In-year transfer for Year 2 with safety concerns and no places

[abbey996]

I have applied for an inyear transfer for my daughter as at her current school she is being subjected to daily physical attacks off 2 children and i also have safeguarding concerns around the school so want to move her.
The school admissons team have said the school i have requested currently has no space for year 2 and i am on a waiting list - now i have been in contact with the school i want and they have said they would love to have her and i have had a show around with the headteacher and a meeting with the sendco to support her ADHD needs. what else can i do? does this mean they have spaces for september in year 3 when the legal 30max ruling no longer applies? - HELP

@abbey996 It might. Ask them. Some schools hold fast on 30 but others are a bit more flexible.

You could go with a school not oversubscribed.

No it doesn’t mean they will accept her. Have you made an InYear application yet? You need to do so and appeal if refused a place but that would take time. Would your Dd qualify for an ehcp? Have you followed the complaints process at current school? Are there other schools with places available?

Have you been to the Governors of the current school? Daily physical attacks are not on.

Assuming that you’ve gone through the usual channels and spoken to the class teacher, then the head p, you could approach the governors.

Have you considered any other schools in the area, or asked for a list of schools that do have space? At least then, you’ll know what your options are.

Given that you are on the waiting list, I presume you have applied. When they told you that the school was full they should have told you how to appeal. You should so so. That will take time, but it could get your daughter a place for September. There is no guarantee that the school will choose to admit more in September unless you appeal.

That’s not quite correct. Governors don’t deal with operational matters, so if you contact them, they’ll refer you back to the school. If you feel you haven’t been heard, then you could use the school’s complaints process which should be on their website.

Schools can’t legally go over the 30 per class. If you appeal, for R-Y2 there’s not much an appeal panel can do. However from Y3 onwards there’s a lot more wiggle room particularly if the school is saying they’re happy to have your DD. Make sure you’re on the waiting list. Speak to the admissions team and make sure you’ve applied in time for any admissions in Sept. And then you’ll want to make an appeal for a place first thing in Sept. Find out from the appeals team the earliest date they’ll have an appeal and make sure you’re paper work etc is in on time so you get the earliest date. In this situation, as long as there’s no other appeals for the same school and year group the school will likely not put up much of a defence and the appeal panel will easily be able to grant your child a space. I’ve seen a school say the appeal panel that ‘y3 classrooms are able to accommodate 32’- ie there the no reason why X shouldn’t get a place. But it’s all about getting in first. If there’s a potential space or two, you’ll want to get in there first.

Considering we’re in the last half term of school, there might be some movement before September- you can find out where on the waitlist your child is as well to give you an idea how likely she is to get the space if one child was due to leave

it could be that the situation is that they know a family is moving during the summer so there will in theory be a Y3 vacancy in September. The problem is until the first child is off roll (if they are moving before the holiday and immediately joining their new school for the last few weeks or days) , or it is September so they can go over 30 for a few days until they can officially take the first child off, you are in danger of losing the place if a child with higher priorities turns up and wants the place.

I am not sure if you would be able to put in an appeal now for a Y3 place for September, but if they turned the appeal down you could make another one in September as it will be a new school year - you can only make one appeal for a place in each school year.

Make sure you are on the waiting list anyway. Good luck.