Primary School Appeal - Admission / PRH / Panel Member / Other wise Mnetters need your help please...

[BakewellTarts]

We are about to submit our written appeal and I would love some advice on how to make it as strong as possible. In short (or really in long) our arguments are:

1.Route
The route used by the council is not the shortest walking route to this school from our house. The map shows the more direct route highlighted in blue with the council's route highlighted in orange. There are 2 significant differences between this route and the councils route.
(Which I won't bore you with here but it is a route by road and paved footpath)
Both these changes conform to the requirements laid down that the route must be via:
A public right of way, with a proper made up surface, such as tarmac or concrete:
A road with a proper made-up surface, which does not need to have a seperate pavement:
A cycleway adopted by Hertfordshire County Council.
The route can be lit or unlit.
As a result the home school distance is shorter than the 1,657.76 metres applied initially to assess DD1's admission and she would have been ranked differently had this distance been used.

2.Infant Class Size / Admission Number
The PAN for this school has been increased to 90 for 2011 intake. As such there is obviously space at the school to take more pupils than the current 60 per year. Even if this increase in numbers will result in extra buildings these will take time to be completed, with planning permissions, tender process and so on and are unlikely to be ready for September 2011, necessitating the use of more temporary accommodation. In view of the demand for places at this popular school (we have heard that 12 nursery children have missed out on reception places this year) perhaps an extra class could be added one year earlier in 2010.

3.Community and Friends
Children who live in our road and the neighbouring roads have been more likely to gain admission to this school in recent years and so all her friends from this part of the estate will be attending this school. Her closest friend from nursery has a place at this school Wood and they have been talking excitedly about going to school together for some time. We want DD1 to be part of the local community and go to this School with her friends and neighbours.

4.Childcare
We need wrap around childcare 7.30am ? 6pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. This will be impossible to achieve using school clubs. We will need a childminder and there are at least 10 childminders who do drop offs and pick ups at this School and work a variety of hours.

5.Health
The Admissions Code states that 'The Government is keen to promote sustainable, healthy travel to school (for example walking or cycling). It is while children are young that habits of a lifetime are set. If children habitually walk or cycle at primary age then we maximise their chances of choosing healthy travel options in the future. Where possible, the admission authorities for primary schools should ensure that their admission arrangements encourage children to walk or cycle safely to school, and for other schools, admission arrangements should support sustainable and healthy travel.' Walking or cycling to school is a realistic option if she attends this School.

Also I really feel our strongest argument is point 1 ie the council have made a mistake. If we succeed with this and don't have strong other arguments will we succeed? I'm thinking about the whole part 1 part 2 thing.

Any help really appreciated. Thankyou for reading this.

[Panelmember]

As briefly as possible ...

1. Route

As you say, this is your strongest and most relevant argument. If you can demonstrate that the route used did not comply with the LEA?s own requirements ? and your own, shorter route does ? then this should at the least move you up the waiting list. If your new route is shorter than the distance at which the last place was awarded, and so you should have been given a place in the first allocation, then your child should be admitted.

1. Infant Class Size / Admission Number

This argument is rather tenuous. The fact that the school is gearing up for an increase in PAN in 2011 does not mean that it has space and resources to take more than 60 children now. The appeal panel has to work with the PAN and the accommodation that the school has now, not speculate about what it might have next year. Class sizes in KS1 are limited to 30 by law.
If you want to lobby for an extra class at the school for 2010 then of course you should do so, but the appeal hearing isn?t the right venue for that. See the other recent thread about extra classes in (IIRC) Wandsworth.

1. Community and Friends

Naturally, this is important to you but being with friends is not part of the school?s admissions criteria and is not an issue which the panel can take into consideration.

1. Childcare

Similarly, parents? need for childcare is not an issue which the panel can take into consideration.

1. Health

The Admissions Code mentions walking or cycling to school ?where possible?. It isn?t possible where schools aren?t big enough to accommodate all the children who live within walking distance. This too is an issue to which the appeal panel can?t give any weight.

You?re right in thinking that (1) is by far your strongest argument. By all means mention the others, but they are really just confirmation of how keen you are to get into this school. Make sure you get your point across in Part 1 ? the panels I sit on are never very strict about demarcation between part 1 and part 2, but others here report that some panel chairs are very rigid about this.

