Advice needed on School Admission Appeal

quietheart

My son currently in nursery and hasn't got into the attached school. We are currently half way through assessment for a statement of special needs due to severe communication problems. I know we can name a school in the statement but the school is very oversubcribed and won't have any places by the time it's complete.
As it's a primary appeal there seems to be strict criteria for right to appeal. Does anyone have any ideas for me, I know a move would be a huge setback for him and I can get support from his paed., SLT, pyschotherapist, etc but don't think it'll be enough....
Thanks

tru

We appealed for my son to change senior schools a few years ago. Different age group and circumstances I know, but here's what we did. First we contacted the school and explained the situation, my daughter was due to start at senior school, my son was in his first year at a different school, as D had a place, we thought S would get in easily but he didn't, it was full for his year. But a friendly teacher had a word with us, told us to write to the local council to explain. So they gave us a meeting date, when we turned up I felt like I was in court :eek: There were 3 appeal 'judges', made up of a parent governer, a non-parent governer and someone else (can't remember who he was), none of them were attached to the school so they were impartial. We had to sit on one end of a huge table, than in walked 2 people from the council with books, files etc, they had to sit at the other end. We were sat there with a single letter, thinking 'oh great, they've got all these arguements against us and we've got nothing'. We had to explain our reasons, then it was their turn, then our son's turn. We could also comment on anything they said but had to wait until they'd finished their reasons first.

You don't get a decision straight away, they write to you within a couple of weeks of the meeting.

Hope thats helpful

Oh and the reason we wanted to change schools was, if your child turned up at school on time, wearing the correct uniform and didn't play truant, then they're considered to be doing really well :rolleyes:

quietheart

so did you win the appeal? what was the appeal panel's argument against admission?
thanks!

Spendless

Hi

Last year there were a few parents that didn't get into their choice of school (a church one)for reception year.

The parents went to appeal over it and it was ruled in the parents favour. The reason was that the school hadn't applied their own criteria when allocating places. The school was asked if they had applied the correct criteria would the children left out have got in. The schools answer was yes so the appeal panel then said that meant the school had to accept these children 9from menory about 4 children).

Don't know if this helps you at all.

hilstep2000

I've done this twice. Once when my son was in Nursery, and didn't get into the Primary his sister was in, and once for my daughter's secondary school.
I won both, the first on a technicality, and the second took a long hard fight.
Basically we had only moved here six months before she changed schools, and I said that all the friends she had made were going to the school she had been refused, and I didn't want her upset again, and it worked. I also said that I wouldn't send her anywhere else, but would educate her myself until there was a place.
As your son has special needs, you should definately use that to the appeals board. If the school you want him in has all the facilities for him, say so, and try to prove that the school they've suggested has not. (I am a teaching assistant at a mainstream, but we have many special needs)
Hope this helps.

tru

rovers wrote:

so did you win the appeal? what was the appeal panel's argument against admission?
thanks!

Oh sorry, left that bit out.
We won the appeal.
They argued that the school he was in was fine, if they let him change it would be detrimental to others in the class because there would be too many children, they couldn't just let people change when they wanted to.

We argued that the tutor group would have an extra child but as children are only in tutor group for morning and afternoon registration it wouldn't make a difference, they're split into groups for lessons and we knew there was room in those lessons (we couldn't tell them we got the info from the friendly teacher). We also said that he was capable of more work but the school wasn't giving them enough IMO, he hardly ever had homework, he was bored in class.

Then I started clutching at straws, saying I thought it would be better for him to go to a mixed school so he learned to interact with the opposite sex :rolleyes: , and it would be much safer for both my kids to go to the same school so in the winter when it got dark early it would be safer for them to travel together rather than alone.

I'm still not sure what swung it in our favour

bylromarha

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if the school is full, its full. No more room at the inn so to speak.

Each school has a set number of children they admit in reception year. If they have that set number then anymore who ask, via appeal or otherwise, won't get through the doors. The government requires a class in Years Reception, 1 and 2 to be no bigger than 30.

I agree that your sons needs means that the school with the majority of his friends would be the best option, but I would advise you to look around at the schools other kids from the nursery are going to....I guess your son wasn't the only one from the nursery not to get into the attached school.

It may be worth ringing your local education authority...some LEAs have support groups for parents of children with special needs that go round potential schools with you, supporting you in choosing the best school for your child. Good luck.

Spendless

In the booklet i got last year with the admission form to fill in, it said my sons school had a limit of 70. There are actually 78 kids in reception (3 classess of 26).

A nearby school closed down last summer so i don't know if this made a difference to how many kids were accepted.

The reception class has not gone above 30 and often each reception year splits into 3 before divinding into 2 for years 1 and 2. Years 1 and 2 have gone above 30.

The no more than 30 was the church schools argument (as per my previous post) as they are a 1 class per year school. When the appeal ruled in the parents favour the school was told that it would have to build an extension to accommodate the extra children.

I have also heard that putting a teaching assisstant into a class gets round the 30 per class rule (though i have no idea if this is true or not).

quietheart

bylromarha wrote:

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if the school is full, its full. No more room at the inn so to speak.

Each school has a set number of children they admit in reception year. If they have that set number then anymore who ask, via appeal or otherwise, won't get through the doors. The government requires a class in Years Reception, 1 and 2 to be no bigger than 30."


I'm reading conflicting information on this one and it's my biggest worry, the Bracknell Forest LEA website states 4 exceptions to this rule, one of them being a child receives a statement after admissions, unfortunately this isn't my LEA..... but I'm still confused.
It's not because of friends that I want him to stay put, it's the school's calm environment and my son's huge resistance to change.
Thanks for the rest of the info, I think part of it seems to be luck, who you get on the panel and how well you present your case.
I just want to fight this as far as I can so would love to hear about more cases.

cookie54

i would suggest making a list of any thing that the school offers that would benfit you child that the other school doesn't have.such as the number of children with statements , the qualification of the senco teacher. the size of the school . i mean anything and take it from there. also it is worth remembering that if they don't get in this year. you can try during the year as my son school had xmas and easter children who haven't taken their place.

bylromarha

Rovers, from what you've said it sounds like your son having a statement for a diagnosis of ASD? If this is the case, is your 1st choice school geared up to best meet your childs needs? If they are, then this is something you can use in your appeal...if other schools in the area aren't ready to support your child in the way that the 1st choice is. If it is an ASD diagnosis, feel free to pm me on things you should be looking for in potential schools...a free reception classroom is a scary place for a child who needs structure.

When the statement comes through it will have money attached...this could be why bracknell lea allow it as an exception when appealing?

I have to say i didn't think the 30 per class rule could be bent in any way as the school loses funds if numbers are higher in KS1...I don't think the teaching assistants make a difference. Some heads get round the 30 rule by having registration groups of 30, but the actual teaching takes place in classes of over 30. The set number that the school is willing to take is submitted to the LEA each year- this figure has a lot to do with whether your appeal will be successful or not.

Hope all goes well...sorry if this has confused you further though!