School Appeal!

[lin12]

It's my school appeal in a few days and i am having a nightmare trying to find out any information from the Admissions Authority. They refuse to answer any of my questions and keep passing me on to different people!

They have put false information on their statement of case, stating that there are 60 children in each year group, but the Edubase website says there are 424 in total. 4 more than they claim.

They have sent my original application back with their case but it is for my other daughter. The address i put on it to say that i had moved has been doctored, so it says the same as my other address.

My argument is going to be that they have had higher than 60 in each year for the past 4 years so they are able to accomodate another child without it being too much of an issue. The school results have also improved showing the extra children haven't been affected.

My question is if the legal class size for 30 children is 49m². The schools classrooms are between 55-63m² but i can't find any information on the rest of the areas. Can i therefore use this in my case?

Please help

Thank you

[prh47bridge]

I posted this answer on the other thread...

To take your points in order:

The authority is required to answer any reasonable questions you ask to help you prepare for your appeal. If they don't do so and you lose your appeal that could be grounds for referring the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman.

The figures for pupil numbers on the Edubase website are from January 2010. That doesn't necessarily mean the statement of case is correct but it is more likely to be correct than Edubase.

If they have sent the wrong application form with their case that is a serious error, as is doctoring the form. Again, that is possible grounds for a referral to the LGO.

If this is an appeal for Reception the fact that they have had more than 60 children for the last 4 years is not relevant, nor is the size of the classrooms. Your appeal will be an infant class size case which means you should only win if you can show that the authority made a mistake in processing your application and your daughter would have been admitted if they had got it right. If there was no mistake your appeal should fail, I'm afraid.

If you are appealing for Y3 or later that would be a different matter as infant class size rules no longer apply. In that case the points you raise could be relevant.