Just won schools admission appeal.

mspig

I was hoping that alot of his friends are going there might help aswell as his teacher predicts that he will get 5A in all of his sats as hes a hard worker, i also put down on the letter that he has an ambition to be an architect(since being about 3) and the school we have appealed to is a college of arts school.

I also put down about he is rather vunerable child as his two little brothers are disabled and one had a life threatening incurable disease which with his treatment take up alot of our time, so i wanted him somewhere he could be with people he knows(also got some friends already at the school) to help him along as he is quite shy and reserved i think due to the problems we have at home.

Any other things which may help us win this appeal as i don't know where we send him if he doesn't get in as there is no way he could go to the local school hes just not tough enough as it is really rough.

James_N

mspig wrote: »

I also put down about he is rather vunerable child as his two little brothers are disabled and one had a life threatening incurable disease which with his treatment take up alot of our time, so i wanted him somewhere he could be with people he knows(also got some friends already at the school) to help him along as he is quite shy and reserved i think due to the problems we have at home.

Write out and send in an appeal statement beforehand. Include a section ABOUT MY SON. In this write things like: I am worried that if he does not go to this school he will not be in a supportive social environment of his peers. I am worried that he will fail to do well at school if he does not know others in the school. In contrast, he already has to cope with a difficult situation at home: coping with another difficult situtition at his new school will be too much for him because of: XYZ (distance / bullying policy / statistics on exclusion etc) (INCLUDE DOCTOR'S LETTER ? HEALTH WORKER LETTER ? OTHER HEALTH PROFFESIONAL ? PRESENT TEACHER ??).
State how many of his friends go to the school. Stress that as a mother with two other needy children he needs to be able to get to school on his own easily.

Obviously, craft this to be reasonably fluent and applicable to your circumstances.

But before we get to the child - are you sure the school's case on numbers adds up - find out the admissions for year 7 (?) for the WHOLE of 2007 and 2006, including in-year appeals. Find out if the intake numbers have reduced 2007 to 2008 and then see if there a reason for it. Read the inspection reports. See if the inspectors comment on the school buildings, size, environment.

What you are aiming to do is
1. challange the school's total case for the restriction of numbers
2. If that doesn't work, show that the prejudice to YOUR child is greater that that of the school in having to accommodate an extra child

small

Hi,

I felt that I had to add some comment 'from the other side'. I am a govenor at my son's school. It is a church school and we are always over subscribed in our admissions. It is a very very hard job being on the other side because as a parent I can understand exactly why parents are trying to get their children into the right school for all the right reasons. We find it extermely difficult as it is impossible for us to bend any rules (even if we wanted to or felt we should do) as it would open the flood gates the following year. BUT we have a job to do to ensure that the school can cope and continue to deliver the best it can (you should see how limited funding is!!). I would love to have more classes (not larger classes) with more teachers but we don't have the space or the money.

I know that doesn't help anybody going through the process but I thought I would try and show that there are caring humans on the other side of the process - not just red tape and heartlessness.

James_N

small wrote: »

Hi,

I felt that I had to add some comment 'from the other side'. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I would love to have more classes (not larger classes) with more teachers but we don't have the space or the money.

I know that doesn't help anybody going through the process but I thought I would try and show that there are caring humans on the other side of the process - not just red tape and heartlessness.

If it helps here, we only had professionalism and a great deal of support from the LA Legal Department BEFORE the appeal, and a good natured and supportive appeal chair. The fact is, that these five on the panel disagreed when the school claimed to be full. They were not being nice, they thought we had the facts straight and the school didn't. As I said above, it's up to the parents to make a convincing case. I suppose that the bottom line is that a mere parental preference for one school over another is not a convincing case - given that the rules have been followed on admissions. The rules are usually followed to the letter - but don't accept that as fact - check.

My understand is that when an appeal panel supports an appeal, the LA has to resource the school for the extra numbers? Maybe someone could confirm / deny this?

small

James_N wrote: »

My understand is that when an appeal panel supports an appeal, the LA has to resource the school for the extra numbers? Maybe someone could confirm / deny this?

That is right they do, but, it doesn't pay for another classroom or teacher so a class usually then increases to 1 above it's maximum and gets some extra help.