School appeals - help offered

noregrets

dragon1964 wrote: »

my granddaughter came straight from parents home to me . i was the one the informed social services that i had them . they were placed on the at rick register until the residence order was complete . i did not realize i was meant to send residence order presumed they would contact me to send it to them . another grandparent done exactly the same as me and didn't send her order in either . it really wasn't clear on the form .

In that case I think it very unlikely that she would be designated as a CLA - I think you need to get confirmation from social services asap so that you know what rule you can argue your case under.

Assuming she isn't CLA, then the next step is to follow up the rule allowing you to apply under medical or other compelling reasons. You should contact the admissions team in writing asap to explain that you didn't apply under that rule initially as you thought your granddaughter would meet the first rule and then give the reasons why it is so important that she goes to that school. If they agree, then it will give your daughter a higher priority on the waiting list but even if they don't then you will be able to use that information at appeal to demonstrate that you have made every effort to provide the LA with all the information now albeit it later than would be ideal.

And I know it sounds harsh but it is the responsibility of the person making the application to ensure that all of the correct boxes are ticked and any necessary paperwork is provided. Unfortunately the appeal panel will not consider the LA has acted unreasonably if you didnt send them all the information.

Kaikai

Hello
I have just received the LA'S case against admitting my son to a brand new free school for Sept 2014, its a secondary school. They are making the usual arguments based on prejudice to resources if the go over their PAN. These include a strain on resources, class room size of 46 metre squared for 20 students (the national average is usually 49m2 for 30 students). The problem I have is how to challenge their case with no published data on the school...it opens its doors for the first time in September. Generally most of all the surrounding secondary schools have gone over their PAN without obvious prejudice as their results haven't dipped. How do I challenge the LA's case when there is no data to challenge it? I suppose it can work both ways as they claim 'potential' prejudice as the school has not yet opened.
Confused

susancs

Kaikai wrote: »

Hello
I have just received the LA'S case against admitting my son to a brand new free school for Sept 2014, its a secondary school. They are making the usual arguments based on prejudice to resources if the go over their PAN. These include a strain on resources, class room size of 46 metre squared for 20 students (the national average is usually 49m2 for 30 students). The problem I have is how to challenge their case with no published data on the school...it opens its doors for the first time in September. Generally most of all the surrounding secondary schools have gone over their PAN without obvious prejudice as their results haven't dipped. How do I challenge the LA's case when there is no data to challenge it? I suppose it can work both ways as they claim 'potential' prejudice as the school has not yet opened.
Confused

Welcome to MSE.

I know this is probably not want you want to read, but to be honest it is usually hard to win an appeal, unless you can prove that the admissions criteria was not correctly applied or that your child has exceptional needs that can only be met by this particular school. You may well also be up against a number of similar appeals if it is a new free school with a lot of publicity behind it. In our area only 8% of secondary school appeals are upheld. Often the best way to secure a place is via the waiting list for places, as people move or change their mind about a place nearer September.

Here is the information regarding new buildings in secondary schools and the recommended floor space fig: c:6 page 34.
http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/b/building%20bulletin%2098%20-%20briefing%20framework%20for%20secondary%20school%20projects.pdf

The recommended floor space is 43m squared for a standard classroom (for English, maths, history, geography etc) for 20 pupils and does not take into account any extra storage needs. You could ignore the extra storage space issue and use the document as evidence to back up an argument that this equates to 2.15m squared per pupil, so a classroom of 46m squared could accomodate 21 pupils. In regard to straiin on resources, the school will of course recieve funding for your child which will cover extra costs and if your child is entitled to free school meals the pupil premium will top this up further. Free schools also get a start up grant which will be used for resources. However the LEA may well have research to back up their position that a larger pupil class size will impact on the other children's learning potential. They will usually consider all appeals before making a decision and it may be that another child has a stronger appeal case.
http://education.gov.uk/a0075658/free-schools-faqs-funding

Pumpkinpie30

Hi I'm really looking for some advice here on year 7 admissions because I've just hit a hard time in my life and the thought of not getting the school we want makes it all the more worse.
Here goes I don't have to apply until 2015 but I'm planning ahead.
We moved to a new area of town housed by the council.
We had no choice but that's a different story.
People on the estate hate us especially the people that live below us, there's constant anti social behaviour, fights, drugs and nasty kids.
Now we are in the catchment school these kids go too, the ones that cause us hell everyday.
My son is scared of these kids and suffers anxiety issues.
I'm very worried I don't want him going to school with these kids, I myself are frightened of them.
Not only that he won't know anybody at this school plus he will be seeing these kids often. I think it will make the bullying worse.

