School appeals - help offered

bunty109

Karrie wrote: »

hayley
:j :j:j:j:j:j

We did it!! We won our appeal. I am over the moon. Thank you so much for all your help. Very much appreciated.:beer:

Incidently, if anyone would like Ben Rooneys book, pm me and I will send it to you.

Karrie - well done!! :T

Christmasshopper

Karrie wrote: »

hayley
:j :j:j:j:j:j

We did it!! We won our appeal. I am over the moon. Thank you so much for all your help. Very much appreciated.:beer:

Incidently, if anyone would like Ben Rooneys book, pm me and I will send it to you.

Congratulations Karrie. Can you give me any tips about what to expect at the hearing. We still have two weeks to plan for our hearing. Was it scary?

Karrie

Christmasshopper wrote: »

Congratulations Karrie. Can you give me any tips about what to expect at the hearing. We still have two weeks to plan for our hearing. Was it scary?

Well, no it wasn't scarey. I expected it to be. The panel consisted of 3 people plus one legal guy. The school had its deputy head and 2 local authority representatives. The school put their argument across then the parents were allowed to ask questions. I have to say that I admired the parents and the way they handled the arguement of the school being overcrowded. They asked brilliant questions. Some parents were quite agressive but then when it comes to your kids future, you'll do anything it takes. Then when the parents questioning ended the panel of 3 asked the school questions. That finished the panel went elsewhere to come to their decision. This is when I got nervous. I wasn't the only one. We all re-gathered and the spokesperson for the panel announced that they found in the parents favour and that ALL 13 children that appealed can attend the school. We all clapped and cheered. We shook hands with the school reps and left. Everyone diving for their mobiles.

I wish you all the luck in the world. It's a hell of a journey and in my case it was worth it. I hope it is worth it for you too. Let us know how you get on.

Karrie

Sorry should have send, if we'd not been successful we would have had to attend our individual appeal today. But meeting the panel the day before it would have put my mind at ease. They are normal people - independent of the authority. It is well worth going to the group appeal before hand. Some good questions are raised.

Karrie

Hayley

Yep me again :rolleyes: do I need to write to the school that my son was allocated originally to let them know he won't be going or does the authority do that?

Thanks

Christmasshopper

Wish me luck... it's our appeal hearing in the morning. I feel sick:eek:

Christmasshopper

Our appeal hearing isn't going so well.
We arrived just after 9am ready for the hearing to start at 9.30am. We were directed to a waiting room and told to sit and wait until we were called. At 9.50am the clerk to the appeals committee came to introduce himself and said they only had 2 panel members, he thought the 3rd one must think it starts at 10 O'clock. At 3 minutes past 10 he took us through to the council chambers which looked like a big court room and apologised for the delay. He said that they were expecting the 3rd member of the panel to arrive soon. Then he explained that the school would give their side and we would be allowed to ask questions afterwards. He then went out again and came back with 2 representitives from the school ( the head teacher and a govenor). Then we waited and waited and waited. I even heard the head teacher comment to the govenor that it was totally unfair on the parents!
Eventually, just as we were deciding whether to die of thirst or frustration, 3 panel members turned up and the hearing started.
The school claimed prejudice based on overcrowding, and class sizes. Then we were given the opportunity to ask questions. I asked how the school could claim overcrowding when they were operating below net capacity. The head teacher said it was the small classroom sizes that were the problem. She said we should have received copies of the audit which would proove that and didn't know why we hadn't.
I asked if they could only accomodate up to 30 children in a class were they experiencing any particular difficulties with a current class of 31 pupils. She replied that it was difficult to tell.
Then some parents asked for clarification on religious grounds for admission, which were clarified. And I asked if the PAN number had been reassessed since a new music block was built at the school and the answer was that it hadn't.
After this the panel members asked whether or not the pupils work individually or in pairs. The answer was, "pairs". And how many feeder schools are there. The answer was, "8".
Then the panel retired to another room. After a while the clerk came back to say that the panel had decided the school would be prejudiced by taking one additional child. So we would all have to go on to the individual element of our appeals.
I certainly don't think the school PROVED prejudice, which is what I thought they had to do. They CLAIMED it and the panel accepted their word without any proof.
I have to go back tomorrow for the individual element of the appeal tomorrow.

i_am_really_rich!!

Can you appeal an appeal? My son's best friend has just been turned down on appeal for a a place at the local boys school. His parents are very upset as is the boy, as every other boy in his class is going to the boys school and he has been allocated a place at a mixed school on the other side of town. The original decision said that his home was 200m too far away from the school. They have since moved to a house even further away, but as we don't have catchment areas in this town then surely this shouldn't be an issue.

The appeal panel said that his reasons for appeal were not strong enough, but I am really worried for the emotional wellbeing of this boy. He is a sensitive lad. His parents are at their wits end as they do not know what is going to happen in September.

Is there anything else they can do??

i_am_really_rich!!

Good luck Christmashopper, I do not envy you.

simonSE15

i_am_really_rich!! wrote: »

Can you appeal an appeal? My son's best friend has just been turned down on appeal for a a place at the local boys school. His parents are very upset as is the boy, as every other boy in his class is going to the boys school and he has been allocated a place at a mixed school on the other side of town. The original decision said that his home was 200m too far away from the school. They have since moved to a house even further away, but as we don't have catchment areas in this town then surely this shouldn't be an issue.

The appeal panel said that his reasons for appeal were not strong enough, but I am really worried for the emotional wellbeing of this boy. He is a sensitive lad. His parents are at their wits end as they do not know what is going to happen in September.

Is there anything else they can do??

if, as your name suggests, you are really rich, you can send him to a fee paying school.

alternativley send him to a school with girls, this will be better for his social development anyway.