Advice needed on School Admission Appeal

Savvy_Sue

Put in for the 'normal' appeal anyway. The fact that your son is in the process of being statemented will be part of your appeal arguments. Did you submit letters from doctors etc with the original application? If not, get them now! The appeals process is very intimidating - went through it trying to get eldest into Year 8 of a school after we moved, and that was without making a big deal about his mild aspergers, just to get him a school place! - but I think you can take someone to support you if you think you won't be able to put your case across.

Also contact IPSEA [font=Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif](Independent Panel for Special Education Advice) - they are wonderful people. Will advise you what the LEA should do and help you if they don't do it ...

PS do talk to current teachers and the head of the school too, if you have them on your side it is a help, I am sure.
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quietheart

Have been trying to get through to IPSEA for a week, very busy people but I am good at being persistant. Maybe tomorrow will be my lucky day

PS Savvy_sue, your signature always makes me laugh!

Savvy_Sue

rovers wrote:

Have been trying to get through to IPSEA for a week, very busy people but I am good at being persistant. Maybe tomorrow will be my lucky day

Yes, they are busy, but maybe there will be some info on their website that will help you as well. As you hadn't mentioned contact with them I thought it would be useful to make sure people knew about them.

rovers wrote:

PS Savvy_sue, your signature always makes me laugh!

I'm so glad! It made me laugh too when I read in the letter that my tongue was in the mid-line! All these things you never thought to worry about ... As for being "awake, alert and oriented", well, that's more than can often be said of me at work!

Mind you, the chap who said my brain was normal was wrong ... what he meant was that my eyes were doing what he expected them to do under various stimuli!

Poppy9

Have you tried looking on your councils website for the LEA admission policy. All LEAs can set their own admission criteria. In Wales we have never really gone down this route of preferred placement to the extent of english authorities. Until last year if you lived or moved into catchment area you were guaranteed a place in your catchment area school. Heads complained that this made it difficult for them to plan their budgets though. Now you have to be in catchment area by March for September enrollment. You have to accept your place else it will be reallocated and you will be allocated another school. If you move into the area after the March the LEA will allocate you a school though its usually in catchment. Also church schools can and do set their own admission criteria.

Current admission priority:
Living in catchment
Siblings
Distance from school

SEN doesn't seem to come into it although the LEA has set up specialist units in some primary/secondary schools and we have 2 special schools 1 for children with very very severe disabilities.

Transport is also provided free for primary children living more than 2 miles from catchment school, including Church and Welsh schools (should be for under 7's only but includes all upto year 6). At secondary level its 3 miles.

If you want a church school preference is given to practicing catholics. Head of our school made me smile when he said a colleague in England said that he refused places to some kids because they were not baptised Catholic and the school only guaranteed a place to Catholics (even if they were full). Parents took kids to be baptised and then came back with their baptismal certificate !

The English system has always sounded stressful I hope we never go down that route.

Finally I am surprised the LEA could force a church school to admit kids as their admission policy is outside the LEA control. Also if a church school has to expand they have to get 75% of the capital funding from their own sources the LEA will not meet the cost.

Our church school had 35 kids at year 1. We were given a choice of 2 classes but one would have to be taught in hall -therefore no gym or assemblies or stay as one class with 2 teachers or move 5 kids up a year which would have a knock on effect. We went with 2 teachers. If I remember correctly only the register is checked for 30 kids so unless someone reports they are in a class of more than 30 it won't show. Also if kids join throughout the year they are classed a exceptional pupils and so the number can go above 30.

Spendless

Poppy - the Church school i speak of was a CofE not a Catholic one.

The Church school did indeed do its own admissions and let parents know in Jan whereas no-one knew about theor community place school till March.

I vaguely remember something in the booklet that said the LEA could only intervene in the cases of non-acceptance in Church schools if the parents beleived the schools published criteria hadn't been adhered to. This was the parents who appealed line of argument.
(i can't tell you exactly what it said as i checked last night for rovers and unfortunately haven't kept book).

If the school had to stump up most of cost of extension well that would explain why the head wasn't happy!!!!!!!!!!!!

quietheart

IPSEAs advice line is closed until April 11th! I've spoken to the LEA who have told me I have no chance of winning an appeal.
Feeling really fed up now....

Spendless

Hi rovers

So if you haven't got in your choice of school, does that mean you have been allocated another one?

If so are you happy with your allocated school as a 2nd choice? If you appeal and loose do you keep your allocated school place?(i'm kicking myself for throwing booklet away cos i know it explained all this!)

If you do i can't see what you have to loose by appealing, if you loose then no your son won't be going to that school but if you don't appeal then he won't be going there anyway.I suppose it depends whether you wish to put yourself through the stress of an appeal.

Let us know how you get on and Good Luck

xx

tru

rovers wrote:

IPSEAs advice line is closed until April 11th! I've spoken to the LEA who have told me I have no chance of winning an appeal.
Feeling really fed up now....

Don't take any notice of that, they might be saying that hoping you'll give up. It's the LEA that'll be 'against' you at the appeal.

quietheart

The school i've been offered is ok but not ideal for my boy's anxiety issues, it's a manic and busy place, overcrowded and currently without a head for dodgy reasons. I feel I have to accept it rather than be left with nothing but this doesn't stop me appealing.
I've just had an email from a company who write appeals and they say
"In most cases, if the school you want admits 30 children to an infant class, you stand no chance of winning an appeal unless the school or LEA has made a mistake. If the school has less than 30 to a class, then appeals are considered in a similar way to that described above. "
They have direct experience of this so normal appeals seem like a waste but hey I'll try it anyway.
My final throw of the dice would be a SEN appeal but that will be very late on in the school year. Just wish there was something I could do now.
I need to speak to the SEN assessment service to see what the likelihood of having the school named on a statement, I'll do that tomorrow when I'm less emotional!

Savvy_Sue

Oh what a bummer. I'm sure you don't lose your place at the 2nd choice school by making an appeal so do that. And the LEA would say that, wouldn't they? As troo said, you're appealing against their decision, it's hardly in their interests to encourage appeals.

Meanwhile, is there a 3rd option out there anywhere? A school you didn't consider at the time but which might be better for your son than choice no. 2? And which might have spaces? I know this isn't always an option but sometimes we have to think laterally!

And yes, hassle the SEN people as well, it's appalling that we have to fight like this for our children with SEN but there it is!

Oh, and have you found a support group for children with your son's problem? You might find someone there who will give advice on what to do where SEN assessment is late in coming.