Waiting for secondary school reallocations and appeal is really stressful

[Mummyspider27]

No real point in my post, just need to try and keep distracted from the longest wait ever.

You may have seen my last post, on reallocations they took 15 more children and we were 16th on the list. I took it hard.

I know lots of people said “that’s great you’ll now be first for next round” but in reality I know we will be bumped down by others joining. The wait to find out how many places is killing me (another 4 weeks away).

Then it is the next round of allocations and my official appeal is a few days after that (if needed).

The wait is literally torture, I can’t concentrate on anything. It is dominating my thoughts.

Would love some positive stories, some appeal advice, just anything for distraction!

Thanks everyone, from a very stressed Mummy xx

Do you know the school historic appeals outcomes?

I found this and it has made me feel better - some years its been as high as 20 or 30% being successful.

I am on 3 waiting lists/ doing 3 appeals, so I know exactly how you feel!

I don't have any success stories for waiting Y7 entry waiting lists, but friends of ours have just had a place come up for their Y8 child - they appealed and stayed on waiting list - and it has paid off. Even though they are well out of catchment, etc.

Ooh, I don’t have that, where is it published? X

This probably isn’t that helpful but I went through very stressful appeal process with my daughter when she was in year 6 and she never got the school she wanted. We were both devastated.

She is now year 13 and did really well at her secondary school, got the highest grades in the school for GCSEs and made the loveliest friends.

I get it though, I really do, it’s a horrible process. I’m now glad she didn’t go to the school she wanted to go too.

Unfortunately for my child she cannot attend the allocated school due to safe guarding reasons. So for us there is soo much hanging in the balance.

So pleased it worked out for your daughter. I hear that often, it seems to work out how it’s meant to xx

Oh that’s crazy then if she can’t go there for safeguarding reasons? How are the LA justifying that?

They don’t know until the appeal. As the school I want is my catchment school and perfect for her. I listed 3 other schools after than too, and they assigned a school 15 miles away that poses a safe guarding risk. I never in my wildest dreams thought we would be allocated that one. It’s very stressful 😭 x

…never told the LA in advance as naively assumed we would get our catchment school which is safe for her x

Unfortunately, unless the school you regard as being safe for your DD has an oversubscription criterion such as 'Exceptional medical or social needs' and the evidence submitted is assessedas proving this, your safeguarding concerns won't have influenced your DD's ranking, as thos has to be strictly by what the oversubscription criteria actually are. However, this is the kind of thing which - with documentary evidence as to what the problems are and why attending the school being appealed for best solves them - can lead to an appeal being upheld.

So I didn’t submit an EMSAR as we stupidly thought we would get our catchment (safe) school. Once allocations were made, I submitted an EMSAR but the school doesn’t recognise them in their over subscription criteria. So appeal it is 😭🤞🏼

Good luck in your appeal. I hope you have documentary evidence from professionals to support the safeguarding point, as that may be what wins an appeal. We did win an appeal but made sure each piece of evidence was submitted to a school was tailored to that school. Submitting the same evidence for all 3 appeals may not satisfy the panel. Really wishing you the best of luck.

Sent you a message x

No advice, just solidary.

Our LA refuses to tell me what day second round allocations will be released and in what format (email? update to website?), or whether I will be notified if we DON'T get a place. None of which is helping my stress levels.

that must be so stressful. I have all the dates of when we will find out our waitlist position and when next allocations are (already had all that once, happening 2 more times, May and June). We get an email if you’re being offered something. If you hear nothing then you haven’t been offered anything x

Just solidarity here. Ours is just a slow creaking wait over next five months into third week of September and beyond.

Could get an email place offer for first preference at any time. Or not at all.

Will try and only email once a month for updated waiting list position. Can go down on the list as well as up.

Excruciating.

Our LA won’t tell you waitlist positions if you email. They tell you the dates that they will email and tell you and that’s it.

I currently don’t have a plan B which is scary. They will not be going to the allocated school, that’s the only thing I know x

Are you appealing alongside waitlist?

Not appealing - allocated school is acceptable just not great.

Whole system seems very difficult to navigate and hugely variable by area.

good luck for next few weeks