1 year on the waiting list and still no place 😫

[FlamingoYellow]

I have 2 dcs who have both been top of the waiting list since the beginning of July last year for a school 3 mins walk down the road from us. I was told when they first went on the waiting list that places were always coming up at this school, so we likely wouldn't be waiting long...

There is another primary school 15 mins walk/3 mins drive away - I'm not sure whether I should give up on the first school and see if the one slightly further away has any places. Can I just call the schools directly and ask if they're likely to have places available in September? My dcs will be in years 3 and 5 then.

Their current school is within driving distance but it is between a 40-60 minute round trip every time I do the school run and it's very difficult fitting that in twice a day around working full time. I also have to pop into school fairly regularly for meetings with the teachers or taking DCs to appointments, as they both have various issues they need extra support with. So I could hold out a little bit longer at current school, but it would be a lot less stressful if I didn't have to.

Are you sure you are still on the awaiting list? Some authorities make you reapply after x amount of time. It certainly wouldn't carry from academic to academic year. I would call and double check.

Years 3 and 5?
It’s vanishingly unlikely that two places in those years would be freed up simultaneously.
If you got one, you’d still be doing the long journey for the other child.
Strange that you haven’t exhausted all the other options though, why haven’t you looked into the other closer one before now?

When they first went on the waiting list the schools admissions team called me to say there was a place available at another primary school (which was also 15 mins walk away) if I wanted it. I turned the place down because the school had a bad reputation and was also massive, which I didn't think would be a good fit for my dcs. I also thought a place would come up for them in no time at the school we wanted. I also assumed the the other school wasn't mentioned by the schools admissions team to me a year ago because there weren't any places available, so I mentally wrote it off.
I realise it's unlikely that they would both get places at the same time, so I would still have to use wraparound care for one of them, however that would still mean my childcare costs would be halved, so there would be some benefit. Although when I originally thought through how I would do this I had assumed they would only be at separate schools for a term at most, whereas now I'm thinking it could potentially be a full year or more.

I checked in January that they were both still top of the waiting list and was told they were. I will call tomorrow though and double check that nothing has changed.

The one going into year 3 may be lucky and the school may take some extra children at year 3 as infant class size rules no longer apply, could you ask your school, same may be true for the other nearby school, so nothing wrong with waiting for more than one school. Child in year 5 may be able to walk home on their own if they did get school 3 min walk, even if other a drive away

The problem is that although they are at the top of the list it doesn’t mean that they will automatically be offered an available place. Other children could hop over them because of for example, living slightly closer, having a sibling already in the school, being LAC or former LAC . The normal admission criteria still apply on waiting lists, and if someone has a higher claim they will get the place even if they have only just gone on the list.

Meant to say it might be worth trying an appeal. If you appeal now , before the end of the school year you would also be able to make another appeal in the next school year, ie September. You have nothing to lose.

The problem is in order to get a space someone has to leave and no one will know when this might be... it might never happen 🤷‍♀️
Also just to bare in mind when you appeal the school has to pay for the process... so if there isn't a mistake and you won't win the appeal, it might not be worth it.

Do they have school places at another school? Chances of moving them together are very small? You can be on waiting lists for more than one school.

It can be unpredictable.

My dc's infant school. (2 form entry)
Wasn't full in dd1's class most of the way through, but 1 dc left and 2 joined them over the 3 years. The other class had 8 leave and 7 join.
Dd2's class was full all the way through, and around 6 left/joined from each class.
Ds' class, none left from his year until part way through year 2, and the child who got in had only been on the waiting list about a month.
They went to juniors in year 3 and about 6 who were in his year moved area in the first term. They'd all been planning a move for over a year, but then is when it happened.

Do an appeal, but if it doesn't work out, then remember that even if they're at the top now, another child can join the waiting list above them.

Thank you for the information. I didn't know about restrictions on infant class size, that's helpful to know.

I thought for an appeal I would need to have a special reason?

I'm really clueless about this stuff!

You would but if you have not been offered any places locally the Fair Access Protocol can override ICS. If the nearest space is over two miles there should be funded transport.

You can go on waiting lists for more than one school, so there is nothing to stop you applying to the 15 minutes away school as well as the nearest school.

Ah thanks. Their current school is over 2 miles away but then I guess there could be spaces at the not-very-good school, which is closer, and I don't want them going there. Dc2 has an ILP due to various problems at school and has needed a lot of support over the past year and DC1 is currently going through the assessment process for suspected ASD, so the type of school they go to is important to me too.

You say you have to see the teachers frequently because of the children's needs. Could this form the basis of an appeal, are you often called to the current school to deal with health or other issues? A closer school could make it much easier. As could having to pick the children up to attend appointments if they are appointments closer to home. Presumably if you pick up one child you have to take both because of the distance, a closer school might mean you could rely on a childminder or neighbour to collect the second child so they don’t miss out on their education.

They’ll probably ask why op wouldn’t move nearer to the current school in the first instance?
She’s either moved recently or has been doing this commute for 5 years now.

If you were to get either child an ehcp you can ask to name the most appropriate school and be admitted as an excepted child if it is "full". It may not help the other though.

We moved last summer because I could no longer afford to live in the area the dcs school was in.

I will call the 2 schools I like tomorrow and the schools admissions team and find out where I stand with waiting lists and if there are any places becoming available. If that doesn't work out I will look at appealing.

Thank you everyone for your advice.

If your child is going into year 5 it is also worth thinking about whether their primary school will affect which secondary school they are likely to be offered a place at, especially as you have moved so may no longer be in the same catchment as previously.

There is a nice secondary school opposite our house so I hope they'll go there.

But you need to check if those attending more local primary schools take priority over distance, if it is oversubscribed

Oh I see what you mean. How do I find that out? I checked the admissions criteria for the secondary and all it mentioned was priority being given to Christians (its a CofE school) then the usual stuff like catchment area, etc. I was hoping to get the dcs in on catchment area and the fact we're Catholic (the school takes a proportion of Christian children who aren't CofE).

If faith is their oversubscription criteria, you need to be careful.
The proportion of places available to non C of E children will be very small.

Be aware some LAs / schools redo the waiting lists once a year, writing out to all on the list to ask if they want to remain on the list - after a year many children are settled in an alternative school so parents don’t want to move them. If parents don’t complete and return the form or answer the email by the deadline, they are removed from the list. Of course you could always reapply to be added.

I would also check between now and the end of the summer term in case anyone is moving in the holidays and they have a place. By September someone new could leapfrog you to the top of the list if they move into the area over the summer.

On the secondary, worth looking at the information on those admitted against the oversubscription criteria and check whether the school has named / feeder primaries or requirements for Church attendance and points (e.g. weekly for five years highest priority).

I will see if I can find some info on if there are feeder schools. It was my understanding (from talking to other parents) that that we didn't really have a feeder school system in my area. It would be a good idea to check though. I don't particularly want to start attending a CofE church to get my dc into a good school, so I'm going to have to stick with applying for the secondary as 'other Christian' and hope for the best!

I called the school that's very close to us today and they said they are full in my children's year groups, with no one currently wanting to move. I then called the school that's 15 mins away and they said it's looking likely for the eldest to get a place there and possible for the youngest. I've redone their change of school request, asking for places at both schools. So we will see!

If you have checked the admissions criteria for the right year and it doesn't mention feeder schools, there aren't any, so don't worry about asking parents. Agree with checking the data for actual places allocated.