Refusing a school allocated to us

[bubble2910]

Hi
We have just applied for my DD to go to Primary school. We put 3 choices down but didnt get any. Instead Bristol county council have given us a really bad school - scoring 4/inadequate in their report and it has barbed wire around the grounds.
To say i am devasted would be an understatement!! I have sent the form back asking to go on the waiting list for my original school but as they have all been oversubscribed by over 100 applications, I am not holding out much hope. We can appeal but I havent heard of many people who have won their appeal.
There is no way i want my DD going to the school the council have allocated her.
Does anyone know what would happen if I refused to accept the placement??
thanks

If you are looking at reception then you will get early years funding for private school. Also if you get childcare vouchers through work you can use these towards fees. Makes reception year at private school very affordable, particularly if you are looking at term fees as low as £1200 (assuming that isn't the figure nett of EYF}.

If you are free tomorrow (Friday) get yourself along to Felix Road Adventure Playground (near Stapleton Road station) any time from 11am onwards. You will find it absolutely full of Home Ed families. Have a chat to some of the mums there. You might well find, after that, that Home Ed seems a completely doable stop gap

I'm not in Bristol but in London and this time last year was in a similar position except that the school my DD had been allocated wasn't rough/rubbish but at the opposite end of the borough from where we live - I am a teacher in the school we'd put as first choice (DD was at the school nursery and we live a mere 800m away) and there was no way I could get her to school and me to work on time. DH teaches in a school further afield so couldn't do the school run (a 2.8 mile walk) and no local childminder takes children from here to school over there!

We rejected the place, asked to go on waiting lists for 3 schools and said we'd reserve the right not to send DD until she reached statutory school age (the term after the 5th birthday so for my DD that was January). After the first round of allocations we were 10th on the waiting list for our first choice, after the 2nd round we were given a place for DD at a local school with a dodgy reputation (but reputations aren't something that bothers me - I'd not applied for that school because I have encountered the executive Headteacher professionally and have been unimpressed/disgusted). We accepted this place but remained on the waiting list for our 1st and 2nd choices.

In September DD started at the 2nd allocation school and we moved to 3rd on the waiting list for our first choice. DD had a wonderful first term in Reception and was very happy although I wasn't particularly thrilled about the balance of classes (there were 3: DD was the only white person, child/adult, in her class whereas the other two were more mixed) the school was fine.

During the Christmas holiday we were offered a place at our first choice and so DD re-started Reception at 'my' school in January!

Just thinking about your private school fees, remember you are paying nursery £335 each month aren't you (probably) so thats x 12 which is around £4k a year and if your private school is £1200 a term thats only £3600 a year.... Just a thought. (and I know I haven't worked that sum out properly..)

bubble I am being nosy (am in Bstol too) - which school have you been allocated?

I know others have said this but how good a school is for your reception child really is just down to the reception teacher. You can get a good reception teacher in a terrible school or be in a great school and have the reception teacher go on maternity leave in November (thats what happened to us last year!).

If it was me I would get on the waiting list for every school that you have a possible chance at - including finding religion if necessary.... then you need to chase all these schools at least monthly but letter / phone calls / emails.

Then your choice is where to sit it out and wait, I guess the choices are:

• at home
• at the school you are not keen on
• at the private school.

I'd probably go with the bad school (unless you can afford private) because if its really bad you can pull her out after a few weeks and wait at home (although think home schooling sounds like hard work).

My DD is in a one form entry school, she's in year 1. So far 4 children left at the start of nursery (thats how DD got a place)... 2 children left during reception (to different schools - one as he was twin parents wanted them apart and one as parents fell out with school and got places for all kids elsewhere) and 1 child left at the end of reception (emigrated). So after the initial allocations into the nursery (only 6 non-sbiling places) an extra 7 places have come up. I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of kids leave at the end of year 1 as well.

Have a very good look at the school before you dismiss it. If the school has a mixed intake it can be difficult to get a good Ofsted.

