School appeals - help offered

Karrie

Christmasshopper wrote: »

:dance: :j :T :beer:
We just got the letter this morning. Our appeal has been successful and our daughter can go to the school where we think she will thrive.
Thank you Hayley for all your help. :A
And thank you everyone else for your support which has kept me going throughout the past few months. I couldn't have done it without you all.:beer:
Good luck to everyone who is still going through the appeal proccess. It is not for the faint-hearted.

FANTASTIC!!! It's a great feeling isn't it!!

Well done, now you can relax.

jacquij123

Elle83 wrote: »

The school I would like for him to attend is a Catholic primary school not too far from where we live (in fact I believe it's the closest one to our present home though we may have moved before he starts nursery/school). I would also like for him to attend the Catholic upper school in a nearby city that the children usually go to after the local Catholic primary school as our local upper school is appalling.

The thing is though, whilst I hold the Catholic values highly, I would be lying if I said I thought the bible was "real". My personal belief is that this Jesus fellow did exist but was a bit of a conman who's life was embellished over the centuries. I also find the biblical views towards women very hard to stomach. I just don't have it in me to lie to an admissions board but really do think this better quality of education would give my son a better start in life than if he attended the regular local schools QUOTE]



I think you need to think about why you want him to attend the Catholic school. If you are struggling with their values you will also be struggling to support him as he will be taught every day about the Catholic way of life. I send my children to a Catholic school as I feel it gives them the best start in life, they are taught to be kind and considerate which I know, working in a secondary school, does not happen at all Primaries. As a lapsed Catholic I started attending church and have gone through thier Baptisms and Communions as i knew it gave them the best chance for a good all education. (you don't have to be Catholic to bring up Catholic children). In our area if your child is not a fully paid up member of the catholic church they will not get into the catholic schools.

Christmasshopper

Karrie wrote: »

FANTASTIC!!! It's a great feeling isn't it!!

Well done, now you can relax.

Thank you Karrie. It is wonderful. I feel as thought a huge weight has been lifted off me.
I got my housework done early this morning and I have been sitting in the garden watching my husband paint the fences, while we have a glass or three of cider. I'll be as relaxed as a newt at this rate.:beer:

Christmasshopper

bestpud wrote: »

I've been watching this thread with interest as will probably be doing it myself in a few years. We were lucky that dd got the primary we wanted for her but know we will have a bigger problem with the secondary school.

I'm very happy for you, it must be a massive relief. Been biting my nails for you the last few days. lol And best wishes to your dd in her new school!

Bestpud

Thank you Bestpud. If you suspect you might need to go through the appeal proccess sooner or later, I suggest you buy Ben Rooney's book and read it over and over again.
There are several things you might be able to do early to improve your chances of getting into the school you would like. For example if your child is struggling at school you could speak to the SENCO and get it on record. If your child has an interest that your chosen school specialises in, you could encourage it. If it's a church school, you may want to start attending the church. If your child has a medical problem, you could ask your doctor if he would support an appeal if necessary. If your child is being bullied you could start to keep a diary. You get the idea.
The appeal proccess takes a lot of time and hard work. The more you can prepare for it, the better it will be.
Good luck and thank you for thinking of us.

Glad

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nmarsh_2

i am due to go to appeal in the a couple of weeks on the ground of my daughter being a lone transfer and could do with any advise please, i have letters off our gp and school to help our appeal. i am saying that it will have a detremental effect on my daughter if she is made to go to a secondary school by herself she really wants to go with the other 20 pupils in her class.
she does a lot of out of school clubs with her freinds and feels if she does not transfer with her freinds she will lose her close freindship with them.
i need help with what to say to the panel that will help my case.
can anybody help ?

Christmasshopper

nmarsh wrote: »

i am due to go to appeal in the a couple of weeks on the ground of my daughter being a lone transfer and could do with any advise please, i have letters off our gp and school to help our appeal. i am saying that it will have a detremental effect on my daughter if she is made to go to a secondary school by herself she really wants to go with the other 20 pupils in her class.
she does a lot of out of school clubs with her freinds and feels if she does not transfer with her freinds she will lose her close freindship with them.
i need help with what to say to the panel that will help my case.
can anybody help ?

I think this is right, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong:
Claiming that your daughter will miss her friends is not good grounds for an appeal as a child can reasonably be expected to make new friends. However, if your daughter will be excluded from the community by going to a different school that would be grounds for an appeal.

nmarsh_2

i am claiming that my dauhter is already suffering from not being given the feeder school and is feeling lonely about it i do have medical evidence to back up my claim but how is the best way to get it accross to the panel at my appeal.

Karrie

NMarsh

I was in the same situation. My son is a sensitive soul and had a great group of friends who were all going to the other school. In all my sons reports from school it mentioned how sensitve he was and that his friends were important to him so I included them in my appeal. Have you spoken to any of her teachers? I know they don't like to get involved but it might help. I also got character references of his sports coaches for clubs he attends.

Christmasshooper is right in what she said.

You just need to do all you can to emphasise how important her friends are to her.

Good luck. When is your appeal?

Karrie

Also, I guess the only way to get it across to the appeal panel apart from the written appeal, is to be completely honest and passionate when it comes to your private appeal. You may not even get that far. Do you have the group appeal? My son got in on the group appeal and didn't have to go to private appeal. So you never know. How many children are appealing?