Appealing daughters first school place - any tips?

missimaxo

Hi

Our daughter has not got in to our choices of primary school and we are about to start appealing. Has anyone been through this and been successful? Any tips anyone can give us on how to get her in would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Tina

silvercar

Why haven't you got in? because they messed up and didn't follow the rules, or were you unlucky?

I'm assuming that you are looking at a state school. Nearly all schools have a strict list of criteria that they follow, you need to establish if it was followed in this case. If you can find someone who got into the school that should have been less entitled to a place than your daughter then you have a case. If its a case of them following the rules and you didn't get in then you are less likely to win an appeal. Your appeal needs to state which rule they failed to apply in order to give your daughter a place.

Is she on a waiting list? places do come up between now and Spetember. There will be children who go to a private school and don't take up their place, others who move out of the area.

This is obviously stressful for you but please don't let your daughter get stressed by it. If she ends up going to a different school you don't want her to have a bad feeling about it before she's even started.

missimaxo

Hi

Yes it is a state school. I don't know if they broke the rules, I don't know how to find that out. She is still off nursery on Easter so I also don't know who else got in/ didn't get in.

TBH this is all new to me as she is my 1st child and this is the first time we have been through it all. She already goes to the nursery at the school we would like her to attend, but we do live outside the catchment area.

Tina

silvercar

you need to find out the admission rules. Sometimes they are published on the school's website.

Do they give priority to those in the catchment area or those at the nursery?

Usually (but not always) siblings have priority, so each year the number of places available (for non-siblings) depends on the number of siblings.

If you are high up on a waiting list keep your ear to the ground at nursery to hear if anyone has used a false address to gain a place (it does happen).

Do speak to other Mums at nursery to find out if there are other children going to the school your daughter has been allocated. Sometimes a school that wasn't your first choice turns out to be just as good as the one you initially preferred.

hjb123

Hi,

Take a look at the following website about appealing for school places

http://www.direct.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/Schools/ChoosingASchool/ChoosingASchoolArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4016309&chk=wsJtBM

Hope this helps!

pandas66

I had to appeal to get my eldest into 'my' 1st choice primary school, I took quite a bit of time investigating both the school on offer and my choice.
I fully listed all the advantages as I saw them of preffered school ie plenty of lollipop wardens at each orad junction, plenty of close neighbouring children already within his peer group, excellent teaching facilities, sports activities, out of school activities.
The minus points were more to the extreme but it proved my case why I wanted pref. Their choice was a school that had a truant officer, a no knives policy and the list went on, these points were all told to me on my visit to the school as I made my choice!
You got to do your own assesment of the schools and write a report on the pro's and cons as is relevant to your children
Good Luck, it was worth it in the end.

mdean

Please do not get swept up in all this pathetic good school bad school crap which obsesses the pushy middle class parents- and the Daily Mail reading types.

The truth is your daughters destiny is already sealed. The most important years of learning are behind her, and the care love and educational support of her parents are what makes all the difference.

Wherever the school she has been offered a place comes in the league tables I am sure the teachers and other staff will work hard to make it a happy and fulfilling experience. Who knows the diversity of a tougher school might make her a more rounded person. Nevertheless almost all schools deliver the primary standards in English Maths and science

However .... if there are sensible and practical reasons write a letter which sets out the problem clearly in line with the policy of the LEA. It will be considered fairly - but make it factual.

Finally panda66 what exactly is wrong with a no knives policy ?

misty

When the school my son is at sent out the application form - they sent out an admission policy for each school in the county - the LEA alos sent us one too. These then listed their admission criteria definites and would likes. These were slightly different for each school - as my son attends a catholic school - one of the criteria was the child was baptised - the rest were things like catchment area/siblings at school/ etc. This booklet also described each school - I assume the schools had input into these - they described things like the ethos of the school/ approach to education etc. I went through this with a highlighter pen and addressed as many of these as I could when I put a letter in (under additional info) with the form. The school offered places to children who fit all the essential criteria and then to those who fit most of the essential criteria etc. Did you receive anything similar to this? I would go through it again and check if there is anything you could emphasise to them at appeal that you didn't cover on the original application.

Murtle

mdean wrote:

Please do not get swept up in all this pathetic good school bad school crap which obsesses the pushy middle class parents- and the Daily Mail reading types.

The truth is your daughters destiny is already sealed. The most important years of learning are behind her, and the care love and educational support of her parents are what makes all the difference.

Wherever the school she has been offered a place comes in the league tables I am sure the teachers and other staff will work hard to make it a happy and fulfilling experience. Who knows the diversity of a tougher school might make her a more rounded person. Nevertheless almost all schools deliver the primary standards in English Maths and science

However .... if there are sensible and practical reasons write a letter which sets out the problem clearly in line with the policy of the LEA. It will be considered fairly - but make it factual.

Finally panda66 what exactly is wrong with a no knives policy ?

Oh my goodness.....she's only going to primary school therefore the most important learning years are just in front of her.....

A tougher school, may make her more rounded, but may not offer the facilities a parent or child may like, ie good music facilities or sports facilities.

The problem with almost, is when your school doesn't.....

I would say a lot is wrong with having to have a no knives policy for a primary school, I also think the same applies for a secondary school.

Good luck to the OP in challenging the decision, the most important thing would be to not let your child no you are really unhappy with their selection incase they end up there

pandas66

mdean wrote:

Finally panda66 what exactly is wrong with a no knives policy ?

Its about the last policy I want to hear about when choicing a primary school! I wanted to hear about the library time, homework time, the teaching practise, whether they did the SATS test or were boycotting them. Which incidently they did do (did the exams and then boycotted the hand in of results) Its not an area that is particularly a bad area, so its astonishing to have all the elements thrust on me as pride of points. My point of reference for choicing a school for a 4 year old wasn not based on having a truant officer either, at that age and till at least the end of primary school I accompanied my child every day he was fit to attend school and he went without knife!

The_Geek

You need a copy of the schools admission criteira and to determine why she did not get offered a place. It is unlikely altho not unheard of that the LEA did not follow the rules.

From the sounds of things, it is likely to be because you live outside the area and more children who live within their catchment area have applied.

Most admissions policies will have a rule for special medical needs. Is there anything which means your daughters health would suffer if she did not go to school there?

Otherwise, chances are that if the class is full with 30 kids, the LEA will fight the appeal on the infant class size rules which you have little chance of winning. If she was 7+ then those rules do not apply and it comes down to your needs vs the schools needs. eg. will the school need to employ an extra teacher?/Why do you need to go to this school rather and not the one offered by the LEA?

Unfortunately, being offered a place at a crap school is not reason enough as far as the council are concerned. I was likely to be in a similar position and I ended up moving to ensure my daughter didn't end up at a failing school which has its own policeman and a onsite "benefits shop".