Appealing - School Addmission

peterpan01

pinkshoes wrote: »

You would be better off finding a school that isn't full, rather than waiting. The wait could take a long time...

there are no other schools in the area with outstanding in behaviour.

sharp910sh

I went to school in Harpenden. What school do you want your kids to go to?

pinkshoes

peterpan01 wrote: »

there are no other schools in the area with outstanding in behaviour.

A school doesn't need to have an outstanding for behaviour, and what the **** do Ofsted know???

You would be amazed what perfectly good schools would get marked down for. The school my mum taught at had way better behaviour of kids than the one i teach at, but only got GOOD as their procedures were apparently weak. (They weren't needed!)

Speak to other local schools, ask about their behaviour management system and what they do to make sure lessons are not interrupted by behavioural issues. Ask if they support their staff in behaviour management.

We have a 3 point system, which is warning, detention, then removal. I can even phone for help if a child refuses to leave my classroom when asked.

Take Ofsted reports with a pinch of salt!

Noonar

We are in the catchment area for Harpenden schools - the boundary between Hitchin schools and Harpenden schools go through our front garden. I did not even bother applying for Harpenden schools - they are way oversubscribed. I don't think you have got any hope of getting your two children into one with the reasons you state. Although I wish you well.

susancs

OP, I am sorry to read that your children are unhappy in their current school. Unfortunately I have to agree with other posters that you are unlikely to win an appeal at an over subccribed school with a lot of the reasons you have provided.

To win an appeal you usually need to demonstrate with evidence from professionals, how the particular school you are applying to is more suitable for meeting your child's particular needs as opposed to other schools.

All schools will have anti-bullying policies and procedures, so it may well be hard to prove that a particular school is better in this area.

A lot of excellent secondary schools do their own initial tests to stream pupils, into sets, rather than rely on SAT test results and then move children into different sets if they demonstrate a different ability a few months after they have settled into school. The reason SATS results are often not taken into account in secondary schools, is that some primary schools overcoach children just to pass these tests (to ensure a good league table place) and they are not a true reflection of the child's natural ability. A number of secondary schools carry out their own Cognitive Ability Tests (CAT) which children are not tutored for in advance, as the baseline assessment on entry to secondary school. You may well find that the school you are appealing for a place at, operates the same system as the school your children currently attend, so your appeal on these grounds may be unsuccessful.

What could carry more weight would be your son's mental health issues and if the school has some sort of specialism in this area. For example in regard to councellors or pastoral care, that would set it apart from other schools. You would also most likely need this backed up by professional reports from CAHMS. However that would only apply to one of your children, so unlikely the other child will get a place.

ACE offer some good advice on appeals if you contact them.
http://www.ace-ed.org.uk/

The LEA will have a list of schools within your region that have vacancies and it may be worth visiting these schools to see if they are more suitable, than their existing school.

helphelphelphelp

I won my daughters appeal (second time round) to get her into a decent school and would agree with the poster who mentioned CAMHs. My first appeal was similar to yours and we failed. However for the second appeal, she was being bullied, and also had mental health problems due to other past personal issues and was being seen by CAMHs. It was a pretty awful time for the whole family and to give us all support we had a CAF done (now MARF I believe) and when I went for the appeal my social worker came with me. Due to the impact the schooling had on the whole family and the fact so many agencies were involved we won the appeal and she got a place at the school we wanted. But I agree, none of the points you have mentioned will bear any weight at the appeals process. It took me from 1 March when we got the school place until 4 February until she started at the new school, but we got there. Good luck.

lindsaygalaxy

'Behaviour' on an Ofsted report doesn't just mean being good it also covers behaviour for learning e.g wanting to learn. However, Ofsted is a snapshot and I wouldn't just be looking at a report.

Savvy_Sue

And I could be wrong, but I suspect that even if one child is offered a place on appeal, there won't necessarily be a place for both.

peterpan01

grey_lady wrote: »

Is home-schooling an option until something comes up?

home schooling is not an option for us. The children do extra work on top of their homework (about 20-30mins) everyday at home and thats is enough for me.

peterpan01

helphelphelphelp wrote: »

My first appeal was similar to yours and we failed. However for the second appeal, she was being bullied, and also had mental health problems due to other past personal issues and was being seen by CAMHs. It was a pretty awful time for the whole family and to give us all support we had a CAF done (now MARF I believe) .

how can i get a CAF/Marf test done? do i contact CAMH?