School appeals - help offered

Savvy_Sue

Not sure the original poster is, but several of us will try to answer if you set out the situation. There are some basics: have you got yourself on the waiting list for the school you want, do you know how long that waiting list is, did you provide all the information you now want to use in your appeal, did the local authority make a mistake in their decision?

linzmoo

Hello! My daughter didn’t get into her first choice primary school we found out today.  We are devastated.  She’s a very emotional little girl and struggles with separation when her dad goes away to work etc.  She’s been in the school nursery but due to being outside the admission zone (plans to move ASAP) has now been denied a place and is 7th on the waiting list! 

I firmly believe making her attend a totally new school with no friends or anyone she knows at this stage will completely overwhelm her.  She had settled in so well to school nursery, her behaviour had calmed and educationally she is doing multiplication at 4 years old. 

As a footnote, our close family friend takes my daughter to school when my partner is away as I work for the NHS and start early making it impossible to get her to school.  Given the current climate my partner has no income and we will not be in a position to pay for childcare come September to ensure she can be taken to and from school. 

Any help or tips would be very gratefully received.  Thanks you! 
 

Savvy_Sue

linzmoo said:

Hello! My daughter didn’t get into her first choice primary school we found out today.  We are devastated.  She’s a very emotional little girl and struggles with separation when her dad goes away to work etc.  She’s been in the school nursery but due to being outside the admission zone (plans to move ASAP) has now been denied a place and is 7th on the waiting list! 

I firmly believe making her attend a totally new school with no friends or anyone she knows at this stage will completely overwhelm her.  She had settled in so well to school nursery, her behaviour had calmed and educationally she is doing multiplication at 4 years old. 

As a footnote, our close family friend takes my daughter to school when my partner is away as I work for the NHS and start early making it impossible to get her to school.  Given the current climate my partner has no income and we will not be in a position to pay for childcare come September to ensure she can be taken to and from school. 

Any help or tips would be very gratefully received.  Thanks you! 
 

I think it's quite important that you try to stay calm about this, so as not to add to your daughter's emotional struggles. 

I don't think moving will help you now: it's where you lived at the time of application that counts. 

7th doesn't sound so bad, it's worth asking the school how many were admitted from the waiting list last year. But then bear in mind that if someone applies in a higher priority group, they won't go to the bottom of the waiting list. (example: looked after or foster children usually take higher priority)

I'm afraid how you get your daughter to and from school and what childcare arrangements you make are irrelevant to the school's admission criteria. 

lm1981

Hello all,
Please can I have some advice from anyone with any knowledge on primary admissions?
we found out other day our daughter got her 3rd place school. We are pretty deflated as had hoped she would have got first choice. We are on waiting list and also weighing up options. I have read the schools admission policy but trying to work out who has decided on placements for example is it the school themselves that have had all the applicants on a list in front of them and decided based on policy who has place and who doesn’t or does the local authority do it on behalf of the school? I have a nagging suspicion that after children with a care plan and siblings who have first priority the rules on distance haven’t been followed correctly (ie someone who is further away may have been giving place ahead of us) - I cant prove that but I want to bring that up at an appeal, would the appeal process look into every place for that year and revalue if the correct policy has been applied? Many thanks on any info that can be given.

silvercar

lm1981 said:

Hello all,
Please can I have some advice from anyone with any knowledge on primary admissions?
we found out other day our daughter got her 3rd place school. We are pretty deflated as had hoped she would have got first choice. We are on waiting list and also weighing up options. I have read the schools admission policy but trying to work out who has decided on placements for example is it the school themselves that have had all the applicants on a list in front of them and decided based on policy who has place and who doesn’t or does the local authority do it on behalf of the school? I have a nagging suspicion that after children with a care plan and siblings who have first priority the rules on distance haven’t been followed correctly (ie someone who is further away may have been giving place ahead of us) - I cant prove that but I want to bring that up at an appeal, would the appeal process look into every place for that year and revalue if the correct policy has been applied? Many thanks on any info that can be given.

Stay on the waiting list and appeal. In your appeal you can state that you don't think the rules have been followed. If someone further away has been admitted on that rule ahead of you, you stand a good chance of winning the appeal. It may be that you don't know all the circumstances of the other child ie if they have a care plan or maybe a half sibling at the school already. Also check their distance definition, some use crow flight distance, some safe walking distance.

lm1981

Thank you for reply , we have gone onto the waiting list and are starting appeal process. Once the lockdown finishes I plan to try and move closer to school in question so that even if we were not successful this year we may be able to try again next year. I am conscious that swapping schools further down line can be disruptive so keen it it were to happen , for it to happen very early on. 

Mrsn

lm1981 said:

Thank you for reply , we have gone onto the waiting list and are starting appeal process. Once the lockdown finishes I plan to try and move closer to school in question so that even if we were not successful this year we may be able to try again next year. I am conscious that swapping schools further down line can be disruptive so keen it it were to happen , for it to happen very early on. 

The only thing I will say to this is the 30 class size applies from reception through until the end of year 2 so it may not necessarily mean any real shift in spaces. 

