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CHOOSING A SCHOOL
Deciding which school you would prefer your child to go to
Councils usually divide cities, towns and country areas into catchment areas, and children living in a catchment area usually go to the same local school.
Parents have the right to express a preference for a particular school and it is the Council's duty to accommodate this wherever possible.
This means that if you have a child who is due to start primary school or who will be transferring to secondary school soon, you have a right to express a preference for a particular school. Your Council will probably suggest that you should use the local school designated by them, and of course you may be happy to do so, but the Council must also tell you of your right to choose a different school, and give you an address where you can get help in making up your mind.
(The law also applies if you want your child to change school, as well as when he or she starts primary or secondary school - click here for more info.)
When deciding which school you prefer, here are some important things to keep in mind:
Find out all that you can about the school your Council suggests that you should use. If you can, arrange to visit the school and speak to the headteacher. Schools make special arrangements to welcome visitors, and it is advisable to find out what these arrangements are. A telephone call to make an appointment always helps.
Look out for advertisements in your local paper telling you about enrolling new pupils in the school.
If you decide you want to know about other schools before you make up your mind, telephone or call at the address the Council gave you to ask about other schools; or the headteacher of the school your Council suggests will help to put you in touch with other schools. Try to arrange a visit, by telephone or by letter, to the school you prefer. (Addresses of schools are usually listed in your local telephone directory under the name of the Council.)
Councils are required to publish specific information about each school under their management. This information is available free of charge to parents who request it and you should always ask about it.
If you decide you want your child to go to a particular school
If you are happy to send your child to the school designated by your Council, you usually only need to enrol him or her on the advertised date. Some Councils ask parents to let them know if their children will be attending the school designated by them, or to enrol by a certain date. Make sure you know what your Council expects you to do.
If you want to send your child to a different school run by your Council:
- You must tell your Council. There may be a time limit for doing this - check whether the Council has asked you to contact them by a particular date. You can still ask after that date, but if the Council receives more requests for a particular school than there are places, your child is unlikely to get in if you did not ask in time. Most Council have placing request application forms that they will ask you to complete.
- You must put your request in writing. All the law requires you to write is your name and address, your child's name and the name of the school you would prefer. It would be helpful to the Council, however, if you also give your child's age and (if already at school) the name of his or her present school and stage of education.
Once they have received your written request, the Council will provide a place for your child in the school of your choice unless all the places are already filled, or there are other special circumstances (the circumstances in which a request can be refused are explained more fully - click here for more info).
If you wish to apply for more than one school you must indicate your first choice. This is important because the Council is only obliged to consider your first preference.
You do not have to give reasons for your choice. However, Councils may give priority to requests made on certain specific grounds - for example, that your other children already attend the school you have chosen - and it may be helpful to give the Council relevant information where these factors apply.
When to make your request
If your child is due to start primary school in August (normally he or she will be between 4 1/ 2 years of age and 5 1/ 2 years then) or due to transfer to secondary school then, your Council will provide information in December, January or February on choosing a particular school.
If you do not get a letter from them or see an advertisement about this by the end of February, then you should telephone or write to your Council. The headteacher of the local school, or of the school you are interested in, will also tell you whether there is a date by which your request must be in.
If you are already sure by February which school you would prefer your child to go to, then simply write to the Council's education office to say which it is. You should do this as soon as possible to allow the Council to consider your request.
Choice of school for children under the age of 5
Some parents may wish their child to start primary school before they have reached school age. School-age children are those who are 5 years old when they start school in August, or who will turn 5 before the following March. If you would like your child to start school early, before they reach school age, you should contact your Council about this. If the Council agrees that it would be appropriate to your child's ability and aptitude for them to start school early, they will provide a Primary 1 place for him or her in one of their schools. Parents do not have a statutory right to make a placing request for a child who will be under school age when they start primary school. However, if you have a particular school in mind, the Council may be able to give your child a place there - but you cannot appeal if they do not.
Changing schools
The right of parents to express a preference for a particular school applies at any time until the child reaches school-leaving age. (See below for choice of school by young people over 16.) If, for some reason, you feel that your child should attend a school other than the one he or she is attending, you should discuss the matter with your child's present headteacher or class/guidance teacher to see if anything can be done to help. If you decide that the best course would be a change of school, then you can ask for a place in a different school. You can do this at any time. You do not have to wait until the beginning of the next school year. Changing schools can be unsettling for children and can damage their education, so your decision requires careful thought. A Council can refuse a request if they think a child has already moved schools too much, and another move would be seriously damaging ( click here for more info).
Children's views
All parents naturally want the best for their children. That natural desire is underpinned by the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, which sets out parental responsibility to safeguard and promote their child's health, development and welfare, in their child's best interests. Like the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (to which the United Kingdom is a signatory), it also recognises the rights of children to have their views taken into consideration when any major decisions are being made that affect their development and welfare.
Choosing a school is clearly a very important decision, and children may have views that their parents should consider, taking into account their relative age and maturity.
Choice of school by young people over 16
In addition to the rights described above, once a pupil has reached the school-leaving age* the pupil - not the pupil's parents - may choose which school to go to. If the pupil wants to change schools, then he or she should write to their local Council to say so.
Everything in this booklet about the rights of parents also applies to the rights of school pupils who have reached the school leaving age and who are then considered to be old enough to decide for themselves which school they want to go to. If there is a difference of opinion between pupil and parent, the Council must act in accordance with the pupil's wishes, not his or her parents'.
*The time at which pupils are old enough by law to leave school depends on when their 16th birthday falls in the year:
- Pupils who have their 16th birthday on or between 1 March and 30 September can leave school or decide for themselves whether they want to ask for another school from 31 May that year.
- Pupils who have their 16th birthday on or between 1 October and the last day of February can leave school or decide for themselves whether they want to ask for another school at Christmas in between those two dates.
Schools run by another Council
You can ask for a place for your child at a school run by another Council. You might want to do so, for example, if you live near the boundary of your Council's area and think that a school just across the boundary would be best for your child. In such a case you must write to the Council which manages that school, and not to your own Council.
Travelling to school
If the Council has suggested a school for your child, the law says that they must make arrangements to get the child there IF:
- he or she is under 8 years of age and lives more than 3.2 kilometres (2 miles) from school; or
- he or she is 8 years of age or over and lives more than 4.8 kilometres (3 miles) from school.
If you decide that you do not want your child to go to the school suggested by the Council and instead ask that he or she goes to another school, the Council does not have to provide a school bus or pass or any other help with transport.
The Council may be willing to help although they do not have to by law. It may be worth asking if you would get any help before you decide to ask for a place in the school you prefer.
If the Council decides not to help, you will have to consider carefully how your child is going to get to the school you prefer. You will have to make sure that your child attends regularly.
Right to send your child to your local designated school
Many parents will still prefer their child to go to the school their Council suggests. Some of them may be worried in case there is no longer room for him or her there. There should normally be no difficulty about children starting their local designated primary school or transferring to their designated secondary school.
Councils can reserve places in schools for children who may move into the catchment area of the school in-year. They must consider the overall demand for places in the area in deciding whether to reserve places at the school, and can only keep empty the number of places that they consider are reasonably required for pupils likely to move into the catchment area in the period up to, and including, the forthcoming year.
However, a Council cannot always keep places in a school empty for incomers.
If you move house in the middle of your child's schooling into an area where the local school is very popular, you may find that the school is already full. In those circumstances, you may have to wait until someone else moves out and there is a place for your child. The Council will arrange for him or her to attend a different school in the meantime.
So, if you know that you are going to be moving into a school's area you should let the Council responsible for the school know as soon as possible.
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