All Schools are Full

[ShaziaG]

Hi,
I've just relocated back to the UK from South Africa. We have a home in New Malden and naturally moved back. I have 2 girls in Year 7 and Year 10 but we can't find schools, all are full. We've applied to neighboring boroughs but no success. I just don't know what to do. Any suggestions? Please help

The LA is legally obliged to find you a place.
If you can afford private, you could go down that route.
However, it will be difficult for your Y10 as everyone is in the middle of their GCSEs.

Appeal.

There is also something called 'Fair Access Protocol' whereby they need to place you somewhere if no place turns up within a reasonable amount of time.

I'd also be tempted to try to get the y10 placed into y9 as they will have already missed a chunk of GCSE syllabus. Are there any y9 spaces?

You may have to be willing to accept 2 different schools.

Phone every school within an hours travel to see if they have any vacancies. Be prepared for them to go to different schools. If there are genuinely no vacancies, and I'd be surprised to be honest - Raynes Park should have vacancies I'd have thought, then Kingston needs to use Fair Access Protocol and force a school, or two, to admit your children.

Be very very quick and proactive - your year 10 is already at a massive disadvantage and not likely to achieve her full potential at GCSE.

Call your County Council Admissions department and say despite all your efforts, neither of your children have school places and that you would like them to find you places under the In-Year Fair Access protocol (IYFA). They must do this. At the same time, tell them that you wish to appeal for places at whichever school you most prefer, and ask them to send you the paperwork to do that.

My girls got offered a place in a school that is a bit of distance and the standards are really low. Kids were asleep in class. We were requested to take the school. My daughter is also partially sighted.

So they have offered you places? That's as far as their obligation goes. They don't have to offer a school you like

Oh. So all your local schools aren't full. Take the places offered. The LEA is under no obligation to offer anything else.

If either child is significantly disadvantaged (E.g. your partially sighted child might have difficulty moving round a large site school and the one you've identified is smaller and much easier to negotiate - you should have expert, medical, corroboration) by what you have been offered you can appeal. But you have to appeal FOR a school not just because you don't like the one offered.

So all schools are not full, you don't like the one you were offered. That's a different issue. Unfortunately you can't actually choose schools only express a preference.

If the Council has offered you school places then it has fulfilled its duty. You need to either
-take the places and go on waiting lists for other schools (if they operate lists), - take the places and appealing for other schools but you need a good case why they can meet your child’s needs. This is not I don’t like the other school. Assuming the school is actually full/full in year group why is that particular school going to be so much better that it outweighs the damage (prejudice) of going over the admission number? There are some experts on school appeals on MN

• educate at private school
• home school

New Malden is not an easy place to get secondary school places even when applying on time. The chances are the places are the only ones.

TItchy is right though the appeal needs to be based on a school you think is best for partially sighted child and get evidence

When you say “with no success”, you actually mean you weren’t offered the school you would have chosen.

The LA have fulfilled their commitment to you by offering the places they have, I’m afraid.
It won’t stop you applying to be put on the waiting lists, but they won’t actively search for another place for you when you refuse to accept this one.

Were you offered Chessington?

The LA has done it’s job. Unfortunately, desirable schools don’t tend to have vacancies but you can go on waiting lists and hope.

If it is Chessington, you could always check with Raynes Park as a better option if not exactly a wow school.

Why would you post saying that they've offered no school and all schools are full? The advice you get it tailored to that information; like the LA being legally obligated to find you a place through fair access.
But you have been offered places, so that advice is useless to you. What's the point in posting a lie? It wont help you.

As others have said, the local education authority has fulfilled its obligation by offering you places in a school. If you have turned them down, the LEA is under no obligation to offer alternatives.

Your options now are to join waiting lists and/or to appeal. At appeal, you could argue that being at school will help your children settle and make friends, but the appeal panel has to balance that against the prejudice to the school in having to admit additional pupils. Your child's visual impairment is relevant to school admissions or appeal only if there is a school that is better equipped than others to meet their needs. Otherwise, the LEA is likely to say that all schools cater for children with a diversity of needs and should be able to meet their needs.

I would contact Admissions again and ensure they have the information about your daughters sight. If you can get her into something you feel is more suitable then having a sibling link may move you up the waiting list or help with an Appeal for that school.

Otherwise you may have to take what is available. Transport will be provided for schools over 3 miles away and lots of children travel long distances even from a much younger age.

Tolworth girls might have places?

Your Yr 10 needs to be in school asap as the gcse courses are already at least a term in. Her place should be your priority even if it requires travel or being at a "less good" school. Have you visited the offered one? The LA cannot magic up places where schools are already at capacity but you may be lucky with an appeal , especially if there area additional needs (which dd is this?) but that would take time you can ill afford or you could try waiting lists for your younger dd.

At least if the kids are all asleep at the school you've been offered then there won't be any bad behaviour or distractions for your girls in class then, will there? Honestly. We are lucky we get a free education.