Now we are out of catchment for our preferred school which is often over subscribed.
I know I don't have to go through admissions until 2015 but I am thinking ahead.
It makes me sick knowing the school is not that great plus these kids are there also.

I don't really know what advice to ask for? Does it seem like we could apply with a medical need? Due to his anxiety?
Or are we done for...

(Sorry for any spelling I'm on mobile)

peachyprice

Pumpkinpie30 wrote: »

I don't really know what advice to ask for? Does it seem like we could apply with a medical need? Due to his anxiety?
Or are we done for...

Yes, you can, but you need to start taking him to the GP now so that you have enough evidence of his medical needs when it comes to the time to apply. You also need to get his primary school on side so that they can back up what the doctors says.

When you do your application you will need a letter from your doctor stating why is would be best for your child to attend your choice of school and a letter from his primary school would be helpful too.

It's still not a guarantee that you will get the school you want but it will put you in a better position.

Pumpkinpie30

peachyprice wrote: »

Yes, you can, but you need to start taking him to the GP now so that you have enough evidence of his medical needs when it comes to the time to apply. You also need to get his primary school on side so that they can back up what the doctors says.

When you do your application you will need a letter from your doctor stating why is would be best for your child to attend your choice of school and a letter from his primary school would be helpful too.

It's still not a guarantee that you will get the school you want but it will put you in a better position.

Thanks peachyprice,
Medical need comes 2nd on his school criteria.
We already see the gp about his anxieties, at the moment they are mostly at night, but also when the kids are out on the estate, he copes with it by spying on them but he is ultimately terrified of them, the other day they told him they would steal our little dog and it set him of again, sometimes his behaviour I'd boarder line OCD but that's a different story.
I believe it would damage him if he went to the catchment area school.

Also another thing, since living here I suffer from my own anxieties( completely different from my sons)
Constantly intimidated by the neighbours, the threats and the drug raid at 6am on Sunday (!!!)
So I have my own issues and am struggling thinking he won't get the preferred school. I'm on meds myself and see a councilor, I know the medical grounds are for the child but certainly it will impact on him somehow, how could I prove this?

Savvy_Sue

Can you not look for an exchange, or is there a time limit before you can do that? And how soon can you re-apply for a new property?

EmmEve

Just wondering if anyone can give me any advice.

We are currently in the process of buying a house 4 miles from where we currently live. I have applied for 2 places at the school round the corner from our new house and my youngest child has been accepted but my eldest to attend there has not. We knew this was likely and that we would have to appeal.

Now his sister has been accepted will this help our appeal?
His year group (yr 3) are already oversubscribed by one which is why he has been refused a space. They have 2 (or it might be 3) mixed yr 3 and 4 classes. If one class is already larger than it should be does this mean it wil be easy for us to argue they could take my son in another class?

If we lose the appeal I hope to apply and appeal.again once we have exchanged contracts on our house as we can appeal again if there is a significant change in circumstances.

There is no waiting list for the school which is very frustrating. If a space comes up admissions automatically look at any application made/refused in the last 15 days but this means I will have to constantly ring/apply to ensure my son gets a space if it comes up.

Any advice much appeciated.

Steve_Blake

I realize this is an older thread but would welcome and be very interested in understanding if we have any grounds to appeal our situation; Heard today our 11 year old has not got into the choices of school we had hoped for, instead got a place at our local / nearest. We were not happy with the standard displayed during our tour of it, confirmed by the ofsted results.

Have independently heard not-so-great things from parents of attending and past pupils.

Do we have any grounds for appeal? Does this even ever get a result?

Any help appreciated, thanks!

MallyGirl

generally the advice seems to be that you cannot appeal on the basis of not wanting your current allocation - you need to be putting a case forward as to why your first choice would be better for them. Does DC have a flair for science and 1st choice is a science specialist school, that sort of thing. There is an online forum for 11+ which has lots of really useful info about appealing for schools places