School appeals - help offered

Christmasshopper

Hayley - I am unclear about whether I should fill in the appeal form before I have gathered all the evidence. Or whether I should gather the evidence and send it with the appeal form. What do you think.

hayleyjg

Christmasshopper - it depends on whether you have time to get together all your evidence before the appeal form has to be returned. If you don't , don;t worry as you could either send further evidnece once you have retruned your form or take it to the appeal hearing on the day. If you do that it is a good idea to take copies to the hearing with you so that each panel member has their own copy. The only advanatge of sending it in beofre the hearing is that the panel will have had a chance to read ot before the hearing.

Christmasshopper

Hayley - Thank you very much for recommending Ben Rooney's book. I ordered it a couple of days ago and it arrived this morning. It is enlightening.
I have read some of it this morning and I am beginning to think I have very good grounds for an appeal. Following the advise in the book I have found out that a child who lives further away from the school than us has been offered a place, even though the rules say the places are allocated according to distance from the school.
Thanks to a mum at my daughter's school I have found out that my daughter is 6th in line for a vacant place at my prefered school. I now feel much more optimistic than I did when I knew that she was one of 38 who didn't get a place. So I have crossed my fingers in the hope that 6 pupils will not accept their places. In the meantime I am preparing for a successful appeal.

HappySad

hayleyjg wrote: »

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

Thanks for your advice.So do I simply putting ..."The school that I am keen for my son to attend are very much into being healthy and very much incorporate this into his everyday teaching. It also has an outstanding ofsted report & test results. I personally suffer from Bi-Polar (manic depression) and for me I want my child to go to a school that has good decipline along with a good teaching of health because this is very important for a child of a mental ill person to reduce his likely hood of getting something (depression/ maninc or whatever) himself."And also getting my psychiatist to back this information would be enough? would you know how the best way to word this? What have other people who have a mental condition/illness put to support their application. This school has a very high levels in meeting the pupils social, personal, self esteme and this is so important for me for my son.I am going to get the book that you have recommended to see if they have a section on this.Many thanks.

silvercar

Happysad,

From your list of appeal reasons:

"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."

For this reason I would try and persuade your psychiatrist to write a letter emphasising the child's needs ie if she/ he could include something like,

"[The child] has a genetic predisposition to bi-polar disorder and therefore would benefit from a school that promotes strong mental health and self esteem."

Good luck!

suzannewysiwyg

Hi - strange question! If we move out of the area, do we have to take my son out of school, or can he continue attending?

inkie

Hi - strange question! If we move out of the area, do we have to take my son out of school, or can he continue attending?

I would have thought that the child continues to attend. However, all the schools that we have had dealings with do not have a defined geographical area, as they are denominational schools. I would have thought that for continuity for the child, and as long as they can get to school then subsequent locations would be irrelevant.

HappySad

silvercar wrote: »

Happysad,

From your list of appeal reasons:

"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."

For this reason I would try and persuade your psychiatrist to write a letter emphasising the child's needs ie if she/ he could include something like,

"[The child] has a genetic predisposition to bi-polar disorder and therefore would benefit from a school that promotes strong mental health and self esteem."

Good luck!

thanks so much for this .....

hayleyjg

Suzannewysisyg – once a child has a place at a school, then you can move where you like and the place cannot be taken away. However your eligibility for free school transport (if you have it) may change if you move.

Chistmasshopper – don’t rely entirely on the child who lives closer who has been given a place. It is possible that the child falls into a category of the oversubscription criteria that takes a higher priority to you (i.e. they may have a statement of special educational needs or have a sibling already at the school.)

Also places on waiting lists in my authority’s schools are not fixed and peoples place on the list can change at any time. The places are based on where you stand in the oversubscription criteria and not on how long you have been on the list. So for example, some one who moves into the area close to the school could go on the list in quite a high place and move all those below them down.

suzannewysiwyg

Hayley, is there anything that you can point to online or in any documentation, that I could refer to as a hard copy for this - just in case. Thank you :-)

I like to keep you busy lol!!