[PositiveAttitude]

I also think your point number 1 is the strongest. If this is proved, the LA have made a mistake, therefore the place has to be given, without even getting to part 2 of the appeal. I am sure Admission or panel member will be along soon to give you more advice, but thats my interpretation of it.

[PositiveAttitude]

X-posted with you Panelmember.

Here the appeal is definitely 2 different parts, although we do tend to listen to it all, then have the part 1, part 2 conversation when making the decision.

[BakewellTarts]

Thanks for your replies...points 2-5 aren't strong but don't want to be in a position where the panel say yes well we made a mistake so what (or polite words to that effect) IYKWIM.

[PositiveAttitude]

They arent allowed to Bakewell. If you prove that a mistake has been made the decision will have to be enforced with that correction as fact, like Panelmember says, either on waiting list, or, if others have got places from living further away, then you will have to be offered a place.

Good luck.

[Panelmember]

Yes, that's pretty much how we do it, PositiveAttitude. We tend to let each side say whatever they want to say (and ask whatever questions they want to ask) and the Part 1/Part 2 distinction comes to the fore once we are weighing up all the evidence and making a decision. But I get the impression from other posters that, in some areas, the hearing itself is divided into Part 1 and Part 2 and there's a very rigid division between them.

BakewellTarts - To be pernickety, it's not the panel which has made a mistake, it's the LEA. The panel is independent. And if you can prove that the LEA has made a mistake which is big enough to have deprived your child of a place, the panel must order the school to admit your child.

[BakewellTarts]

Thanks PositiveAttitude I wasn't sure how this would work. Particularly as there is another child who is in DD1s year and lives on my road but that little bit closer to the school. I think she applied too and so presumably if I get the new route agreed it will be applied to them too and so they will be admitted ahead of us giving the council a reason to turn us down. Maybe? I'm driving myself crazy with thinking around this.

[BakewellTarts]

Hi Panelmember thanks yes I realise its the LEA thats made the mistake. Bad use of language on my behalf. Just a bit stressed about all of this.

[gillybean2]

I got an excellent book on helping with an appeal (am currently appealing my ds's secondary school), which was recommended to me.
"How to win your school appeal" by Ben Rooney.
It has a whole section on infant class size prejudice, and gives exaple letters to write etc.

Get yourself a copy, well worth the £10.00. Actually I don't think I paid that much for it on Amazon

[Panelmember]

BakewellTarts - If both your and the neighbour's child would have got places if the correct measurement had been used, then both should be admitted. (It's worth pointing out, too, that the LEA should admit your child without requiring you to go to appeal). The requirement to admit is not limited to one child, but it does get more complicated if the number of children who would be admitted is "significant". See the appeals code:

2.7 If the admission authority discovers that an error was made in applying the school's admission arrangements and that the child should have been offered a place, it must offer the place without requiring the appellant to go through the appeal process, except where a significant number of children are affected and admitting them all would cause serious prejudice (see paragraph 3.2(a)).

.....

3.2 The panel must consider the following issues.

a) Whether the relevant oversubscription criteria for the school and coordinated admission arrangements were correctly and impartially applied to the child concerned. If not, whether the child would have been offered a place had the arrangements been properly applied or did not contravene mandatory provisions in the School Admissions Code or the SSFA 1998. The latter scenario may clearly be the case ? for example, where the admission authority refused admission on the basis of poor reports from primary school, and the child would have been offered a place had the offending criterion not been applied; or made an error in calculating distance from
the school. If so, the panel must uphold the appeal at this stage, except where a significant number of children are affected and admitting them all would cause serious prejudice. If not, the panel then considers prejudice as instructed by paragraph (b) below. In all cases, the panel must refer immediately to the Schools Adjudicator any unlawful admission arrangements they identify in the natural course of their deliberations on a specific appeal.

[prh47bridge]

I agree with others that in an ICS appeal point 1 is by far your strongest.

