In year school application how long??

[Frikadellen]

We applied for dd2 to change school on 20th March 2012 on the application I put down the 26th March for preferred start date (well aware that this was unlikely but I wanted it asap) I have been in touch with the 2ndary school we want to send dd2 to and they have spaces I have spoken with the head of year and a plan is slowly being formed as to how to settle dd2 in (she is very stressed - I hate having to use that word for a 12 year old but it is the truth and full of self doubt having not managed to make any friends in the previous 2ndary we sent her to) I and the Head of Year were both of the opinion that her starting after Easter Holiday would be a great time as new term etc. I have not however heard a single thing from the LEA about this and I am now getting worried. The school is in a different county to us and have contacted their LEA letting them know they are aware that we are in the system to be transferred.
Am I worrying unnesesary considering it has been easter? I really do not want dd2 to return to her school and I am considering keeping her home so it is not a issue. This Easter holiday I am beginning to see the girl that I know is underneath all this unhappiness and I do not want to have to go back to how she was.

Keep her home til you hear but keep chasing it up. IMHO

Have you phoned the LA and asked what the delay is? And then phoned them again the next day and the day after and .....

I phoned today and was told they had heard nothing from the LEA we are applying for a school in. She also said not all school admission offices were staffed in non term time. Anyway she is going to chase and I will phone again Monday If I have heard nothing before then.

The idea that school admission offices are not staffed in non-term time is ridiculous given that we are in the middle of the admission season. If LAs are doing this it is completely wrong but I suspect it is more of an excuse for the situation not having been resolved, which may well be down to school staff not being available, as opposed to LA staff.
Regrettably these things do take time but I would keep chasing to make sure that all do their best to get this resolved.

I think that anybody who can prove that the school as the admission authority did not process any available places for a two week period at Easter because the staff were on holiday is potentially half way to having a case for maladministration.
Unless the school can prove that they subsequently took every place that became available in turn by date and then offered the place to the person at the top of the waiting list at that time they are not complying with the admission code. They are going to be in a very weak position to someone who says I should have been offered a place as I was near the top of the waiting list on that date. How can they prove they were or were not.
Must note this for admission appeals that I do this year, as we will be seeing more and more academy admission appeals.

An update. We decided to not return dd2 to her school after easter where things had still not got send through. The Council the school we are moving into Phoned me last Wednesday and I spoke to a lovely guy there who told me that when they had contacted the school she was in they had told him " we have no student of that name on our roll" He then proceeded to say " This has now been resolved" He said that the info was being processed and as soon as the paperwork was done they would be in contact but to expect it to be Wednesday (the 25th April)

This morning whilst out for coffee with my friend and dd2 my phone rang it was the council again saying they had put the papers in the post today and if I would phone the school tomorrow to arrange when to start as school would have papers then, she also said that they had contacted the school and the school was aware. So we were on a high.

Returning home I had a message on the answer phone from school I phoned back and they said bring her in tomorrow so she starts tomorrow.

Thank you for all the help I have had here I must admit writing the email to her "current" school telling them she would not return is one of the most satisfying things I have done in a long time I cant tell you how different dealing with the "new" school has been comparing to the " old" school I have already got a plan of action on how to ensure she doesn't end up in the friendless situation again and they have set up time for their SENCO to assess her dyslexia this is before they even have the papers through for her.

I have spend the evening sewing in labels in her new uniform. I have since Easter seen my darling girl shine trough again and I am certain we are making the right decision in changing her school. Now I pray for a little luck her way and a BFF would be wonderful please..

Hi Frikadellen. Believe it or not, I was happy for you reading about good news on new school for your girl. BTW, thank you for your reply on my post on waiting for application. I really hope your girl enjoy new school and make new friends soon. Socializing plays a big part on learning. My girls is 14, oh dear,she will turn 15 this Friday and I can not believe it. Anyway, she is very shy and have difficulties in socializing in general. I worry about her day and night and I hear people saying that this is due to age and so on. She does not take good care of her appearance and is not very 'girly', although she does appreciate looking at cute boys. Ok, this is off topic now. Fact is, I haven't even started application yet and I have just being informed by the LEA, that because she is out of school, she will have preference and she also told me, that is very difficult now, to get a place in year 10. My question is: don't they have to find a place for her, isn't it their job? I've been reading these post about waiting time and got me very worried about her being out of school all this time.

Hope she settles in well and has a great time there