I need to appeal - help!!

[Joshmam]

My little boy has just been refused a place at all three of my choices for reception class. I live within 1.5 miles of all three schools and have been told that due to over-subscription he has not met the criteria for distance. He was next in line for my 1st choice so missed out by one place - I'm devastated. They have offered him a place in a school over 4 miles away instead.
I am a single parent who works full time with no extended family for childcare and needed one of these schools as they provided adequate childcare both before/after school and more importantly, during school holidays. The school they have offered him has some childcare but I would need to change my hours at work which my employer may not allow me to do and I would have to take a drop in salary which would, in turn, leave us in financial difficulties. He would also not have any links with the children he would be attending school with and would be virtually unable to integrate with these children due to the fact we live nowhere near them. Do I have any chance of winning an appeal and would the above be sufficient cause to submit one?

[thisisyesterday]

i have no idea if you would win an appeal, but it's worth trying

is he now top of a waiting list in case other children don't take a place up at your first choice? can you ask for him to be put on waiting list if not?

if he is top then I think i'd be inclined to wait it out and see what happens. he is still entitled to nursery vouchers until he is 5, so presuming he is at nursery atm you could technically keep him there and hope a place comes up in one of your 3 choices before he turns 5?

[Joshmam]

He can go on the waiting list but the education authority advised that even though he would be first that some other parents who have submitted late applications and already have siblings attending the school will be looked at first. I think this is terrible as they still should have to submit their applications on time.

[StillCrazyAfterAllTheseYears]

It is true that - assuming that siblings are higher than distance-to-school on the school's admissions criteria - any late applications from siblings could go higher on the waiting list than your son. But how likely is it that people with children already at the school didn't get their act together to apply on time?

How big is the school? There are normally a few drop-outs before term starts, so - especially in a large school - you may well get a place if you sit tight.

To win an appeal, you either have to show that the admissions criteria have not been applied properly or that your child could be admitted 'without prejudice' to the school or the children already attending it. Do the school's admissions criteria give any priority to compassionate or social/medical reasons for attending the school? If so, you could mention that your domestic situation would make it very difficult to take your son to the school you've been allocated. I don't know whether it would be enough to win an appeal (FWIW I sit on appeal panels in our LEA) because so much does depend on your circumstances: could you provide a letter from your employer (for example) saying that you can't change your hours? An appeal panel will (I hope and trust) give you a fair crack of the whip, but they do need to balance your needs and those of the school.

Have a look at these links:

Advisory Council for Education

School Admissions Code

[SE13Mummy]

The admissions process is a frustrating one especially when you miss out on a school that is so close. This time last year my DD wasn't offered a place at any of the schools we wanted either including the one I teach at, is 800m from our home and where she attended nursery. We were allocated one an hour's walk/two us rides away at the opposite end of the borough with no childcare and was no-where that a local childminder would drop-off to... I would have had to give up my job as a teacher to get her there (DH is also a teacher and we both have to be at school to teach!). We were 10th on the list so asked to be added to a couple of others and eventually accepted a place at a local school (that still had no childcare and would be problematic once my maternity leave ended). She started Reception at that school and by January a vacancy became available at my school and we'd moved to the top of the list... not sure how as I know of late applications who had siblings at the school. My guess is that once they'd started elsewhere parents didn't want to move them.

You can try appealing but the system doesn't promise choice, just the opportunity to state your preference. You may need to be put on waiting lists for nearby schools and investigate local before/afterschool clubs that offer collection/drop-off at a range of schools.

[admission]

Joshman,
I would strongly advice you to accept the position offered, that at least confirms a school place for September, even if it is a school you would prefer your child not to go to.

Secondly you need to register for an appeal for all three schools that you put down as your preferences. You have absolutely nothing to loose by doing so, but you have to accept that the odds are against you winning at appeal, especially if it is an infant class size case. It depends on exactly what the admission criteria is and the admission number of the schools as to just what chance you may have at appeal.

You should also ensure that you are on the waiting list for all three schools with the LA. In theory by registering for an appeal you should automatically go on the waiting list but it is best to check. The LA is correct that as soon as the initial allocations are complete, all late applications will be considered and if they are nearer the school or have siblings they will have priority over your child. That is the rule. However there is quite often a considerable amount of movement in the offer of places, so the chances are probably better in being on the waiting list than they are at appeal.

The other thing that you should do is find out what is your local catchment school, or the school that is nearest to you - ask the LA which school it is. I presume that you did not put this down as a preference but I would now ask to go on the waiting list for this school also, if it has any of the extended school facilities that you need.

[firsttimemama]

I think you would def get a place if you are 1st on the waiting list now - my local very popular school gave a place in July to a boy who was 6th on the list.

