School appeals - help offered

Gnomie25

Hi there,
just looking for any last minute advice about my appeal before I go & say my peice...

i am appealing for my year 1 daughter - to attend the local primary school.
I applied a year ago when we moved to the area for both of my daughters to attend the local school but both were refused (no space) and given places at the next school 3m a way and a free taxi. i do not drive & we are rural so no buses or trains here. They started this school.

A year on, and my youngest dd at nursery is due to start school sept 12 - she is at the local nursery. I would oviously like all my children to attend the same school but the case here is that if i apply for dd3 to go to her sisters school she will not qualify for the free transport & this has been confirmed it is against the transport policy by the admissions people.
Therefore my only choice is to have my youngest attend the local school (that the other 2 were refused from) - but then i have the problem of trying to be on in two places at once as id have to set off walking just before the taxi is due & also would not arrive home until 10 mins after the taxi would have dropped off...(im sure the taxi will not wait - the girls are not old enough to leave at the door alone & i do not have friends or family to help 5 days a week!) leaving the only logical solution being that all 3 children will attend the same school.
I applied again - dd3s i will not know about until jan (for sept 12) but dd2 was refused (infant class) and dd1 accepted a place in year 3.
I am appealing dd2. I think I have a good case - y3 def starting after oct half term & one most likely starting sept 12 , im hoping that strengthens my case!
any last minute advice would be greatly apprechiated!

FBaby

just playing devils advocate, but couldn't they say that the taxi could pick up and drop later, or do pick up/drop off at the local school? I just know that appeals on the basis of one child at one school and the other at another are not often successful.

Dontknowanymore

Even the 'rubbish' school has no year 3 spaces.
Can they make my son go to a school in another town?
I'm panicking now, I already drive a 20 miles a day to take my son to and from his current school and it is financially crippling me.
I have the forms but as I only get my tenancy agreement the day before I move in, I don't think they will even process it until we move, I tried to ask what happens if there are no spaces but they person on the phone wouldn't give me a straight answer, he doesn't actually work in admissions, they just answer the phones.

FBaby

Dontknowanymore wrote: »

Even the 'rubbish' school has no year 3 spaces.
Can they make my son go to a school in another town?
I'm panicking now, I already drive a 20 miles a day to take my son to and from his current school and it is financially crippling me.
I have the forms but as I only get my tenancy agreement the day before I move in, I don't think they will even process it until we move, I tried to ask what happens if there are no spaces but they person on the phone wouldn't give me a straight answer, he doesn't actually work in admissions, they just answer the phones.

It sounds like you do need to speak to someone in admissions. They will have to find your son a place regardless and as poster above pay for a taxi is over a certain number of miles. I'm sorry you are going through so much stress. Hope it gets sorted in a positive way.

Gnomie25

Gnomie25 wrote: »

Hi there,
just looking for any last minute advice about my appeal before I go & say my peice...

i am appealing for my year 1 daughter - to attend the local primary school.
I applied a year ago when we moved to the area for both of my daughters to attend the local school but both were refused (no space) and given places at the next school 3m a way and a free taxi. i do not drive & we are rural so no buses or trains here. They started this school.

A year on, and my youngest dd at nursery is due to start school sept 12 - she is at the local nursery. I would oviously like all my children to attend the same school but the case here is that if i apply for dd3 to go to her sisters school she will not qualify for the free transport & this has been confirmed it is against the transport policy by the admissions people.
Therefore my only choice is to have my youngest attend the local school (that the other 2 were refused from) - but then i have the problem of trying to be on in two places at once as id have to set off walking just before the taxi is due & also would not arrive home until 10 mins after the taxi would have dropped off...(im sure the taxi will not wait - the girls are not old enough to leave at the door alone & i do not have friends or family to help 5 days a week!) leaving the only logical solution being that all 3 children will attend the same school.
I applied again - dd3s i will not know about until jan (for sept 12) but dd2 was refused (infant class) and dd1 accepted a place in year 3.
I am appealing dd2. I think I have a good case - y3 def starting after oct half term & one most likely starting sept 12 , im hoping that strengthens my case!
any last minute advice would be greatly apprechiated!

just to update, had my appeal friday - and got it!! woohoo

curlywurly1973

i have two children in very small mainstream school but one has adhd and aspergers, I have tried to move my other child as its not working out having them attend the same school but the scihool is full however I can appeal. I have appealed saying that the reason being the school she would move to has an ethos onthe childrens hapiness and wellbeing, she needs her own identity on her own merits do you think i have a case or would they argue against this?

Savvy_Sue

curlywurly1973 wrote: »

I have appealed saying that the reason being the school she would move to has an ethos onthe childrens hapiness and wellbeing,

Gosh, is there a school in the land which does NOT have this ethos, or at least which does not claim to have this ethos?

curlywurly1973 wrote: »

she needs her own identity on her own merits

I do completely understand what you mean by this, and why you say it: my younger sister joined me at secondary school and within two weeks I was universally known as HER sister! Also the "he's not like his older brother, is he?" comments from a class teacher which rather riled me. However ...

curlywurly1973 wrote: »

do you think i have a case or would they argue against this?

Sadly I don't think you do have a case. Take a look at the first page of this thread, get the Ben Rooney book which is recommended (from the library) and look at what grounds can legally be used.

BTW, what stage are the children at?

curlywurly1973

hi my son is year 5, my daughter year one. i have said that it also offers excellent music facilities wlich my daughter is good at and enjoys, and that this school would provide her with happy secure environment etc, I'm only looking for answers tho please that will help, I be of help, I know they would all follow that ethos. thanks in advance x

curlywurly1973

just read that back, i wasnt being rude, sorry if it sounded that way. Would the fact that they could cater for her emotional and social needs help her appeal. Argh, its all so stressful!

Savvy_Sue

curlywurly1973 wrote: »

just read that back, i wasnt being rude, sorry if it sounded that way.

:rotfl: It's OK, I am trying to be helpful, BUT so far I don't think you've said anything which would make for a successful appeal. However, I'm not an expert, which is why I suggested getting the book.

curlywurly1973 wrote: »

Would the fact that they could cater for her emotional and social needs help her appeal.

Again, you'd need to explain why the new school could do this while the old one can't. And you'd need to do it in terms which didn't rubbish the current school.

curlywurly1973 wrote: »

Argh, its all so stressful!

It is, I know.

I'm going to suggest a slightly different approach which you might want to adopt for the time being. Tell me if I've got this wrong:

Your DS has special needs and is going to be at that school for another 18 months. Obviously the current school suits him, for which you should be profoundly grateful, because not all schools cope well with special needs!

Your DD is in Year 1, and the problem is that DS needs / behaviour are affecting her. Everyone knows that she's his sister (or she feels that they do), and everyone knows when something happens with him and reflects it back to her, and other people's expectations of her are affected by him, and she doesn't get a break from him because he's there at school and there at home.

So, if DS was at a different school, would this current school suit DD? If it would, can you work with the school to improve the situation for DD? When that comment about "he's not like his brother" was made, I'm afraid I made it VERY clear that no, he was NOT like his brother, but I wasn't sure why anyone would EXPECT him to be like his brother, and she'd better stop expecting him to be like his brother if she wanted to get anywhere with him ...

BTW, I presume you've checked start and finish times at both schools to make sure these would 'work'.