Inadequate secondary school

[Springtime7]

Hi
looking for some advice - DC has just been allocated an ofsted inadequate rated school. Done my own research too - been in special measures for years - then had an academy order - transferred to academy but now 4 yrs later still inadequate with serious weaknesses - failing to provide failing its pupils with an acceptable standard of education, not showing the capacity to make the improvements needed, inaqequate teaching and leadership and no control of disruptive pupils - now has termination order DofE claiming can force it to go with another academy.

theybare advertising for teachers in every discipline - but no teachers want to come there.

Attains well below average in GCSEs with only 14% of children attaining A-C in english maths and science.

it wasnt an option, and i will be appealing - but what are your thoughts? Has anyone sent their child to such a school?

i would love for the school to turn itself round - but with no staff and disruptive children - not quite sure how this will happen.

thanks in advance.

Can you get your DC on as many waitlists possible for suitable schools in the meantime?

If it gets moved to a different MAT that can make a difference. They can send in staff from other schools to turn it around -some will be prepared to do that for promotion/acting up opportunities.

Thank you for your replies

yes - i have placed DS on 5 waiting lists. And also will try appeal. But as i understand appeals are difficult to win!

im hoping a miracle will occur and the school will become GOOD atleast.

Just to cheer you up: inadequate schools are very quickly taken care of and improved. Also, there will be movement on waiting lists :)

This happened to me in September. DD got allocated a school we hadn't even considered. I was distraught by the ofsted! Its main concern was discrimination found within the school, it was also changing from a very poor performing boys school to co-ed - my DD is mixed ethnicity.

I took it to appeal and lost.

She went knowing no one at all. It was horrible.

BUT, it was actually fine, there was a huge focus on improvement and money had been granted which helped. She is quite a strong character and threw herself into school life.

However she was unhappy without her real friends, I kept her on three waiting lists and she moved in the November.

It's hard and I sympathise.

Just to clarify you are not appealing against your allocated school, you are appealing for your preferred school. Arguments about results and OFSTED ratings don't count in appeals.
There are some experts on here who may be able to help.

Yes - thank you for your replies. Inhave a seperate thread about my appeal. I am trying to be optimistic and positive. My child is not very confident - and prefers familiar and routine. So without any friends there at first and a new environmemt alone will be very difficult. Let alone the amount of bullying and behaviours.

but - i know i will just have to get a strong appeal and keep him in waiting lists. The other school are very heavily oversubscribed.

i was hoping the amount that was spent on this school in 2019 - millions - new building facilities - it would have improved. Sadly not.

If the school remains inadequate after second inspection they change the school's management. So unless for some reason the school has absolutely challenging cohort because of catchment etc then the change should be observed.

Btw I hope you will have some luck with waiting lists but in case you weren't please apply asap in June for " In year admission" . In June the automatic waiting lists are scrapped and new waiting list based on " in year admission" rules is created. It is important to do it asap if the list is not based on address but simply on the order of request.

Is this definitely correct about the waiting lists changing in June? I thought waiting lists were kept using the admissions criteria until the end of the autumn term of Y7?

Check the waiting list rules.
I'm pretty certain waiting lists are run in the same priority order as applications.

I'm pretty certain waiting lists are run in the same priority order as applications.

I suspect that it depends on the location.

There is a moment when they are scrapped. And when it happens depends on the region
Here in my borough in London, it happens at the end of June. From June also one can apply as an "in-year admission" and a new waiting list based on "in year admission" is created.

Maybe where you live are different rules - and that is why it is worth checking

My sons school was rated good when I sent him in September, within 3 months it was rated inadequate 😒 wouldn’t have sent him if I knew it was “good” when I applied.

Is it worth phoning the council and asking whether there are any schools in the area that have places available? Could be a school that you haven’t previously considered that may be a little further afield but would be preferable to this one?

@YouDeserveSomeCake Wouldn't an in year admissions list be in the same order as the admissions criteria anyway though? As I understand it it's against the admissions code to use the time you've been on the list to order it, regardless of whether it's before admission or in year.

