School appeals - help offered

Deb19742004

Hi, my daughter was refused admission to a nursery school within a very short walking distance of my home.

Their admissions criteria is as follows

children who are already attending the school at the time of application
children who have the school down as their first choice
children who have a parent or grandparent permanently employed in school
Children residing in BT*
Chronological age, beginning with the eldest etc.

I put this school down as my first choice and we are resident of the BT area. My daughter has a May birthday. We arent on benefits and we both work.

What are my chances in appealing this decision? I want to write a letter to the Board appealing their decision not sure where to start! I take it they must go with children residing in the BT area before the age/birthday criteria but as I say a May birthday so its quite late!

Any help appreciated. Thanks

loveandlight

I went on my son's school appeal today for a secondary school place and won!

He has been out of school for a year now (well five years actually but that's a different story) as there are three schools in our area, two of which are classed as very good and are therefore full and the third and only one available that does have places is rough. It was therefore not suitable for my DS as he had been bullied before and it made him very ill as a result.

I ended up applying for another school out of our catchment area that is very highly regarded by everyone and has been noted by Ofsted as particularly outstanding. I wanted it because they have a very good support network in place and seem to genuinely care about their students.The LEA fought like mad at the appeal hearing arguing that the school in my catchment was available but I made sure my written statement was very clear and compelling. So much so that this time the panel hardly asked me any questions and the panel complimented me on my written statement and found in favour of my DS!!

It also helped because the school had indicated a while ago that even though they were full they would take in my DS because of his past circumstances. The LEA still refused the appln though and I had to try and prove to the appeal panel that the school wanted him even though the LEA were blocking it therefore the school themselves must have felt that there would be no prejudice.

I have waited a year for this moment today and had already gone though an appeal and lost before, which was the most humiliating experience of my life as the appeal panel and the rep for the school ( it was a foundation school)were definitely in cahoots with each other and were clearly biased towards the school. I was even threatened at my last hearing by the rep for the school (he's an ex police officer). The school concerned is one of the top state schools in the country and I am so happy that my DS is not going there after all.

I bought Ben Rooney's book How to Win Your School Appeal and at the time I bought it (last Sept) I thought it was very good but to be honest, I found the free info from ACE's website (Advisory Centre for Education) regarding School Appeals so much better regarding the layout and points to make etc.

I still can't believe it and have been going around in a daze ever since.

I do still feel how wrong it is though that we have to fight like our lives depend on it just to secure a place at a good school for our children when it should be an automatic right for all of us.

loveandlight

by mspig
I understand that this is going to be very hard on the school but we have spoke to the school/headteacher that my eldest son went to(the one we put down on the form) and they are prepared to take on the responsibility, but thay can't over rule the Leas decision, and because the school isn't on our door step(we have three closer schools) they have put him at number 28th on the waiting list.

You can override the school's decision by lodging an appeal and saying that the school have indicated a willingness to take on the responsibility for your son. Have you asked other schools as well if they will also take on that care? If you can show that the others have said no and that was the only one who said yes then you can use that in your appeal.

by mspig
We only put one school down, but did this because he has very special circumstances and we felt that we wouldn't be able to trust any other school with his medical needs - hes not SEN though but has a serious life threatening incurable illness.
My middle child has attended the closest school and i withdrew him due to the problems there and don't see the school fit for my son.

You can mention this in your appeal statement.

by mspig
I have to be able to trust the school and to know that my son is in good hands whilst there.

I know exactly how you feel as I felt the same way and it was therefore a big part of my case.
You can mention this in your appeal statement.

SassySa

My son is on the Autistic spectrum and very unhappy/ill due to contant change in locations due to husband's job abroad. Grandmother volunteered to take on care and we applied for local school where grandmother lives providing letter of guardianship and proof of residence. It was made very clear than only our son would be returning to the UK not his parents and that the application should be considered from the UK address. He was refused a place even though grandmother lives 0.8 miles from school and the last place given was 3.7 miles stating that my son has lower criteria. That being the application was considered as having being made from abroad rather than grandma's address. I emailed LEA admissions team if we could hear about decision 2 days earlier [big mistake] as we needed to give notice to landlord saying if he hasn't got a place might seem pointless to give notice. The LEA is now citing that as a reason for not offering him a place - Can they do that?
Firstly there never was any question of our son not moving to the UK - he is so unhappy that keeping him abroad is out of the question
Secondly, it was made clear right from the outset that we weren't moving with him. So can the LEA refuse a place based on the inference they have read into an email that as they [the parents] are unlikely to move if their son doesn't get a place, we shouldn't offer him a place anyway.

