A bientôt EU

[Walrus]

Try contacting your MP or local councillor and insist they do their job and hold the council to account for what is amounting to conspicuous harassment.

 

[Amarillo]

Try contacting your MP or local councillor and insist they do their job and hold the council to account for what is amounting to conspicuous harassment.

Thanks for the support. I will wait until I hear from Lewisham, they may yet come good and process our application for Ben. I certainly intend to make a complaint against the Greenwich admissions manager. She appears to have acted in a very unprofessional manner once the borough solicitor became involved and supported our position. She may then have become very annoyed at learning we had made a second school application from an address we had not informed her about and acted impetuously by terminating our Greenwich application before Ben's principal home address had been determined.


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[andyinluton]

Surely the easiest thing is to just go with the flow, Lewisham have asked if your flat will be your principle residence. Just say yes, its yours, its uninhabited, you are paying council tax there & it suits the schools admission policy.

Once thats sorted, wait until you get home & just notify the change of address then.

By telling people that you don't consider it your principle residence and putting in multiple applications you are creating confusion and raising problems that set alarms ringing with form filling box tickers.

Don't get an MP involved that will just mean there are 100 people checking your forms.

Going to the papers isn't going to do you any favours either, you won't get a lot of sympathy due to it being a bit of a first world problem. Which of my houses to use on a school application form whilst I'm away on a year long holiday?

 

[Amarillo]

Surely the easiest thing is to just go with the flow, Lewisham have asked if your flat will be your principle residence. Just say yes, its yours, its uninhabited, you are paying council tax there & it suits the schools admission policy.

Once thats sorted, wait until you get home & just notify the change of address then.

By telling people that you don't consider it your principle residence and putting in multiple applications you are creating confusion and raising problems that set alarms ringing with form filling box tickers.

Don't get an MP involved that will just mean there are 100 people checking your forms.

Going to the papers isn't going to do you any favours either, you won't get a lot of sympathy due to it being a bit of a first world problem. Which of my houses to use on a school application form whilst I'm away on a year long holiday?

That is good sound advice. The only complication being that we want the Lewisham flat rented out long before our return. We just need to organise repairs to the flat for damage caused by the previous tenant.

For now we will sit back and await developments. Offers of school places are made on 16 April.


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[Amarillo]

Day 231 & 232 - Vartholomio

After the rain came two days of glorious sunshine, and warm sunshine too with a temperature of about 16 degrees, plenty warm enough for sitting out, or playing in the beach stream.

The stream has been a great hit with Ben and Jack who have dammed it and diverted it. Even Meg has helped with the excavations.

And, of course, with clear skies comes buratiful sunsets. Below is of the sun setting behind the southern end of Zakynthos.

Days are noticeably longer now too. While in Sicily the daylight time passed 10 hours; it is now nearly 11 hours.

For the past ten years Greece has had in place laws banning smoking in public places. You would not know it. Tonight we went out for dinner as it is our last night here. We went to a restaurant on the hilltop in Kastro, the first place we have been to which has been busy, and it was full of the blue haze of cigarette smoke. I wonder if smoking in restaurants is something that will define the Balkans. Although common 20 years ago throughout Europe, we have not encountered it anywhere else on our trip around Europe.

More rain is forecast for the next few days and we have taken the decision to stay in houses for most of the rest of our time in Greece. A two bedroom apartment in a rural location is €140 per week - very affordable on our budget for everything of about €700 per week.


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[Amarillo]

Surely the easiest thing is to just go with the flow, Lewisham have asked if your flat will be your principle residence.

Our worst fears have been realised- Greenwich say we live in Lewisham and have withdrawn our Greenwich application for Benjamin and Lewisham say we live in Greenwich and have withdrawn our Lewisham application for Benjamin.

From Lewisham

{Redacted}, Lead Primary Officer, has referred your application for a reception class place for your son Benjamin to me. Please find attached my decision in relation to the application you have made to the London Borough of Lewisham.

