Whose responsibility is it to find a school?

[OneTruePearl]

My husband and I have discovered that two of his grandchildren are being neglected by their mother - their father plays no role in their lives. We want to offer them a home. It entails moving them 500 miles.

The children are 12 and 14. Our local secondary school is full. Our Council can offer one of the children a place at a middle school in a nearby town but have nothing for the older child. It's a two town council area and nearly all the secondary schools are in the other town which is over 10 miles away by car. To get to one of those schools by public transport would entail a 30 mile train journey which would take well over an hour. None of their classmates would live anywhere near us.

The Council have referred us to the neighbouring borough but the only school they have with vacancies for both of them was graded unsatsisfactory last year. It is also 9 miles away and there is no public transport to get them there and no school bus because we are out of area.

Whose responsibility is it to find them a school, mine or the Council's? Can I demand the Council pays for them to go to a private school?

Erm, well there's no harm in trying.
Good luck.

Assuming you are in England, once it is confirmed that the children will be living with you it is up to your Council to find a place. You will need to apply formally on their application form, naming your preferences. If no within a reasonable distance has vacancies they will use their Fair Access Protocol, which basically means places will be allocated at the school(s) best able to handle additional children. They do not have to put both children in the same school. Note that a journey of up to one hour each way is viewed as reasonable, so the allocated school(s) could be some distance away. If the school is more than 3 miles away by the shortest safe walking route the Council must provide free transport to and from school.

When the Council does offer places you should accept them even if you don't like the allocated schools. If you reject the places the Council does not have to come up with another offer. And if they do come up with another offer there is a good chance it will be even less acceptable to you.

If the Council is unable to offer a place at one of your preferred schools you can appeal for a place if you wish.

And no, you cannot demand that the Council pays for them to go to a private school.

Are the children classified as looked after? Do they have a SW?

If so, the LEA has 20 school days from the date of them moving to the borough in which to find them a place, and can direct schools to go over numbers and admit a looked after child when they are full.

All this would depend on the children's status and what kind of arrangement you have.

Why disrupt the kids? Surley its in their best interests to stay in their school, near their friends, groups etc. I would think it best you move near them and support them to stay with their Mum, seeing as your son abandoned them, they have been through a lot.

I reread, your Dh was married before and they are his gc, I read it being your ds, so ignore those comments, sorry.

You need to do this through children's services. As a poster above said, children who are looked after or who are in kinship care are at the top of admissions lists and LAs will generally push over numbers to accommodate them. You need to get the 2 sets of children's services offices working together and make your applications with the backing of the local SW.

If the children are looked after, the home borough retains responsibility, so Children's Services in your borough will not make any decisions about where they go to school. You will need to apply with the backing of the children's SW/advisory teacher from their home borough.