Home - school transport and appeal queries

I can understand your anger and frustration. It is unacceptable that one so young should have to go to a distant school when everyone else is accommodated locally. I presume he is still on the list for his chosen school and there is a possibility that a vacancy may arise.
The only comment I can make is about school transport. When GS lived with us we used to do the school run but when DH had an operation and was unable to drive we applied for school transport for several weeks. A taxi would pick him up and return him and in answer to your question there was a certain flexibility about this. We were told to contact the provider if he did not need picking up for any reason but we found that the message did not always get through and so the driver (it was always the same one)gave us his number and we contacted him directly.It worked well.

I think an appeal is futile (I have first hand experience) He has been turned down because his year group at the nearest school is at full capacity. They have therefore allocated the next closest school with space. It might be worth your son and daughter in law asking the council what others schools have places in his year group as there may be one with wrap around care and better provision?

wrt transport, generally the taxi company they allocate want to be paid for 5 full days so will be keen that you use the taxi all the time but I'm sure if your daughter in law wants to occasionally pick up, it wont be a problem

I understand how stressful this is, so I hope you are okay

also because of your grandsons age he would have an escort allocated to him who would have a full dbs background check, if that is reassuring. It is quite daunting to put such a small child into a taxi and off to school, although many children have done this for decades (mine included)

My ds moved last year and could only get his two dc into different schools in opposite directions from each other! 😫 They’ve managed to cobble together some sort of routine that works (we’re 500 miles away so can’t help) and were eventually given a place at the same school for the two of them. However, they decided not move either of them as each had settled into their respective schools.

In the case of your family, a place might come up at their desired school even before this term ends. People move house or move schools etc all the time so I wouldn’t lose hope. If that doesn’t happen, then your GS could start at the school they’ve been offered and hope for a place to come up soon. They may be offered school transport either free or paid for, depending on your area. Once they get to know other parents they might find someone willing to share school runs/childcare, which is what my dd does.

Another idea, depending on your DD’s job, is whether she would work earlier/later on some days to accommodate the school run?

Good luck!

It's so difficult for siblings to be at different schools. You'd think on allocation there would be some joined up thinking

In my ds’s case, the schools are separate infants and primary so due to the age gap, they’d be in different schools anyway until 2024.

And I hated being at the same school as my brother!

Thank you all. good reassurance on escorts / taxis, and I appreciate the sympathy!
Yes, DiL will change hours around, so will DS as much as possible - but had they realised he would have turned down this job!

I would appeal, MzOops appealed against the decision to have one child at one school and the other an hour away ( in heavy School traffic) she was successful. There is nothing to lose by appealing.

OP, why don't you post this on MN,
likely to get more traffic and recent experience.

You don't have to accept the place that's been offered - and do make sure that he remains on the waiting list for the local school. You may as well appeal too. Could he be home schooled until he has a suitable place?

Thank you again for the suggestions - I didn't think about MN!

I know the village where the school is, and it is tiny - so is the school, which draws children from the surrounding rural area. I imagine many of the children arrive by car, with their parents claiming the 'mileage allowance'.
I also suspect that any registered childminders might not make their names public; and all sorts of solutions may appear once they get into the school.

I do think that DS & DiL should say that they want transport - I do appreciate the comment about a place possibly coming up at the preferred school - and maybe the Council would like to give it to a child who would otherwise be costing them a good amount!

Thank you for checking that I am OK - I am more angry at the system than anything! And we are fortunate in being family who see this as a problem to be sorted, there is no 'blame' about decisions made. We are also fortunate that their new house has a comfortable room for us to stay over, which will help on some days.
I also think that in the long run, this will work out better than them staying where they were.

Again, your help is much appreciated - Gransnet at its best!

Nannarose because your GC has moved into the area recently even if the school is full he should be treated as an excepted child. His parents need to argue that there is no other school a reasonable distance from their new house .
See page 24 of this assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001050/School_admissions_code_2021.pdf
In those circumstances a school can increase its infant class sizes past the agreed level to accommodate the child.
You should ensure that you look at the school offered calculate journey times at rush hours and any other factors including things like lack of transport if one parent is using the car
But do make an appeal, you have nothing to lose and a good case to make, both because of the move and the late application. Good luck.

Thank you, what a resource!

Nannarose Something similar happened to me when my son was six. If the school is more than two miles from home, the council has a statutory obligation to provide free transport. The taxi driver was wonderful and was quite flexible.

As others have said, make sure he stays on the waiting list for the preferred school. A place came up for my son after a term.

Just thought if there is a good nursery/playgroup close to his home your GS might be better spending a term there and waiting. There is no obligation to start formal schooling until after he is 5

I do know that childcare is not a school's job, but the provision is so patchy!
You are correct; childcare is not the school's job; it is the parents'responsibility and they should have considered the possibility of not being granted a place immediately. They must discuss transport arrangements with the school as soon as possible and different authorities have different systems. The school may well know of available childminders.

A place may well become available in Reception during the year but the parents need to keep in touch regularly and build a good relationship with the school. They need to accept the place offered but a place may well become available during the year in the local school; it is important to emphasise that they want their child there because she will be part of the community and it is a good school, not because it will suit the parents' work commitments.

Yes, eazybee, you have quoted me! It is just so ironic that my son's job is within the community they have chosen, and now they will be pulled away from it.
The school near to them does have good 'wrap around' care, but if it didn't, he would be better placed to care for his child, and deal with odd situations that arise.
Thank you Glorianny - I had wondered that, but it is not the Council's policy.
Thank you again.

Nannarose Those are mandatory regulations the LEA cannot change them or adapt them. I do urge you to appeal. He has just moved into the area and if the school he has been allocated is some distance away and travel is difficult he does have a right to a place in the nearest school. The LEA cannot alter those rules (much as they may try to pull the wool over your eyes and pretend they can) Going to appeal isn't difficult and lots of parents do it,

Thank you

If the council can’t give a child a place in the nearest school then they are obliged to provide transport to the next nearest school if it is over, I think, three miles away.

We’re in the middle of two secondary schools, ten miles apart. The council won’t pay for transport so it costs us £70 a month for the school bus within our area. Bizarrely we’d get free transport if we had chosen the school that’s out of the area - for which there is no bus!!

I wanted to pop back to update you all. We have not ended up using any of the advice - which doesn't mean it wasn't useful - it really helped when considering options, so thank you.
Parents also took advice from the lovely nursery DGC currently attends, who spoke highly of the small village school and thought it would suit him. They spoke to their employers, both of whom were much more sympathetic than we expected! Neither will have to cut hours, and they can be very flexible.
They feel that if they request transport, they will miss the informal 'school gate' friendships that will be important both for DGC, and possible childcare. They have found out that they can request at any time, and they will claim the mileage allowance.
We will do 3 afternoons a week, not ideal, but all workable for 2 years.
Again, many thanks.

And Paper Monster - I sympathise!

I’ve learnt through friends of my DS and DD that spaces do tend to occur in schools and that some children have been able to get places in the chosen school after starting elsewhere. You can go on a waiting list. I know it can be unsettling for the child but of course if a place comes up you don’t have to accept it.

Thank you - they will do that for the time being and think about it if it does