School appeals - help offered

To all who replied, my apologies for not replying earlier but life has been very hectic, as we have just sent out 11,000+ high school offer letters.

As a general point ( and I have no connection with this gentleman at all) the best book about school appeals is "How to win your school appeal" by Ben Rooney which is the most sensible book about the process I have seen.

To lyns - two points

1. Distance - is it specified how the distance was measured. We use crow fly distances but other authorities use different methods such as walking routes from home to school. It can be possible to challenge these at appeals if you believe that a route you would use is shorter or if the route they are suggesting is unsafe. It may also be useful to check how the distance was actually measured as there may be room for challenge there.

2. Panel's often hear cases involving allegations of actual or feared bullying and these can be a strong factor in winning an appeal particularly if there is racist element. You will need to prove to the panel that bullying is a problem at the school you have been offered. Look at the last OFSTED report for the school - it may mention it and you could use it as evidence at the appeal. Also you should provide evidence that your daughter is particularly vulnerable - has she been the victim of bullies or racist incidents in the past. Maybe her present teacher could write a letter in support (note however not all teachers will do this). Your case will be much stronger if your can produce evidence from third parties.

To karrie – parents are able to put as many preferences on the form as they wish. We allow parents three preferences but many only put one particularly if they live in a rural area where it is only practical to go the local school It doesn’t make any difference how many preferences you put down when places are allocated.

Please don’t be put off at the thought of attending a hearing. Yes it is a bit daunting as you have to face a room full of people, three (or sometime five) panel members, a clerk and a representative of the local authority (this is what I do as part of my job). However it is the reasons for your appeal that are important NOT so much how you present that. I have been at appeals where parents have employed barristers to present their case and still been unsuccessful while very nervous or inarticulate families have been successful. Panel are experienced in getting information out of parents but you do have to prepared for the odd strange question! It is always worth putting an appeal in.

To: seekerof : You are unlikely to be unsuccessful if you base you appeal on slogging another off. This is very common and if a panel have a lot of appeals for one school where the parents are opposed to one other school they will hear this argument over and over again. What you need to concentrate on is why it is important for your child to go to the school you are appealing for. The legal test put simply is that it is more important for your child to go to the school than for the school to have another pupil. You need to look at the sprecif reason why you rchild need to go the school. As I said above any supporting evidence is always useful for example if you are claiming a medical reason, get a doctors or hospital report.

I don;t have any experince of the school consultancies but i would recommend the book above as a starting point.

That’s some very basic advice. If anyone has any specific questions, let mw know.