So unfair, think DD has missed out on P1 place because I'm a stepmum.

[fatandhateful]

That's it, really.
Three of the five criteria are about older siblings.

1. Children who have a brother(s)/sister(s), half-brother(s)/half-sister(s) already enrolled
2. Children who are only, or eldest in their family.
3. Children whose brother(s)/sister(s), half-brother(s)/half-sister(s) previously attended the school.

The DSC didn't go there - but that's hardly anything to do with me or my daughter. I even wrote them a cover letter explaining about the older kids being half-siblings and not my children, but obviously they haven't treated her as "eldest or only". Which she would be if I were single.

We meet the other criteria, and when we met with the school principal before the applications went in, he said that in his experience, everyone who put them as first choice had gotten it.

I'm so depressed. Once again, my girl loses out because of choices made for the DSC before I even came along.

the OP is in NI, not Scotland lunar1

Oh dear, no idea how I managed that!

I can see a case for prioritising younger siblings of existing children at a school. And I can almost see a case for giving next preference to those who don't have older primary-aged siblings (on the grounds that they'd otherwise be losing out by not having anywhere where they get top priority where they have a sibling) But I can't see any reason for discriminating between children whose siblings have left primary based on where they did or didn't used to go. Even if they were full siblings you might reasonably enough think it irrelevant to where your much younger child goes 10 years down the line. It seems a very strange rule.

Sorry this is happening and good luck appealing OP.

I'm interested because I will be in a similar situation a few years down the line - how did the school know about the half-siblings?

If I were in the situation of filling out that form I would have assumed that siblings or half siblings in context of a school would have only been relevant for siblings of a similar age who share the person/people doing drop offs and pick ups - so I would have put DS down the as eldest in the family and assumed that DSS was none of their business, since he will be in secondary by then and his primary was way outside of our catchment area anyway.

Am I being naïve?

A problem in NI is that pretty much all schools are religious. Even the integrated one we went to look at had the choir singing hymns on the open day.

I think the problem is that the half-sibling criteria is often something that parents welcome eg a parent's kids go to school A, they then have kids with someone else and those younger kids are entitled to go to the same school by virtue of being younger half siblings.

In this case it's kind of backfiring as it's the existence of the older children that is bumping OP's child down the criteria.

Which choice of school did you get OP? Your second?

Non Catholic schools in NI are no more religious than state schools in the rest of the UK surely? Seeing as how there aren't actually Protestant schools as such. Well , there might be a Free Presbyterian one somewhere, if I remember correctly, but what I mean is you don't get Church of Ireland schools etc the way you get CoE ones in England. Unless its different in other parts of NI, but there are no 'official' religious schools where I live apart from Catholic ones.

Yikes! I've just googled and discovered that there are a handful of Free Presbyterian schools, I thought there was only one. That's scary.

half or step siblings should only count if living in the same house and currently attending a primary school, it's ridiculous that this isn't the case.

Well treacle, another non-Catholic school we looked at (non Integrated) had religious posters up in a classroom. Not as an educational tool, they weren't multi-faith, more motivational.

Fair enough womb. I've been in a few primaries in my area and they would perhaps have work on the walls that would relate to what they've been learning in RE but I don't think I've seen anything like that.

I suppose what I meant was that they are not generally linked to any particular denomination.

I'm a rabid Humanist, so I think I'm rather eagle eyed when it comes to stuff like that!

You'll not be going for the Free Presbyterian school then ?

Non Catholic schools in NI are no more religious than state schools in the rest of the UK surely?
I think that because religion is so closely tied up with identity in this part of the world, it often enters into things in ways it wouldn't anywhere else. There are definitely some non-Catholic schools here where they'd sing religious hymns and I'm not surprised to hear about posters on walls either.
Also those schools where the Protestant community culture is promoted in the classroom through activities around Orange bands/parades...or where a big deal is made of Union Jacks and God Save the Queen. The schools would say I suppose that it is about reflecting local community, but if you aren't a part of that community (or vice versa in some of the Catholic schools) it is a strange and frankly to me an unpleasant aspect of schooling here.
This is a class thing as well, in the naice upper-middle class neighbourhoods, there is a lot less of this happening.

No new advice OP but just wanted to say that is very harsh on you and your DD. Definitely ask them to explain how they applied the criteria and appeal.

What do you think you'll do, OP? What about other schools that were on your list?

It's further complicated by the fact that we moved (we're renters and had no choice) right in the middle of the process. So the (reluctant) second choice school, which they did give her, she can't take up because it DOES have geographic criteria, which we now don't meet, having moved to the other end of town (closer to the first choice, as it happens!)

pregnantberry, they knew about the half-siblings because I put them on the form where it asked about other children in the family - in hindsight, I should have lied! It didn't occur to me to lie, but I even put a cover letter on the application explaining the circumstances and thinking that it would make a difference.

Surely though, provided you lived in the right place when your form went in, it now doesn't matter? People move all the time, they can't expect you to stay put for 7 years of primary school!

I don't know about that, womb. The letter says it is subject to current proof of address. I have to call them on Tuesday to find out what happens then.

It would be a nightmare trying to get her to and from school there now, though - its far enough that if she were already attending there and we had moved here (say in a year or two), I'd be looking to change schools. I just don't know what people do when that happens!

But at least she'd have a place at all, which right now I am not at all sure she does. We could provide documents with our previous address, I suppose, but if they found out we were lying, I'm not sure what would happen. Presumably the second school has applicants on a waiting list too, and so that space ought to go to one of them who does meet the criteria...oh, such a mess!

Ah, I didn't realise they would ask for proof of address now, we had to provide proof of address when we put the application form in.

How do you feel about the schools further down your list? Or was your heart set on school 1?

It really doesn't seem right that you can penalised according to what school your DSCs went to, surely that rule exists to help people who already have a sibling/half sibling attending a school. Perhaps the board of governors could be persuaded of this.