School admission Procedure problem

[modeller]

My daughter is working and virtually drives past a school to which she applied for her 4 yr old to be admitted. However she has been allocated a school miles in the opposite direction as a result it may result in her having to give up her job as she would have to arrive at work an hour late and leave very early afternoon to pick her up. She intends to appeal but the situation of the parents does not appear to be considered when dealing with school admissions. Is thay the case or has she any grounds for an appeal ?

[redcrx]

as you say, she can appeal. i take it the school isnt in her catchment area. Is there another she may get to easier, rather than a half hour trip away from home?

Failing that, perhaps she could look at a before and after school club?

[Barmaid]

Can you give a few more details on the grounds for refusal of your daughter's first choice? Is it because of the Infant Class Size rules (in which case, you are correct and the parents' reasons are not considered because there is a statutory bar on classes in KS1 and KS2 having more than 30 pupils in with a single qualified teacher) or is it because the school is at PAN (Planned Admission Number) which is less than 30?

[modeller]

Thank you I will pass on that information. I don't know the size of their catchment area but her preferred school was on the list of available schools. There is the other factor of choosing a combined school as she doesn't want the same problem when moving from infant to junior school, in 3 years time.

[redcrx]

perhaps all the other parents in the area feel the same and yet only those in the catchment got the places.

the school may have had too many applications even from the catchment to be able to offer places.

This is why parents can choose up to 3 schools i think when applying online. Had she had childs name down before that? Some parents (i included) are never made aware that you have to register an interest at the school itself, not just do the online application.

[modeller]

I believe she had had the childs down for some time. I know she had chosen two other alternative schools which would have been a poor compromise but in the event she wasn't offered any of them.

[cassa333]

I think, but not sure that the lists are done along the lines of.
1 live in catchement area with siblings already attending.
2 Live in catchment area
3 out of catchment but have siblings attending
4 out of catchment area
5 other

Some faith schools also used to have attend local church or are denominated to that one as a criteria but again I'm not sure that they can still do that.

Find out the exact catchemnet area for the school and if you fall into it then take it from there.

I don't suppose they will take the fact she MAY have to leave her job because of it as a good enough reason. Afterall there are breakfast and after school clubs that cater for working parents.

[ukvillafan]

The answer will depend entirely upon
a) the schools admissions policy, which will define the criteria to be followed in allocating school places - this will normally be the same for all local authority primary schools in the area, but may differ for faith schools (but not always)
b) the reason given for refusal, which has to be in line with the admissions policy

One thing is certain, her own personal situation is irrelevant. She will have to hope the school her child has to go to has breakfast/after school clubs or she will have to find someone else to take the child to school or find a childminder. This is the same for everyone.