Point 2 is unlikely to fly. The appeal panel has to work with the current PAN, especially in an infant class size case. Points 3, 4 and 5 are the kind of thing that comes up a lot at appeals. I'm afraid there is nothing there that gives the panel a basis to admit, so your case will really stand or fall on whether or not you can satisfy the panel that the LA has made a mistake over the distance.

As others have said, panels vary in how rigid they are in the demarcation between parts 1 and 2 of the appeal. This mainly seems to happen when dealing with grouped appeals, i.e. where a number of parents are appealing for a particular school and the LA decide to have part 1 for all of them together to save the LA having to make its case several times. Some appeal panels will not let you bring up stuff in part 2 which should have been mentioned in part 1. However, if it is not a grouped appeal most panels are flexible and don't worry too much about the divide between parts 1 and 2 in the hearing itself, although they clearly have to think about that when making their decision.

Your argument that there has been a mistake is definitely something you should bring up in part 1. The chair of the panel may then ask you to bring it up in part 2.

The panel is independent of the LA. It is their job to admit your child if a mistake has been made but for which your child would have been admitted. If they fail to do so the Local Government Ombudsman can intervene.

It may be a good idea to take photos of your route to the appeal hearing to prove that it meets the LA's criteria.

It is possible that the panel will ask the LA to remeasure all the distances to determine whether or not your daughter should have been admitted. If your route brings you significantly inside the distance for the last child admitted that shouldn't be a problem. If both your child and the other child you mention should have been admitted, the LA will have to admit your child.

[prh47bridge]

Panelmember is, of course, right that the LA should admit your child without forcing you to go through the appeal process if they realise that a mistake has been made. Unfortunately my experience is that most LAs insist on an appeal. There isn't really any effective enforcement of paragraph 2.7 of the Code as the LGO generally refuses to get involved in school admission cases until after the appeal.

[gillybean2]

If you can successfully show they didn't apply the correct procedure you should be admitted a place without anything further being needed (except where the infant class size prejudice comes into play).

The question to ask is has the school ever admitted over the number in the past, and is the school as a whole oversubscribed, not just one class. If you can show they have admitted over the stated number before then they have set a precedent and you can persuade the appeal panel that they can therefore do it again.

Get the book I suggested, it's full of all the stuff you need to know, how to get hold of your facts and figures and what to do with them, what the 3 criteria you can appeal on are and in what order you should try etc.

[prh47bridge]

gillybean - The OP's daughter should be admitted if they didn't follow the correct procedure even if it is an infant class size case (which this one is given that the PAN is 90). That is one of the few grounds on which an ICS appeal can succeed.

I'm afraid the stuff about admitting over the numbers in the past and whether or not the school is oversubscribed won't help in an ICS case. Admitting over the PAN doesn't necessarily set a precedent. It depends on the circumstances. And it NEVER sets a precedent in an ICS case.

[admission]

You have definitely got to go with your first point in part 1 of the appeal as this is the only real arguement that you have that could succeed given that it is an infant class regs case.

The panel will need to be sure that you would have been offered a place if the alternate route is acceptable. My guess would be that the LA will say that the route is not acceptable for some reason. You need to very carefully listen to what is said because this could be a situation where you will need to go back and check the physical location of the changed way to get to the school. If that seems to be the case I would appeal to the chair that the LA have had the opportunity to divulge this information prior to the appeal and not done so and request an adjournment to allow you to properly study the LA's reasons why your route is not acceptable.

The increase in PAN in 2011 is interesting only if this being done without any change in classrooms at the school. If there is sufficient classrooms for the 7 required classes then I would be asking the LA to explain how the PAN could possibly be 60 at present given the available space. As others have said it will not get you a place directly but it will muddy the waters a lot as to what exactly is going on at this school.

[BakewellTarts]

Hi thankyou everyone for your comprehensive replies. Sorry I got waylaid last night.

Panelmember I think its just the 2 families that live on my road who are affected so not vast numbers. I will ask how many families are appealing but the deadline to submit hasn't passed yet so its not clear yet. The footpath I think should be used means its a shorter for us but has limited impact on other surrounding roads. We are right at the edge of the distance. I think that the new route moves us closer, but had they used it probably would have resulted in only one of us being admitted, my neighbour as she lives closer to the footpath. That is the overall distance for admission should have been shorter than that published in the outrun report. Would this fly as a counter argument?