I was in a similar position 2 years ago where someone had moved out of the catchment and hadn’t declared this to the council because they are already had another child at the school. They were found out and the offer of a place was withdrawn the same day. 

When it gets close to the appeals they will send out paperwork confirming how they’ve allocated the places. Children who have an EHCP or are looked after will get their first choice of school regardless, but sometimes due to moves for various reasons spaces do become free so it is definitely worth waiting on the list. Some councils also now allow you to view where you are on the waiting list online rather than ringing for updates.

Appeals are very very hard to win unless a mistake has been made allocating the spaces. We lost ours and prepared our daughter that she would be going to a school 5 miles away (we are rural and anything local was already full) that was different to her brother. We were offered a space 10 days before school was due to start. 

Mrsn

linzmoo said:

Hello! My daughter didn’t get into her first choice primary school we found out today.  We are devastated.  She’s a very emotional little girl and struggles with separation when her dad goes away to work etc.  She’s been in the school nursery but due to being outside the admission zone (plans to move ASAP) has now been denied a place and is 7th on the waiting list! 

I firmly believe making her attend a totally new school with no friends or anyone she knows at this stage will completely overwhelm her.  She had settled in so well to school nursery, her behaviour had calmed and educationally she is doing multiplication at 4 years old. 

As a footnote, our close family friend takes my daughter to school when my partner is away as I work for the NHS and start early making it impossible to get her to school.  Given the current climate my partner has no income and we will not be in a position to pay for childcare come September to ensure she can be taken to and from school. 

Any help or tips would be very gratefully received.  Thanks you! 
 

Savvy Sue has already given some excellent advice. 

Firstly she is correct childcare circumstances will not be taken into account in the appeals process, when we appealed 2 years ago we had a sibling at the school the tribunal said that we would have to use the breakfast and after school club facilities for each child each day. 

Also the criteria will state that even if you move into catchment mid term which this would be it doesn’t change the position of places already allocated, you would just be put on the waiting list that you are already on.

Infant class size appeals are hard to win, I don’t want to scare you but that is something you need to be aware of. Essentially appeals are only won because the council made a mistake in allocating the places. They will when it comes closer to the appeal date lost how they have allocated their places against the set criteria. Those with EHCP’s and looked after children will be given priority. 

Waiting lists do move up and down all the time, you will just need to monitor that but I strongly urge you apply for other schools in the meantime because the local authorities only have a duty to offer a place not a place of your choosing....

happyandcontented

In my experience as a school governor, the local authority measures the distance from the home to the school using a GIS (geographic information system). This measures the precise distance, to three decimal points, in a straight line from the pupil's main home to the designated main school entrance nominated by the school. Therefore, unless the applicants have lied about their address ( and proof can be sought) then a mistake is unlikely to have been made.

IyaBeji

Hello,
Hoping someone can help and THANK YOU in advance!
We didn't get our preferred secondary school and are in the process of appealing.
Set of twins.  For both children, we fall into the "distance" criterion which is number low down the list of criteria (number 5) but we had hoped one twin would be ranked under "medical" criterion (number 2) and we supplied letters from the hospital consultant and we explained why the school is suitable.  Unfortunately, we understand that the Admissions Committee decided that the needs could be met by other schools and not only this and was therefore not ranked under the "medical" criterion.

We're in the process of appealing but realistically, have no grounds for appeal because it is a small school so if they're full, they're full and "distance" is really low down the list of oversubscription criteria.  We have decided to appeal for the one child under medical i.e: "we believe the admission arrangements were not correctly applied by not ranking child against the “medical criterion, effectively denying child a place."
Please clarify:
- if our appeal is successful, does other twin automatically get offered a place like normal applications where further child(ren) from a multiple birth are offered place(s) if the last place available with the PAN was offered to their multiple birth sibling?
-If the answer to above is no, what are our options?  Do we put in an appeal for second twin AFTER the outcome of first appeal saying, best in same school etc?  OR is it worth putting in an appeal for second twin now eventhough we do not have grounds?  Is this something that will be relevant for appeal, even if we do not appeal?
If our appeal is unsuccessful, then we'll monitor the list and see where are around August.  We are currently numbers 50/51 on the waiting list.  In the meantime, we've got a place at another school but we're hoping to get places at this school.

We have submitted our "notice of appeal" (200) words.  We have not received the school's statement of case so I am not sure of the exact wording.  I understand the statement  will be sent to us when they send information about the date and format (I am guessing it will be by phone becasue of the lockdown) but we are trying to do as much preparation as possible to prepare our response.
What sort of information should I ask the school for e.g.
- the number of children admitted this year - is school over PAN this year?
Anything else I need to ask the school to provide me before the appeal?
Is it an issue that I haven't received their statement of case?  I am concerned that I may not have enough time to prepare my response if they send me the case at the same time at the appeal date.
 My understanding had been that I should have received their case BEFORE information about appeal date [please correct mem if this is incorrect].
Apologies if incoherent and for the length and THANK YOU for reading.
KEEP SAFE