Is there even any point in appealing?

[Emerald31]

Hi I'm just after some advice. My dd starts high school this September. We had a choice of two schools. One is an oversubscribed catholic high school a few miles away that is a feeder to her primary and she would have more or less been guaranteed a place as she's Catholic and we live within the parish. The second was her older brother's school down the road. We were torn between the two although I would have preferred her to go to the Catholic school. I didn't give my ds much choice first time round and he hated his school and we ended up moving him to the one he's at now. I didn't want to make the same mistake with my dd and in the end she decided she wanted to go to her brothers school.

I made it clear to her that if she didn't chose the Catholic school and then wanted to change there would be very little chance that she would get a place. She was happy with that and was all excited to start at the local school. That was until it got a bad Ofsted report and she's heard kids in our street saying it's really bad for bullying and teachers don't deal with it. She's also upset as there's only three kids in her year not going to the first choice school (I made her aware this would happen and she needed to be sure of her choice)

Anyway I've contacted admissions today just to check if the school is full and it is. I asked if she could go on the waiting list and was told she can't as we were offered our first choice school. Is this right? I've been told I'd have to do a late application but is there any point as the answer would be no and we'd have to go to appeal which we'd have no chance of winning really. I wish I'd stick to my gut instinct now and gone with the first school.

Thanks Tiggy you make a lot of sense. The school my ds goes to had a bad reputation years ago hence me not sending him there initially. It turned things around when a new head was brought in and was rated good. However things seem to have slipped again and I've heard there has been a lot of bullying going on. My ds really likes the school but he said three girls have left out of his year due to bullying and there are some bad kids that disrespect the teachers and he feels the teachers can't cope with them. My dd's primary school has also been rated requires improvement withing the last couple of months after being consistently outstanding but that doesn't surprise me at all (long story) but I was quite shocked the high school lost its good rating.

Am I right in thinking Ofsted will inspect them again soon now that they've been rated RI? I really am hoping they can turn it around as my dd is very worried as am I. So, if I apply for a place at the other school did you say my dd can then go on the waiting list once they've refused her a place? I was told that the waiting list for the school was put out yesterday so would it be too late? As if some parents change their minds and opt for other schools therefore opening up spaces wpildnt children already on the wait list (even if they're not as high a priority as my dd) get the place.