my son has not been offered a place in any of the schools requested

[vahidjr1360]

Dear all
My son has not been offered any of our three school choices and we are going to reject the one, which has been offered and is awful. I understand that my son's name has automatically added to the first three choices' waiting lists. I am wondering can I just call other schools that I think are good and ask if they have available places? Would they just tell us to register if they have a place? What if we could not get any school and my son continues to go to nursery for another year? Can we apply for the next year for year-1, or is the application only for the reception? Many thanks for your replies.

But you knew you weren’t in catchment area for those schools. I’m confused how you ever thought you’d get a place for your son.

The catchment areas would change every year. While we visiting the schools they said we may extend our catchment area this year and we were only 30 meters out of their area. The other one 200 meter and the last one we were in the catchment area! We didnt even get the third choice which we were in their catchment area. Moreover, we had no other options. There are only 4 schools around us. Three of them we chose and the next one is bad.

Do you mean catchment?

Or do you simply mean living close enough to fall within the greatest difference offered?

Catchment should be clearly published each year (and only changed after public consultation, though it can be easy to miss that consultation is going on).

When there are catchments, and the criteria (typically ) run 'LAC/SEN, catchment siblings, all others in catchment,non-catchment siblings, all others' it is very important to know which category you will be in when you are deciding your preferences. (Though of course being in catchment is not always enough - it settles which category you are in but if, for example, the 'other catchment children' is the tiebreak category, you can still miss out if all places are filled by those living closer)

Unfortunately, school staff (who should know better) do not always describe admissions properly, and may confusingly misuse terms.

It sounds as if there may be no catchments in your area, and that where you currently live is not close enough to qualify you for any offer (on offers day - greatest distance by admissions day - after waiting list movement - can be larger but does not have to be published).

The uncertainties of getting a place you like better at another school (now that all places have been offered) have been described by previous posters. You are lucky that you have another option (private school place lined up, or likely vacancies in an acceptable school nearby) and I hope it works out.

People do commonly say ‘catchment’ to mean distance, knowing that it is based in last distance rather than a fixed catchment boundary.

6 metres is very close, OP, you might be in with a good chance of a waiting list place.

We were warned off our catchment school as its reputation was poor and like you, we knew families where kids had moved as it was soo bad. We gave it the benefit of the doubt and did the preschool and liked it. When it came to making our school application, the catchment school was our 2nd choice but we preferred a smaller primary set in a village with an outstanding Ofsted.

Fast forward a few years, our village school got a new head, Ofsted inspected and they were put into requires improvement and I have been so disappointed with its lack of progression and growth, accepting responsibility for failings and not following through. Its been appalling. Meanwhile our catchment school has gone from strength to strength and excelled!

Go and look at your offered school, accept the place and if your child doesn't get on, move schools/ address etc.

Remember though your neighbours/friends experience will not be the same as yours.

"People do commonly say ‘catchment’ to mean distance, knowing that it is based in last distance rather than a fixed catchment boundary."

That's wrong and confusing though.

I am 100% sure that the school offered is not good. I have visited it before.
I just heard if you don’t accept the school you’ve been offered your child will go to ‘emergency waiting list’ which is for children who have rejected and don’t have school at all! Is that correct? Is there any emergency waiting list?
Another question: can I just reject the school offered and go to any school, which has available places (anywhere in city) and register my son, then wait for the waiting lists to be announced and hopefully receive a call?

There is no "emergency waiting list", if you don't accept the school offered, the local authority has discharged its duty towards you and doesn't have to do anything else. this is not the same as someone who hasn't been offered a school at all because everywhere is full, then the LA does have a duty to find a place somewhere.
Accept the place ( even if you have no intention of your child ever going there) and then

1. ask where there are vacancies available. If you are Ok with any of these, apply for a place and you should be accepted. Only then reject the place initially offered.
2. Make sure you are on the waiting list for as many schools as your LA will allow!
3. Defer your place at the school offered for as long as possible and keep your child at home/nursery until either a place you are prepared to accept comes up.

Many thanks Spanieleyes. If I have no intention of my child going to this school, why do you think I should accept? Wouldnt my appeal case be stronger, if I reject?
What do you think about appeal?

Your appeal case is not stronger if you reject the place. In fact it can be harmed by it as appeals panels don't like the idea that someone is trying to blackmail them into accepting an appeal "because otherwise little Fred has no school to go to".

If you reject the place, the LA has no obligation to find you another. You would be reliant on a place coming up from a waiting list, finding an undersubscribed school yourself, or home schooling.

Your appeal needs to be based on showing that the detriment to your child of not attending this school is greater than the detriment to the school of taking an additional pupil. You are not appealing against a school but for a school.

No, your appeal case will, if anything, be weaker if you reject. It will feel to the appeal panel like you are trying to bully them into giving you the place you want. They won't like that. That won't automatically mean you lose your appeal but it will make it less likely that the panel will give you the benefit of any doubt.

You need a plan. As spanieleyes says, there is no such thing as an "emergency waiting list". If you reject the place the local authority is not under any obligation to come up with another offer. Your son must be in full time education from the start of term following his fifth birthday. If you reject the offer and nothing else comes along, what will you do? Your only choices would be to home educate or send him to an independent (i.e. fee paying) school. Unless those are practical options, you need a place at a state school. So make sure you hold on to the one you've got. However much you hate it, that may be your only option.

If you reject the place you will quite likely end up with no school place at all
Rejecting the place will not force the LEA to give you a place that you want. They will not prioritise your child over others who have accepted places.

If you reject then you need to be prepared to go private (and have a place at a private school) or be genuinely prepared to home educate. The LEA will just heave a sigh of relief at one less child to deal with and take your child off their list. They won't bump you up the lists as your child is in no school.

I just heard if you don’t accept the school you’ve been offered your child will go to ‘emergency waiting list’ which is for children who have rejected and don’t have school at all! Is that correct? Is there any emergency waiting list?

was it the Easter bunny who told you this, or the tooth fairy?!