As advised in my letter please pursue your application with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, which I consider to be your home local authority.

From Greenwich

It is regrettable that we are going to bring correspondence regarding your return to the UK and residence at a Royal Greenwich address to an end. Furthermore, we are withdrawing your application for primary schools and removing your details from the Royal Borough of Greenwich system.

We understand from Lewisham Council that they too have received an on-time primary application and that you have demonstrated that your principal address is in in Lewisham, where you have a live council tax account. The Admissions Code (2014) S2.3 states that parents apply to the authority in which they live and therefore may not make multiple applications to different local authorities. The co-ordination of the process and the sharing of application information by the home local authorities with the authorities where the schools are situated maintains and monitors this process. In summary, applicants cannot not have multiple applications to different local authorities and multiple principal home addresses. We understand that Lewisham have accepted that they are your home local authority on the basis of the evidence provided. It is on this basis that we are withdrawing your application. You do not have the right to appeal this decision.

This decision has been confirmed by our legal advisors.

We will be informing Lewisham Council of our decision and the grounds for it. Any further correspondence regarding primary admissions will be from them and you should not send in any further evidence of your return to the UK and a principal address in Royal Greenwich to us.

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[GillianC]

Our worst fears have been realised- Greenwich say we live in Lewisham and have withdrawn our Greenwich application for Benjamin and Lewisham say we live in Greenwich and have withdrawn our Lewisham application for Benjamin.

From Lewisham


From Greenwich




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Unbelievable.
You pay tax and council tax all these years and this just beggars belief. All you are asking for is a school place for your son when you return from your year travelling. If you didn’t send him to school they would be quick enough to come down on you like a ton of bricks.
Personally I would get your MP on board. I have found this helpful before.
Good luck Tom. It’s a shame that you have to deal with this at a distance during your sabbatical.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

Our worst fears have been realised- Greenwich say we live in Lewisham and have withdrawn our Greenwich application for Benjamin and Lewisham say we live in Greenwich and have withdrawn our Lewisham application for Benjamin.

From Lewisham


From Greenwich




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That's ridiculous. A quick phone call between them would have sorted it out in 5 minutes.

 

[Amarillo]

Day 233 - Vartholomio to Koroni

With very wet weather forecast for the next seven days, we decided to take a house for the week. We trawled through Airbnb for a suitable place, found one near Koroni in the southern Pelopenese and booked a single night with Airbnb for €20 plus their 15% commission. Once booked we were able to contact the host and agree a six night extension commission free. Perfect.

We had mostly pre packed so we had a good start on our journey, stopping in the town for coffee - we'd pre packed the kettle and dare not use our small 12 volt kettle for fear of damaging further the leisure battery..

The sat nav was routing us more or less directly halfway to Koroni, then routing us around a small range of hills. I asked the sat nav to look for the most direct route. Obligingly it did, and we soon found ourselves climbing past isolated farms through open olive groves with goats casually grazing below. As we climbed higher the roads became narrower and so badly potholed that we were reminded of some lanes we know on the North Downs. Then the road surface disappeared altogether leaving a slippery gravel and rock surface.

We turned back and reprogrammed the Sat Nav for the quickest route.

With Airbnb we never quite no what we will get. We were met in the village of Kompi by Dimitri who showed us to our apartment. A large hallway, kitchen, two bedrooms and a massive covered balcony are ours. Denitri lives below and there is another apartment above. The block is at the end of the road and is set in a fenced plot which includes a farmyard, orange and lemon trees, a small olive grove, vegetable patches and chickens. It is not dissimilar in character from the farmhouse where we stayed outside Balestrate on Sicily. Gloriously dilapidated.


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[Amarillo]

Day 234 - Koroni

The rain started at 10am and has been continuous since. We drove into Koroni to see what it offers and found a castle. It is clearly an important and large castle but has had little restoration work which makes it an excellent playground for young boys.

