School appeals - help offered

HappySad

hayleyjg wrote: »

In respect of your friends child - it makes no difference if her has to walk past one school to get to another - parental prefernce means that a parents can pexpress a prefernce for any school even if there is one closer. Dosn't help you though - I know!

So can you appeals for a futheraway school and get a place before someone who lives closer?

If your appeal is successful and there is already 30 pupils inthe class do they remove one of the pupils that already have a place? Can you appeal for a place in a school that is already full?

Christmasshopper

hayleyjg wrote: »

I work for an local authority in the school admissions team and have many years experience of school appeals (both admissions and exclusions) so if anyone has any questions I would be happy to help.

Thank you very much for your kind offer of help. I would appreciate any advice you could give me.
We live right on the boundry of two local authorities. The one we live in runs a 2 tier school system and the adjoining one runs a 3 tier system.
My daughter was a very poorly baby and was late doing everything. She started at the local primary school just before she was 5 years old. She failed to thrive there, lost confidence and became very ill. After 2 years at the school the only word she could consistantly read was her own name.
We applied for a place for her at a little village Lower School in the adjoining local authority. She was accepted and started their at the begginning of year 2. Within a few weeks she was starting to read. She was interested, happy, enthusiastic and as a consequence her health started to improve. She has gone from strength to strength. She loves school and has made some very nice friends there.
We have become part of the village community (even though we live 8 miles away). Two years ago my daughter joined Christian Club at school and would like to be christened at the church in the village. I have spoken to the vicar who will be happy to perform the christening, but we have decided to wait until the nicer weather so that my family will come. They live 200 miles away.
My daughter has to leave the school in July, because they only go to Lower School until they are 9. We had assumed that she would go on to Middle School, in the next village. Today we have had a rejection letter from the local authority. I am devestated. I can't apply for another Middle School. It is 6 miles to the nearest, which is the one I applied for. I couldn't afford to take her further. I am already struggling to pay the petrol to take her to the closest, and I have taken a cleaning job in the village to help towards the petrol costs. I can't consider sending her back to the school I have already taken her out of where she failed to thrive. So, I need to appeal against the rejection.
How do I proceed?

hayleyjg

Sorry been away from the computer so I haven’t been checking the site.

amberviolet - although the panel is supposed to really only consider the parent’s reasons, they do see the parents at the appeal hearing and inevitably do take notice of what they are like. They aren’t particularly bothered with parents appearance but are affected by their manners and demeanour .In my experience panels don’t like aggressive parents or parents who try to blind them with facts and figures.

happysad – first thing is to get a copy of the over subscription rules for the school you are interested in. They will show who gets priority for places. If siblings get a high priority, you can ask the admission authority how many siblings were successful in previous years. Bear in mind however that the number of siblings can vary hugely from year to year.

I would also like to know the exact wording of the criteria regarding medical need – usually this refers to the medical need of the child and not the parent. The admission authority must strictly apply the criteria and cannot take any other reasons into consideration. Therefore your medical condition could not be taken into account. However if you had to appeal a panel can take anything into account including parent’s medical conditions and from what you have told me, you would have a good case for appeal as long as the appeal was not on the basis of the infant class size legislation,

If you go to appeal and are successful your child is added to the children that have already been given places so if 30 children have been given a place, your child will be the 31st.

Christmasshopper – firstly – don’t panic! The letter of rejection should tell you how to appeal. You are able to submit a written statement in support of your appeal and will also be invited to attend the appeal hearing, which you should do. You appeal statement should be along the line of what you have written in your question. Can I ask if your local authority have offered any alternative school place or are they just saying she should go back to the local primary?
If so that would be a good thing to put in your appeal

suzannewysiwyg

Hi Hayley, I have contacted the LEA about the appeal deadline, and they informed me it was 'around' the 16th (?)- I got the appeal form on the 17th!! Will this affect the outcome? Can you advise how they will look at a house move? We are moving house after my son has done his SAT's so as not to unsettle him too much. The school we want him to go to is the nearest to our new house - but there's another one across the road that has a bad reputation. - Could they force him to go to this one?

