Two years on from our original campaign there are still families affected by the failed council policy change (which has since been reversed indefinitely!)

The "oversubscription criteria" changes Nottinghamshire County Council adopted in 2016/17 would have meant somewhere in the region of over 100 families per year not being able to send their 4 and 5 year old children to the same school as their older sibling/s. This caused immeasurable emotional distress to families (not to mention financial burden) at a time when they should have been excited about their young children starting school.

We are now once again being forced to act because the council are refusing to remedy the unfairness for all families affected.

We are calling on Nottinghamshire County Council to identify families still affected by their aborted policy and act fairly towards them by offering a new application. NCC have themselves caused this injustice by the use of Unlawful criteria within its school admissions arrangements in 2016/17 and 2017/18 intakes.

Judgements by the School Adjudicator deemed NCC acted unfairly and are at fault in changing its admissions arrangements to prevent some primary school children attending school with their sibling/s. It is the only council known to have acted this way. 

More recently  The LGO (Local Government Ombudsman) has agreed with Fairness 4 Siblings that offering an appeal to those parents was not a satisfactory remedy as very few families would have successful appeals given the nature of the appeal process; as such they recommended families be paid compensation on an annual basis unless their siblings are reunited.

The chairman of the committee responsible for the unlawful change continues to question the School Adjudicator lawful judgement giving little confidence that the Council will seek to identify and act fairly towards those families who have been affected. Especially those who would have been allocated places off school waiting list and those whose appeals were rejected by reliance on inaccurate data.

It is only right that Nottinghamshire County Council offer a suitable and fair remedy to families (affected for one or two years) as recommended by the LGO.

Please help us by signing this petition to support these families who are just trying to do the best by their children.

 

UPDATE FROM OUR PREVIOUS PETITION

When we started our petition on 2.9.16 we never imagined it would attract 2775 signatures online and a further 1000+ physical signatures.

After a significant media campaign and outspoken local support the council had little choice but to U-turn on its catastrophic policy and grant 2nd appeals.

When we updated you on 11.8.17 we were delighted that the council had reinstated the fair oversubscription criteria and that a great many families were able to reunite their children at the same primary schools.

We remain in touch with a number of families whose children are thriving due to being reunited with siblings in schools their families chose.

We went on to support a campaign in York which also attracted over 2000 signatures.

Despite this (OVER 2 YEARS ON!) some families continue to struggling on a daily basis due to the council's aborted policy.

Now we are asking for your help again to make sure that the forgotten Nottinghamshire families can get the justice they deserve from Nottinghamshire County Council.