[prh47bridge]

Joshmam

Late applications will be looked at using the same criteria as were used for those who applied on time in determining their position on the waiting list. That may mean that someone who applied late goes ahead of you on the waiting list. The LA don't have any choice in that - that's the law. And people who've applied late, perhaps because they moved into the area too late for the normal admissions round, still need a place for their child. However, if you only missed out by one place on your first choice there is a good chance you will get in.

You certainly won't lose anything by appealing. How much chance you have of winning really depends on whether or not it is a class size appeal. You can tell that from the admission number and the number of classes in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.

If it is a class size appeal, there are only limited grounds under which your appeal can be successful - you would basically be looking to prove that the LA has made a mistake. If it isn't class size, the panel have to determine if the prejudice to your child through being forced to attend another school outweighs the prejudice to the school from admitting him. The factors you set out in your original post give a reasonable case, but there is no telling how your appeal panel(s) will view it.

Good luck.

[Joshmam]

I've just found out today that another child living near to myself has been offered a place at my 1st preference. He has no sibling links and no medical need. I contacted the LEA who advised he met the distance criteria as they measured from the back of the house rather than the front. Issue being, there is no access from the back so he would HAVE to leave from the front. This being the case, he is further away from the school than my home. The LEA have told me they have "assumed there was access from the back" and allocated him the last place at the school. Essentially, as they have measured distance incorrectly my little boys should have been allocated that place. They have still told me to appeal and have admitted to the error. Should I still have to appeal or should they automatically overule the infant class size rule and admit him based upon maladministration?

[SE13Mummy]

Do you know which measurement was used for allocating the other places (and for measuring your proximity)? Also, had the front door measurement been used would you be closer to the school than the child who was offered the last place?

It will depend upon the calculation used and also what the over-subscription criteria say will be used for measuring proximity; some use distance from front of home to front of school via safe walking route, others use front of home to front of school as the crow flies and some use a central point of the home to a central point on the school site.

If the calculations have been done incorrectly for everyone you may find lots of people arguing the same at appeal and the LA will have to admit those who live closer by the correct calculation - this happened in Greenwich a couple of years ago due to a fault with the software used to calculate home to school distances.

You will still have to appeal but assuming the maladministration is confirmed you can expect that the LA will have to admit your son... this will only be the case if your home to school distance is actually closer than your neighbour's once the calculation has been done properly; if they recalculate and you're still further away than the neighbour then technically you won't have been affected by the error.

[admission]

Strictly if the LA know that they have made a mistake then they should rectify that mistake and that would be that your son should be given a 31st place as an excepted pupil. However quite a few LAs tend to allow the Independant Appeal Panel to make that decision, so you absolutely should appeal.

I don't know how the distance is measured in your LA and you need to establish that before the appeal hearing. From what you have said, it seems it is not likely to be direct line distance because this is measured usually from datum point on the house to datum point on the school. I would think that in your case it must be walking distance by the nearest available route. To have measured this from an imaginary back door is really quite silly of the LA and does beg the question how many other similar instances have there been.

[Joshmam]

My LA measure by walking distance from home to school. They do not stipulate if they measure from front door or back door. I have been to the "back" of the other property this morning and can confirm there is no access from the back to any pathway which would make that property closer to the school in question. There is only an 8ft high hedge. I have taken photographs for the appeal. The child would HAVE to come out of their front door essentially making their home further away than my home by around 100m. There is a road at the back of the property but no access to it and the road also has a sign up stating "NO FOOTPAT FOR 2/3 OF A MILE" so even if there was access this surely would not be legally classed as a safe walking distance. In my mind, they have definately made an error.

[admission]

Sounds like you have some good evidence for believing they have made a mistake. I would actually send a copy of the photo of the back of the house to the admission manager at the LA, with a letter detailing the fact that you understand from a telephone conversation that a mistake has been made and that your son should have been admitted. Say this is maladministration by the LA.

If you do this then they there is much more chance that they will make a decision to admit before the appeal date. It also will make for good evidence at an appeal (if it goes that far) that the LA knew about this and did nothing, panels tend not to take a dim view of that!

Of course the LA may also try to defend themselves and say that they were correct to give the place to the other pupil. They will have to justify their decision to you in writing. By doing this you will know what the LA are going to say at the appeal and can work to counter their arguement.

I would look very carefully at the detail within the admission document for Sept 2010 admissions as most LAs specify how the measurement will be made. Most would say from the front door of the house to the nearest gate to the school (or the front door). If it does not say that then this is another weakness in the LA having carried out their admission policy correctly. Can you alter from where your distance is measured by leaving by a back door or an open window!