Applying for primary school place outside of LEA

flea72

peachyprice wrote: »

I would disagree with this statement.

If you have specific reasons for wanting that scool you MUST make them aware at the time of application. If refused a place and they are not aware of your reasons you cannot then bring further information into play at an appeal, the appeal will only be heard based on the information provided at the time of application.

So yes, send a supporting statement.

you can send in a supporting statement, but unless the points you are making have a bearing on the schools application criteria, they just dont alter your application

you can only appeal if you think the county have made an error of judgement in allocating you a place. just because you want your child to attend a certain school, isnt reason enough, if it was, every application would say 'i just love your school, and my child would be a great asset' - then how do you make an informed decision as to who gets a place

ive dealt with lots of applications over the years, from people stating that their child must attend the school because it suits them childcare wise, their child wants to go to the same school as their friends/cousins, its the feeder school for a certain secondary school, etc, and none are valid reasons for a child to be given a place at a school, over and above the selection criteria

yes by all means send in a supporting statement, but it wont make a jot of difference to your application - those higher up the criteria listings, always get first refusal

F

Rainey_LB

flea72 wrote: »

you can send in a supporting statement, but unless the points you are making have a bearing on the schools application criteria, they just dont alter your application

you can only appeal if you think the county have made an error of judgement in allocating you a place. just because you want your child to attend a certain school, isnt reason enough, if it was, every application would say 'i just love your school, and my child would be a great asset' - then how do you make an informed decision as to who gets a place

ive dealt with lots of applications over the years, from people stating that their child must attend the school because it suits them childcare wise, their child wants to go to the same school as their friends/cousins, its the feeder school for a certain secondary school, etc, and none are valid reasons for a child to be given a place at a school, over and above the selection criteria

yes by all means send in a supporting statement, but it wont make a jot of difference to your application - those higher up the criteria listings, always get first refusal

F

We agree....at last!!! :T

flea72

Rainey_LB wrote: »

We agree....at last!!! :T

darn, and i thought i was doing so well:rotfl:

F

peachyprice

flea72 wrote: »

yes by all means send in a supporting statement, but it wont make a jot of difference to your application - those higher up the criteria listings, always get first refusal

F

But you don't even know what information OP is going to put in her supporting statement, it could be very relevant, and could make big a difference.

flea72

peachyprice wrote: »

But you don't even know what information OP is going to put in her supporting statement, it could be very relevant, and could make big a difference.

then if the information is relevant, it would already have been included on the form. so unless she already has other children at the school, lives in its catchment, or her child is under the care of the LA, then there is nothing to add to an application

if anyone could provide a plausible reason why their child should attend a school, when they dont fit the selection criteria, then please enlighten me, because as yet the only appeals i have managed to win, are due to the officials in charge of determining applications, ballsing-up when they filter the applicants, so you get a refusal overturned on an admin technicality

F

kimmi_b

Oh dear, I didn't want to start a fight!

I understand and appreciate everything flea has had to say about admissions policies, however as the new co-ordinated admissions scheme comes into effect this year, I'm struggling to understand how they will handle applications outside of the normal admission route i.e. those from outside the LEA. I'm assuming it is still based on distance, in which case I am not feeling at all positive that we will get a place, but we live in hope!

To summarise my predicament:-

We currently live 25 miles away from our place of work (we work for the same company). We work approx 10 minutes walk from my Mums house (she takes care of my children while I work full time). She lives 10 minutes from the school that I want my daughter to attend. Our plan had always been to move back to my hometown and near to place of work and parents, but the housing market crash put a stop to that idea We are still planning on moving and hopefully within the next year now house prices are starting to pick up, but the school application has to be done now!

So really our situation is based on ease of travel at the moment so chances of being offered a place aren't great, but hopefully we will be living near the school soon so maybe the application can be amended when that happens.

flea72

kimmi_b wrote: »

So really our situation is based on ease of travel at the moment so chances of being offered a place aren't great, but hopefully we will be living near the school soon so maybe the application can be amended when that happens.

no fight, lol

however im gonna have to pee on your parade again, sorry. even if you move into catchment before the decisions are announced, it wont put you higher up the criteria listings, as they have to base all applications on how they stand at the closing date

yes, it does mean you move up the rankings once all places have been determined (ie you might then be 1st on waiting list), but your situation cant be amended, once submitted

is it a very popular school?, as i very much doubt living 25miles away, you would stand any chance, unless it is a very under-subscribed school, and in which case, it would make me wonder why

is your mums house in catchment for the school? as the only option i can see is to play the system. sell your house, move in with parents, or rent in the area, and make it all official

F

Rainey_LB

flea72 wrote: »

no fight, lol

however im gonna have to pee on your parade again, sorry. even if you move into catchment before the decisions are announced, it wont put you higher up the criteria listings, as they have to base all applications on how they stand at the closing date

yes, it does mean you move up the rankings once all places have been determined (ie you might then be 1st on waiting list), but your situation cant be amended, once submitted

is it a very popular school?, as i very much doubt living 25miles away, you would stand any chance, unless it is a very under-subscribed school, and in which case, it would make me wonder why

is your mums house in catchment for the school? as the only option i can see is to play the system. sell your house, move in with parents, or rent in the area, and make it all official

F

Again we agree!!!

Most areas have online admissions on the county council website, have you looked on there, for both LEA's. It should have all the info you need and if you require a SIF for the school in question.

As flea said, all that counts is where you live on the closing date and if you have submitted your paperwork/online form correctly. The only other thing that can make a difference is if you have a special needs child who has a particular school named on their statement.

You need to check with the school how far down their admissions criteria they get and if they get to distance how far they have gone in the last few years.

I live within 10 minutes walk of 4 schools, 1 is very good, but unless you live on the doorstep or have a sibling you don't get in, the one which my children go to which is the same distance and almost as good and I count myself lucky getting a place there as my neighbour didn't, then there's 2 others which I really wasn't keen on, my neighbour got a place at one of these and was unsuccessful at both the others.

Then there is the school that I work at which is a Catholic School, Baptised children from 10+ miles have been admitted as they get priority, whereas there were applications from non Baptised children from the same road as the school that didn't.

Speak to the school and check their criteria and look at other schools as a back up, you might be surprised. I remember just how stressful it is!!

horse76

We wanted our dd in a school outwith our catchment area last year, although it was in our county. We had to just write a letter directly to the school detailing the reasons we would like our dd to attend i.e I work close to the school, have relatives in the area for emergencies and how our local school didn't have a breakfast club facility/ suitable after school club (it closed too early).

My dd got a place, which couldn't have worked our any better for us. I was nearby when she had a nasty accident and need to attend A&E, I was able to collect her very quickly. We also applied to another out of catchment school, which was refused as they said they'd no space and would have to employ another teacher.

We still had to complete an application form for our local catchment area school and attend an interview to guarantee a place incase we never got the other one. Had nothing against our local - it's a lovely school and very popular, dd's allocated place was made available to another child from outwith our area.

Good luck with the application - we found it very stressful at the time.