I can only speak about where I live because maybe different regions have different rules :)
Here we got the message in the email with the offer on the 1 March:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL APPLICANTS
Waiting lists
Waiting list positions are subject to change as they must be re-ranked each time a new application is received. You should be aware that if an application is received for a child who has higher priority under the school’s admission criteria, it can affect your child’s position on a waiting list. They can move down as well as up the list.
Waiting lists for the academic year 2023/24 will be disbanded at the end of June. You must make an In year application no sooner than June 2024 for your child's name to be added to the waiting lists for the academic year 2024/25.

Appeals have to be based on why your DC needs a particular school not reasons that you don’t want the allocated school.

waiting list may be a better bet

our local high school was failing badly but has had a remarkable turnaround after a new MAT came in, so it can happen

Thanks @YouDeserveSomeCake. I'm prepared to be corrected by the admissions experts but I think that's the exception rather than the norm and most areas keep the waiting list until the end of the autumn term. I definitely know of a few people in my area who received a surprise offer in August after thinking they were too far down the waiting list to stand a chance!

I'm pretty sure the list would still be in order of admissions criteria rather than time on the list though (but of course you have to make sure you're on it!).

So in our area child remains on waiting list for all schools they wrote as prefernce but did not get until end of december 2024. After that inwill have to individually contact schools to remain on waiting lists. Which i will do.

i asked what number we are on each waiting list - one provider told me cant say until all parents accepted or rejected by 12th march and other said wouldnt be able to tell us until september.

we are on waiting lists - but the number of people who applied and were not granted places is in the 400’s. Do you think thatmany will be in the waiting list?

I think that's the exception rather than the norm and most areas keep the waiting list until the end of the autumn term.

I cannot comment on what is most common across the country

I'm pretty sure the list would still be in order of admissions criteria rather than time on the list though (but of course you have to make sure you're on it!).

There is nothing for me to check. This is what we have received and it is not the first year that they do it this way here.
Also, we got no 2 school on the preference list and I was anyway in two mind which one to put first anyway as both of them are fantastic with great GCSE results. We got the school that had just Ofsted visit and is Outstanding again

I think our case is a good example that it is worth checking what are the rules in the applicant's local area.

but the number of people who applied and were not granted places is in the 400’s. Do you think that many will be in the waiting list?

do you mean that 400 didn't get any place? if that is a case - omg.

The waiting list moves in reflection to how many private schools you have around and how many kids attend it in each year. It is the kids that go to private schools pull out of state offers and waiting list and generate the space that the waiting lists move

its likely that a similar lot will on ALL the waiting lists. So a lot may be on the waiting list for your preferred school but actually their first choice is a different one. It doesn't mean at all that those 400 would accept a place if offered.

It does sound like quite a lot though. It's pretty extreme but is moving an option? Likely you'll have to pay a premium to live within easy distance of one of the better schools but you'll go straight in towards the top of the waiting list.

@YouDeserveSomeCake
i presume she means that at least 400 aren't happy with the school they have been given , not that they don't have a place at all.

oh thank God, Phew... I heard that 126 kids ended up without any school here so when I heard 400 I was a bit shocked.

what it was is 600 odd applied for the school but only 160 got a place. But that doesnt neccesarily mean all went in the waiting list does it? Coz the remaining 400 will
have been allocated a different school and may be happy with it. So may be i have to wait few weeks lets places be accepted etc and them see where we are on waiting list. I dont know if the school are being honest but they say its very difficult to win an appeal at their school and its a rare chance to get in off waiting list. They also say if simeone drops out mid year - child has to sit a test and child withatching ability to leaving child will be admitted. It all seems so difficult - but i have to try.

About moving - its so difficult as we used to live in the catchment area of the outstanding schools - its considered a deprived postcode - and the schools admission was based on a fair intake from all postcodes. We moved to a better area. And now a few yrs later the schools have changed their policy to admission of catchment area only. Unfortunately - schools in our catchmemt - altho a nicer area has drastically declined.