My dd is at a school that is not popular amongst the middle-classes and yet the teaching she has had is superb. The irony is, I know someone who appealed against going there and ended up at a village school where I know (from actually knowing the teachers socially) that the teaching is less good.

Our experience is the same as Coca's. People couldn't believe that we chose the school but all our teacher friends thought that the school had the best teaching in the area. It is also great at dealing with children of all abilities; it has such a mix that it can't categorise.

The barbed wire might be very offputting but remember that it is the naughty children that are most noticeable. The well behaved children aren't as visible at the start and of the day.

If the school has just going into special measures it may have a change for head or get given lots of financial help.

Refusing the place will have no effect on your position in the waiting list. That is decided using the same admission criteria that were used to determine which children got admitted in the first place. So if you were 76th for your first choice school, you will be first on the waiting list. However, this may change if late applications come along.

It is also worth remembering that the 118 who didn't get places at your first choice school will include many who put it as their second or third choice. And some of those who put it as first choice will still be happy with the place they've been given. You may find the waiting list is much shorter than you expect. There is often a lot of movement on waiting lists between now and September.

The LA will have allocated your DD a place at the nearest school with vacancies. It may be worth asking them if there are any other schools with vacancies. It may be that there is one further from home that you would regard as more suitable.

Don't worry too much about the number of applications for each of your 3 schools, just stick your name on each waiting list. As stated above many of the applications will be duplicated with the other schools and most will accept the school they are offered.

We're in Bristol too btw. WHereabouts in the city are you? Only asking as a friend of mine couldn't get her son into Henl. (She was offered Bad. Wd) and ended up with him missing the first term of reception she applied to South Glos and got a place for him at Almondsb. Another friend applied to schools out in Chew Valley and got a space. If you are prepared to drive further you may get something you like, but obviously it depends whereabouts you are? There is also a lot of movement in waiting lists as all the ones going private haven't turned their places down yet. Good luck.

Another Bristol Mum here, please tell - which school? DD goes to Upper Horfield (main catchment area Southmead and Filton!). It was in SM a few years ago and that has been the making of it. It has seriously challenged my middle class views but I am now a big fan. I would actually be in a bit of a quandary if her waiting list place at Ashley Down came up now.

Definitely visit the school, also this is the first round of applications. Things change a lot, but if you have your heart set on one of the really popular school and don't live on the doorstep, it's unlikely to happen (I live 350m from Ashley Down).

We should be meeting for coffee next Friday at the museum, so come along and have a chat if you want.

From your childs age you will need to start them at school no later than January. I would accept the school place offered, so that you know that you have a place (of last resort I accept). Visit the school and see what you think. Accepting the place does not commit you to going there but it does secure the place. If you do not take the place then you could end up in another school even fartehr away and even worse!

In the meantime you should put your name down on the waiting list for the three schools that you put as your preferences. Also consider any other schools, especially your most local, catchment school, as this is the most likely school you will get a place at off the waiting lists

As others have said places do become available. The figure you quoted are not necessarily as bad as you think they are. Everybody can put down 3 preferences, so assuming that they had you could expect the number of applicants to be 3 times the number of available places but 2/3rds of the parents want another school as their preferred preference.

Your 2 and 3 preferences have an admission number of 90 that will mean that any appeal is going to be an infant class size appeal, which would be very difficult to win. Your first preference with an admission number of 75 may be an infant class size appeal or may not it depends how the classes are organised, so if you do want to appeal (there is no harm in trying) that would be the most sensible one to go for.

I'm a governor of a london primary that scored all 4s and went into special measures a year ago (became a governor after its descent ). It's now improving so much (within only 1 year!) that I would be v happy for my DCs to go there even though previously it sounded terrible. In fact, I reckon over the coming years, it is going to become one of the best schools in the area as it has had so much attention, appointing of great teachers, a fab new head, v experienced governors (not me) etc all focused on turning it around. So, it might be better than you think... Good luck!