We then explored the town a little which is mostly unspoiled by tourism. The wonderful thing about being here off season is the place is empty and we have it to ourselves.

We tried stopping at a supermarket on our way home but they all had shut for the remainder of the day at 14h. Perhaps Chinese New Year is a holiday in Greece?

It rained all afternoon, and while Clare and the boys watched a film I walked Meg through the olive groves between the village and the sea.

It took me an hour to wind my way around the muddy puddles to the coast.

I returned soon after dark soaked, and was greeted with a ping on my phone. It was an email from Lewisham School Admissions. They have refused our application for Ben because they have decided that we live in Greenwich.

So, to summarise the situation:

A family own a house and a flat in neighbouring London Boroughs. The house in Greenwich they consider home but they cannot currently reside there because it is occupied by another family on a one year tenancy. They have never lived in the Lewisham flat, but could do so because it is unoccupied. The family pay council tax on this property.

Where does the family's son live for the purposes of school admissions.

1. Greenwich
2. Lewisham
3. Overseas
4. They are homeless travellers

Greenwich say #2, Lewisham say #1 - both now agree we do not live overseas and that we are not homeless.

The relevant legislation is here:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/615/made


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[jts46]

You should not have made multiple applications. Your own fault. Besides what has this school admission problem to do with this post/ thread?

 

[Amarillo]

You should not have made multiple applications. Your own fault. Besides what has this school admission problem to do with this post/ thread?

At the time that I made the application for schools to Lewisham, Greenwich had told us that we could not apply through them and had withdrawn our application.

This blog includes our trials and tribulations while spending a year living in our campervan. I appreciate that it will not be of interest to many people


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[106Rallye]

At the time that I made the application for schools to Lewisham, Greenwich had told us that we could not apply through them and had withdrawn our application.

This blog includes our trials and tribulations while spending a year living in our campervan. I appreciate that it will not be of interest to many people


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I think this schools episode has lots to do with the thread - what happens on a year long trip.
Tom I would elevate this to your director of education, MP and local councillors, leader of council. Probably need a plane trip home for a couple of days but go knock some heads together in person. Probably not what you want to do - but sometimes needs must

Good luck. You will win in the end.

Barney

 

[kave]

I find it intereresting, both your narrative and your life. I even talk about your travels to non cali folks. Keep it up.
I dont know the details arround the british school system, but if its one thing I have learned when dealing with these kind of authorities, the less info you give them the better.
Two examples:
1. Hello Greenwich, we live on this adress and we like to have a place for our son. Are you really living on this adress bl bla bla, Yes.
2. Hello Greenwhich, we have a house on xxx street in the other area, we have an apartment in Greenwhich which is currently rented out and we are on a 1y+ vacation etc etc.

I dont suggest lying, but give them the smallest amount of info you can.

 

[Amarillo]

I dont suggest lying, but give them the smallest amount of info you can.

We did not offer the information to Greenwich. It was only after they said that we did not live in Greenwich that we made the Lewisham application. When Greenwich tried to reinstate our application with them Lewisham saw we had two applications for the same child for the same schools and the whole episode unravelled.

We would have been fine if we just made the Lewisham application.



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[burnercan]

I appreciate that it will not be of interest to many people

Their loss. Lots of us enjoy following your adventure, it's unfortunate that it involves unpleasantries but all adventures do . Maybe it's a sign to extend the travels into the next year with a little home (adventure) schooling...? From experience, when they are small, it's fabulous.

 

[Amarillo]

Their loss. Lots of us enjoy following your adventure, it's unfortunate that it involves unpleasantries but all adventures do . Maybe it's a sign to extend the travels into the next year with a little home (adventure) schooling...? From experience, when they are small, it's fabulous.

We have been bashed by a white van man in Swidnica, Poland; Clare has had to return to the UK from Sicily after her father fell and required a hip replacement; and we needed a door handle replaced in Spain; but Ben's school application has been our most significant problem in 234 days of travelling.