Also what will happen when they receive the appeal form? - As far as they are concerned they have no receipt of us applying to them in the first place ...... We did - I have an e-mail receipt - but it seems the woman who 'misled us' has deleted our application...

Please Advise.

Many thanks

Suzanne

hayleyjg

Suzanne

Firstly fill in the appeal form and get it back to the local authority as soon as possible. If you can drop it into the office, ask to see the relevant officer and put it into their hand. If you have to post it, ring the office after a day or two and get them to confirm it’s been received. Also however you get the original back, email a copy as well and ask for a receipt.

I would detail all the difficulties you have had in your appeal – one of the grounds that a appeal panel can find in your favour is where the local authority has made a mistake and if they hadn’t made that mistake you would have been offered a place. It may not strictly apply to you but it’s worth mentioning, as panels generally don’t like it when they feel a parent has been messed around by the local authority. If you have an email receipt it shows your application was received, the local authority rep will have to explain what happened to it.

By the way no one can force you to send your son to any school although in reality – you have a legal responsibility as a parent to send your child to school and of the school you don’t like is the only one with spaces, you have no choice.

Don’t worry about the house move – I think any panel would understand you wanted to time your move to cause the least disruption to your son.

Christmasshopper

hayleyjg wrote: »

Christmasshopper – firstly – don’t panic! The letter of rejection should tell you how to appeal. You are able to submit a written statement in support of your appeal and will also be invited to attend the appeal hearing, which you should do. You appeal statement should be along the line of what you have written in your question. Can I ask if your local authority have offered any alternative school place or are they just saying she should go back to the local primary?
If so that would be a good thing to put in your appeal

The local authority where my daughter goes to school haven't offered an alternative, nor have they suggested that she should go back to the local authority where we live. They have just said that they are unable to offer her a place at our prefered school because of oversubscription.
Today, I have checked the admission policy for our prefered school. Priority is given to "looked after children". Next it is either children living in the catchment area or children with a sibling currently at the school (I can't remember which order those 2 categories came in.) Next is religious grounds. (My daughter currently goes to a CofE school and our prefered school is also a CofE school.) The next category is if the child already attends a feeder school (which she does). After that comes everyone else who has applied.
There is no category for medical needs, or for continuity of education. My daughter is on the special needs register at her current school, because she had fallen behind so much at her old school. Although she is progressing marvelously, she hasn't caught up with the other children in her class who have been there since they started school.
I would appreciate it if you could tell me how much of this information is relevant. I think I have to be careful to make a clear, concise appeal and not waffle about things that may not be taken into consideration.
There are a couple of other things that are important to us, but I don't know if they are relevant:
1. My daughter has a great love of music. It is the only subject which she excells at, and it is a great confidence booster for her. Two years ago she did a one-term taster course in Samba drumming at school and enjoyed it so much that she has since joined a Samba band. She is by far the youngest player and is very proud to be in the band. Last year they won best band in Bedford Carnival. Our prefered school has excellent music facilities and the music teacher is also a fan of Samba drumming. When we went to Open Day he recognised my daughter instantly as the little girl who was good at drumming. He said he was hoping to start a lunchtime Samba band at the school.
2. My daughter has been learning French at her current school. If she went to our prefered school, she would continue to learn French. If she went back to the local authority where we live, she wouldn't have the opportunity to learn French for another 2 years.

hayleyjg

I suppose that as you have applied for a place in a different authority to the one in which you live, they are not under a duty to provide yur duaghter with education so they don't need ot make an offer to you. It may be sensible to contact your home authority in advance of the appeal to see what they would offer as you can include it in your appeal case that the alternative in unacceptable.

