's not how the system works.

prh47bridge thank you. That gives me a bit of hope. This school would work so much better for her needs and they were so reassuring when we looked around it.

teamdivided - yes I’m sure I did but I’m doubting myself now. Fingers crossed it will all be sorted out but I don’t want another family to lose their place (I’m sure they won’t) so hopefully they will fit her in too.

@Coffeeandbourbons why is it unfair though? What do you think would be a fairer system?
I'm not being goady I'm just curious as to how people think admissions could be done in a fairer way than it is now.

Absolutely agree OP. I do genuinely sympathise with families in the parts of the country where the schools are very oversubscribed. It's awful when you read about children not getting places at schools on their own street, or siblings and even twins being separated- I can understand how upsetting that must be. But quite a lot of parents do seem to be at least partly architects of their own downfall, doing things like only listing one school, or filling all their preferences with schools that haven't accepted an out of catchment child for a decade whilst not including their own catchment school and then being surprised that they are offered a failing school on the other side of town. There's lots of easily accessible information about how the system works and warnings against this sort of thing abound. But every year people do it and then are shocked to discover that the rules do apply to them!
I take my hat off to the Mumsnet members who have appeals expertise. They answer the same questions over and over again, with almost infinite patience and kindness and really do help a lot of people.

This! We are in the same boat. Fingers crossed for you.