School Offer - What does Other preference mean??

[elsa109]

Hi,

Our DD has been offered a secondary school placement which was not one of our preferences. On the offer letter they have put the offer school as "Other Preference". Is this normal? Why have they called it a preference when we didn't put it down as one?

Thanks

Another question:

There were 3 panel members at the appeal.

The main chair of the appeal panel was also the chair at an appeal we had for an in-year primary school move back in March. For the same child.

We also lost that appeal. Does the fact that they were the main chair at both appeals not present some issues?

No.

No. It's unlikely that they remembered you, but if they did, it wouldn't have made any difference whatsoever.

Where I live you get a set amount of money if there is no public transport and the school is over a certain distance away.

In certain circumstances a grant will be given in lieu of a travel pass, but only if there are no suitable transport services available to the designated school, or if the distance from home to the nearest bus stop is greater than one mile. A grant equivalent to the cost of travelling by public transport is payable, provided that the pupil qualified for free travel assistance in accordance with the walking distance criteria (see section 2.1).

Grants are only considered under certain circumstances, bearing in mind the pupil’s age, and where the LA considers this option to be the most efficient use of its resources. A grant in lieu of a free bus pass will not normally be given if public transport is available or a school transport service is provided under contract to the City Council.^
^
A grant in lieu of a free pass will be given to only one member of a family at any one time, where a sibling is attending the same school or the same site. Where a sibling is attending a different school on a different site, a grant will be paid to each pupil.

Agreed. My children go to school in a taxi paid for by LA as there is no other way - there are no nearby bus routes (public or school). Hampshire.

We could opt for the travel grant money instead, but no does, as school start and finish times make it impossible for most working parents to transport their children and still get to work/leave work at the right time. We have a taxi paid for by LA.
I wave my kids off in the morning and head to work, they lock up and go when the taxi arrives for them. Home time they let themselves in and do homework or chores until I get back (they are secondary age).
It’s great as there is no freezing standing around at bus stops in the winter!

We have a taxi paid for by LA.
I wave my kids off in the morning and head to work, they lock up and go when the taxi arrives for them. Home time they let themselves in and do homework or chores until I get back (they are secondary age).
It’s great as there is no freezing standing around at bus stops in the winter!

I don't know why you are saying that like other people would rather that their children had to get a train and a bus and travel eighty minutes or whatever it is that the OP said.

I think everyone understands that getting a taxi you don't have to pay for out of your own pocket would be a great solution.

The point is that many local authorities don't offer taxis for NT secondary age children to travel to school in as it's very expensive and LAs just do not have the money.

If the LA offer a taxi then great but I can't see it happening. I am awaiting their response regarding transport. If they offer a bus and train ticket for the 80 min journey then I cannot see DD coping with it every day, which i'm not sure what to do about other than go on waiting lists for other schools.

Is there really no argument to give us a closer school (like our catchment), even if it is oversubscribed?

I really think there will be some movement before summer. People move house, people accept a place and then take up a private place.

Get your DD's name on every waiting list.

Please put your name down for the catchment school asap, you don’t have to wait to hear about the transport thing first. You might be near the top of the waiting list

I appealed and won an appeal for my catchment primary school on the basis that it was my catchment school.

The LEA hadn't been able to offer her any place in any school when we moved into the area so the circumstances were vastly different.

And it wasn't some super desirable school that people were trying to get in to. I was actually trying to get her in because it was the catchment school.

“Is there really no argument to give us a closer school (like our catchment), even if it is oversubscribed?”

I know that hindsight is not much help, but you rather opted out of that argument by not putting it as your third preference.

If one school in the jurisdiction of the LA is at PAN ( ie full) with those who have it as a preferences and one is not, of course the LA offer the not-full school.

You have to apply to a school and be turned down for a place before you can appeal.

So apply to catchment (and any other schools with easy transport routes) asap and when placed on waiting list, appeal.

Do you have any grounds for appeal for your top two preferences? Do they offer specific GCSEs or extra curricular opportunities that match your DD’s activities and interests that are not offered at the allocated school?

In terms of the journey to school, is it not possible to drop your eldest at the station on the way to primary? Then there would just be the train and bus / walk at the other end. How long would that take?

I’m interested that you had an in-year appeal with only one term of primary to go?

You don’t seem to like the school she was at - can you move the younger two to another school that works better

Are all three children currently at the same primary? Is the reason for the in-year application to transfer your eldest, not linked to a change of address, in some way related to you not listing your catchment school? Is there bullying, behavioural issues or something else going on that makes you want to separate her from her primary peers?

Is there really no argument to give us a closer school (like our catchment), even if it is oversubscribed?

The problem from the LA’s POV is that they give people the opportunity to list schools they prefer, with, presumably journey distance forming part of that preference. They then allocate places to all the people who have listed that school as a preference, where ghat school is the highest on their list that can accommodate them.

Then allocate all the ‘left over’ applicants.

If they start filling over subscribed schools with all the people who then don’t like or don’t find their allocation suitable it makes the whole idea of PAN and application system pointless.

The chances are that had you listed your catchment school you would have got a place.

Don’t give up hope, fingers crossed for a waiting list place, and hopefully you will be high up the list on the waiting list for your nearest school, if distance is their criteria.

You didn't put the catchment school down so were given the nearest of what was left when you didn't get the two preferences you put. So you'll only get a nearer one if you join wait list & get an offer

Thanks. I will get on the waiting lists of all the others schools tomorrow. Do i just need to contact the school directly or do i need to speak to the LA / council?

The best thing would be to go to the Secondary School admissions section of your local authority’s website and look to see what the process is - locally where we are, and in the much larger neighbouring LA, the LA handles everything up until yhe beginning of September, when all the Secondary schools take over their own waiting lists and deal with all new applicants under their mid-year applications policy.

Unfortunately, not having made an application to your catchment school (and any other schools less inconvenient than the one allocated) at your earliest opportunity, you have now also missed the deadline to have the guarantee of an appeal hearing before September. It is still worth submitting appeals now, if everywhere is full, because ime they are likely to be scheduled for this term if possible - but bear in mind that if appeals have already been heard for a school and as a result, it has now gone over PAN, on the waiting list you are waiting for more DC to decline their places before 'PAN minus 1' is reached and places start to be offered again.

Also if you are appealing - the travel to the offered school is irrelevant. You appeal for a school, not against the one you’ve been given.

thanks for letting me know