Home schooling is certainly a very real possibility. My degree is a B.Ed!


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[leightonjthomas]

You should not have made multiple applications. Your own fault. Besides what has this school admission problem to do with this post/ thread?

You don’t have to read it. Lots of us are following it with genuine interest.

 

[Bill R]

You should not have made multiple applications. Your own fault. Besides what has this school admission problem to do with this post/ thread?

You maybe have a point, in that the multiple applications have made it look "fishy" in the eyes of the authorities. However, the thread is a wonderful account of a life changing adventure in a VW California and the school placement issue is a direct bi product of said adventure so wholly relevant to the thread , and references a pitfall to be aware of for anyone else looking to do something similar.

 

[Digger]

Time passes quickly so get in touch with your MP to assist. The main thing now is the children's future and school has to be sorted and not at the last minute. Good luck.

 

[Walrus]

I have sent you a PM.

 

[andyinluton]

Time passes quickly so get in touch with your MP to assist. The main thing now is the children's future and school has to be sorted and not at the last minute. Good luck.

What MP ? lewisham or Greenwich. or neither as he doesn't live in the UK!

 

[Amarillo]

What MP ? lewisham or Greenwich. or neither as he doesn't live in the UK!

I think that both boroughs are close to agreeing that Greenwich is our home borough. If that is the case, it is rather comforting to know that "home is where the heart is" not "home is where you pay council Tax".

The next obstacle will be to get an on-time application accepted. This may prove difficult. The closing date for applications was 15 January and both our applications have now been rejected.


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[Amarillo]

Days 235 to 237 - Koroni

48 hours of continuous or near continuous heavy rain. But we have been prepared, we knew it was coming and are staying in a house on the edge of a small village. Dogs roam freely and are generally friendly, housewives peer at us out of open windows as we pass through the narrow streets in our bright yellow camper. Everyone is welcoming. Even the orange vendor on the street corner plies gifts on Ben and Jack - a small mandarin each for being just who they are. Greece has a very low fertility rate, under 1.2, and well below the replacement level of 2.1. Children in remote villages are a rare sight - their parents have fled to the towns where they can make more money than they could by selling oranges to a community of orange growers.

Staying in a house makes it easy to drive away. No more winding in the awning, folding up beds and pulling down the roof. Just jump in the van and away we go. Where better on a rainy day than a waterfall!?

It was a wet and windy road to the village above the waterfall, and a rocky and rolley road down to the car park. We had come this far, and we were not to be deterred by this sign.

Well, I've seen more dramatic signs than that at waterfalls, at the Ystradfellte falls, for example. The footpath down was really quite good. Once down, however, it was clear that the river was in spate.

We never got as far as the main falls upstream or the lake downstream. After clambering over rocks it became clear that the river was just too high. Still, we all annoyed the walk.

Overnight there was a massive thunderstorm - so close that it seemed that the rumble occurred before the lightning. It terrified Meg but Ben and Jack slept peacefully throughout.

The following morning we took a trip around the peninsular and stumbled upon the fishing harbour of Methoni, the port guarded by a fort.

After hot chocolate and chips in a beachfront cafe, we drove over the mountains to return to our village. I spotted a shortcut on the sat nav, and followed it. The tarmac soon gave way to a narrow gravel trail, and the further we progressed the muddier it became. We were both relieved and alarmed to see three hunters armed with rifles standing by the track. I wonder what they were after?

Yesterday was fine - we went to the local beach, which was empty apart from a British couple from Somerset, searching for their ideal winter retreat in Greece, armed with a 200,000 Euro budget. Winter retreats in Greece are not cheap.



We had a nice email from Lewisham suggesting that our school application for Ben is being processed in the normal manner by Greenwich, and we should hear the result on 16 April. It is a pity that Greenwich, who it seems are our home local authority, have said nothing.


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[El Greco]

Hi Tom. I notice that you have changed your nationality to Greek! Will this help your school application??

P.S Love your blog