Don't try to narrow your appeal to much - an appeal panel is not bound by the admission criteria at all. They can take anything into consideration when mkaing their decision. I would mention the music and french but only as side issues. The main issue has to be why you took her out of the local school and the progress she has made since and the need for the contiuity of going onto the middle school to continue the progress particulrly as she is on the special needs register. Have all her friends got into the middle school and doe you think it will be detrimental to her if she is separated from them. Any evidnece you can get from third parties to support your arguments will be very helpful as well. You may be able to get a letter from her current teacher although not all schools are prepared to do this.

ruthyjo

Christmasshopper wrote: »

Today, I have checked the admission policy for our prefered school. Priority is given to "looked after children". Next it is either children living in the catchment area or children with a sibling currently at the school (I can't remember which order those 2 categories came in.) Next is religious grounds. (My daughter currently goes to a CofE school and our prefered school is also a CofE school.) The next category is if the child already attends a feeder school (which she does). After that comes everyone else who has applied.
There is no category for medical needs, or for continuity of education. My daughter is on the special needs register at her current school, because she had fallen behind so much at her old school.

Hi - I'm not an expert but I have been a school governor. Does your daughter have a statement of special needs. If so, does this not name the school? Statemented children are usually the first priority. If she is on the SEN register but not statemented my experience has been that this doesn't make any difference when the admissions policy is applied but is regarded favourably at appeal, especially if backed up by statements from your gp, child psychologist etc.

HappySad

hayleyjg wrote: »

happysad – first thing is to get a copy of the over subscription rules for the school you are interested in. They will show who gets priority for places. If siblings get a high priority, you can ask the admission authority how many siblings were successful in previous years. Bear in mind however that the number of siblings can vary hugely from year to year.

I would also like to know the exact wording of the criteria regarding medical need – usually this refers to the medical need of the child and not the parent. The admission authority must strictly apply the criteria and cannot take any other reasons into consideration. Therefore your medical condition could not be taken into account. However if you had to appeal a panel can take anything into account including parent’s medical conditions and from what you have told me, you would have a good case for appeal as long as the appeal was not on the basis of the infant class size legislation,

If you go to appeal and are successful your child is added to the children that have already been given places so if 30 children have been given a place, your child will be the 31st.

Thanks for responding to my questions and it is very much OK about having some time out from MSE....

""...places are offered to applicates in the following order:

a. Statemented pupils
Pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) which names a particular primary school.


b. Medical reasons relevant to pupil
Children with special medical reasons for seeking a place at the chosen school. Such requests will only be considered for the school nearest the child's home. Applications made on medical grounds must be accompanied by supporting evidence from a consultant at the time of application. This letter must provide information about the child's medical condition, the effects of this condition and why, in view of this, the child needs to attend the school nearest to home. In assessing these applications appropriate advice may be sought, for example, from the Community Health Service, the Psychofogy Service and headteachers.

c. Medical reasons relevant to parent(s)
Parent(s) with special medical reasons for seeking a place for their child at the school closest to the home address. Such applications will only be considered for the parent(s) with whom the child lives and must be accompanied by supporting evidence from a consultant at the time of application. This letter must provide information about the parent's medical condition, the effects of this condition and why, in view of this, the child needs to attend the school nearest to the home address. In assessing these applications we may seek appropriate advice, for example, from the Community Health Service.

D. Children looked after by the local authority1
Children looked after by the local authority where the Head of Looked After Children supports placement in the preferred school. Such applications must be accompanied by a detailed assessment showing why the preferred school would best meet the needs of the child.

e Sibling2 link (i.e. older brothers/sisters living at the same address)
Children who have an older brother or sister who will be attending the school at the same time (i.e. the older sibling will still be attending when the younger child starts at the school).

f Distance3
Distance measured in a straight line from home4 to school. This must be the address where parent and child normally live and they must be living there on the closing date for receipt of applications.
""""

hayleyjg

Happysad

It seems to me that you could apply under section c due to your medical condition providing you could get the necessary letter of support. This would give your very high priority and virtually guarantee you a place as there will be a very few applicants in the top two places. Even if you were unsuccessful you would still be able to appeal and the reasons you describe to me would be string reasons at appeal if you could back them up with evidence