Prh47bridge we are really on the boderline. I'm trying get the LEA to confirm the distance of the new route using their Geographical Information System but funnily enough they haven't yet. I think it puts us within the distance but as they insist on the GIS measurement my view matters little. I will take pictures thats a good idea but I'm using designated footpath with a blue circle sign indicating pedestrians and cyclists and a new crossing so as far as I can tell its valid.

Admission I think that the LEA have almost admitted that this is a valid route. It meets all of their requirements. Part of the change in the route is down to changes made by the council to the roads to accommodate a new development and ensure they have a safe walking route to the school. On the increase in numbers they will be building more but as they don't even have planning permission yet I can't see how the new buildings will be ready next year. I'm thinking of keeping it in anyway as I figure it can't hurt.

gillybean2 thanks for the tip on the book. I will get it and read it although this is an Infant Class Size appeal so I know its going to be hard to win.

Thanks again for your help its really appreciated.

[Panelmember]

As you say, the "last distance" is (in a sense) incorrect because, except for the error, the last place should have gone to a child who lives nearer, but that isn't the issue as far as the appeal ? or the LEA rectifying the error before the appeal ? is concerned. If the distance from your home to school is less than the distance at which the last place was awarded then (regardless of whether that child would have got a place if all the measurements had been done correctly) you should be given a place. But, as has been said, this all depends on your new route being acceptable and meeting all the LEA?s specifications.

[BakewellTarts]

A quick update the council have agreed my route without needing to go to appeal. The new home to School distance is not quite enough to get us into the school but will be used in all the continuing interest runs and so I'm hopeful that its put us near the top of the list and with time we'll get a place.

Thankyou so much to everyone for all your help and suggestions.

[PositiveAttitude]

Pleased to hear that Bakewell. Hope you get a place soon. There is generally a lot of movement, so hopefully you will have a place before September.

[Panelmember]

That's great. I know it still falls short of what you were hoping for, but it sounds as if you've got a pretty good chance of getting a place by September.

Well done. Perseverance can pay off!

[prh47bridge]

Well done. Fingers crossed that a place comes up soon.

[numerounomum]

Recently had my school appeal, by which i was not allocated any of my preferred schools, but allocated a non ranked school. After introductions at the appeal hearing, and after it being confirmed that we were allocated a non preffered school, the admissions team announced that they had just recieved a blackberry message to their phone, and we had in fact been issued a place at another school. the panel mentioned that they had no information on this and asked if we knew of this 'new' allocation school, which both me and my partner were shocked as obvioulsy as it had just been sent on blackberry in the middle of our hearing, did not have any time to prepare as this school was really a 2nd continuing interest 3 preffered choice school as we knew it was the only school in our area with a placement. was this fair and correct of admissions to do this in the middel of the hearing ???

[admission]

I would say that whilst I see no problem with the LA telling you about this, I would as a panel member have definitely not wanted to know about this. They really should have given you that information outside of the appeal room.

I am not clear from your post what the school offered was but presumably it is not one that is your first preference and not the school you were appealing for.

Your problem is that you have no way of knowing whether that information has now influenced the panel. It should not have done but the only way that you can be sure it did not is if the panel do offer you a place at the school you were appealing for.

I would wait and see the outcome of the appeal and see exactly what the letter says. Any mention of this new allocation in your letter would to me be sufficient evidence for me to question the motive behind the panel's decision and refer it to the Local Government Ombudsman.

[prh47bridge]

I agree that this shouldn't have been brought up in the appeal hearing.

You say you did not have any time to prepare. Your case should mainly have been about why you wanted your child admitted to your preferred school rather than what was wrong with the allocated school. You are appealing for a place in your preferred school, not against the allotted school. However, if you feel the announcement undermined your case you could refer the matter to the LGO, suggesting that the chair of the panel should have offered to adjourn the appeal to a later date to allow you time to prepare for this new situation. I'm not sure how the LGO would view that. As Admission says, any mention of the new allocation in the decision letter would definitely be justification for a referral to the LGO.

The first thing is to see if your appeal is successful. Let's hope it is, in which case all this becomes academic.