Isnt it a breach of the Admissions Code or something - it certainly seems to be of their own oversubscription criteria.

Who can I check with it whether it is a breach or not? I am in shock - please help someone.

silvercar

In my area, you have to be resident at the address used by October 31 in the year of application (so the year before they start school). People oftenf ail to get places because their address is taken as their "old" address and then they slot into high places on the waiting list because that is based on "new" address. In your case, your son wasn't resident at his grandmothers at the time the application was made, so that address wouldn't have been used. Saying it will be his address if he gets a place won't work because everyone could adopt more advantageous addressess if it gets them the school.

Savvy_Sue

Given that there are special needs involved, it might be worth contacting IPSEA and Parent Partnership (google that plus your local area, or grandma's local area). But if your son is currently living with you not grandma, then silvercar's argument is valid.

loveandlight

posted by Sassysa
My son is on the Autistic spectrum and very unhappy/ill due to contant change in locations due to husband's job abroad.

Is your husband in the armed forces as special rules will then apply? Are you applying for a secondary school place or a primary school one?

ACE (Advisory Centre for Education) are good so it's worth calling them if you can. Their number is 0808 800 5793. Like any volunteer organisation some advisers on the helpline are better and more helpful than others. I used to call them all the time and sometimes several times in a day until I got someone I felt was knowledgable and I liked.

Does the school have places as that isn't very clear from your post? If they do have places then they must offer you one irregardless of the fact your son is not even resident in the UK yet. This is what ACE advised me as I had to apply for school places outside my catchment area.

shaki02

Bubby wrote: »

Is this what they have applied to your situation? i.e there were too many children in section 2 and so they gave priority to those who attend the nursery for 5 sessions per week?

Hi

thanks for the replay..

Yes, My neighbour kids got admission becouse they are in the nursary. we didn't be becouse we send her to different nursary( fulltime requirement). The school only runs 1/2 day nursary and we can't as working parents.
Now they are delaying setting up the appeal process.. giving me all sorts of reason from resignation to we don't have resources.. will keep pushing them, what else we can do:(

Regards...

t11cky

Hi Everyone!!!
I would be really gratefull of any advice or experience with school appeals that are similair in any way shap or form, Sorry if I waffle on a bit!!!
Right this is the position we are in, We have just bought a house together and my partners little boy who is five next week goes to the reception class of a school which is aproximatly 3 miles away. The house we have bought is on a road that one side is the catchment area for Brampton school and the other side is Brockwell school. We are on the Brampton side but want him to go to Brockwell which is about 200mtrs further away from us than Brampton.
Brockwell has got great SATS reports and Brampton's are quite poor and it accepts they need to improve as well as Brockwell being quite a bit more modern with far better facilities.
I personally went to Brockwell as well as my Brother and my mum also used to work their as a special needs assistant.
I personally have Epilepsy and can not drive which I know does not really effect which of the 2 new schools he needs to go to but it does make it important he goes to one of the two as I cant pick him up or take him. My mum lives very close to Brockwell and it is important to us that she can pick our boy up from school as and when i have a seizure so this could be very last minutes notice.
To back the Epilepsy up we plan to take medical evidence in case they were to want to see evidence!!!
The school appears to be full with 2 x classes of 30 children which does make me think we have an impossible task but to go on an immediate waiting list would be a succes in my eyes!!!
Any thoughts would be so gratefully recieved as my mrs is a bag of nerves over the appeal meeting :eek:

clearingout

bit of a dilemma...I am moving house in the summer. My eldest child will be in year 2 in September and has not been able to get in the nearest primary school to our new home. My middle child will be able to start the pre-school at this school in September. I am a single parent and cannot afford for my children to be in different schools as I have to work and use a childminder for support with pick ups. Can I appeal the decision for the older child on this basis? There is no doubt that he would have got in if we had lived in the area at the time of application - 0.4 miles away.