Maladministration by surrey cc

[rememberme2]

Has anyone suffered with maladministration with in year application under exceptional circumstances?

[MigratingCoconuts]

why do you want to know??

[prh47bridge]

If you give more information about what you think Surrey has done wrong you will get some advice.

[DeWe]

The only person I know who's entered a Surrey school under exceptional cercumstances didn't have any problem other than they were very slow. She knew that they had the space available, but took a long time to offer it to her. It was for the next September though, so although it was stressful for her, it didn't make any difference.

[rememberme2]

twice they processed my application for my daughter without looking at the exceptional circumstances. I was advised to go ahead with the appeal for the school I wanted my daughter to go to after they offered me the same school that I had to take her out of.

[prh47bridge]

If I understand you correctly you are trying to transfer your daughter from one school to another within Surrey. Is that right? What year is your daughter in?

[rememberme2]

Admission was for year 4, I appeal for a year 3 place in 2010 but was unsuccessful, on this appeal for the same school one of the appeal panel was the same as 2010 appeal also in year 3, 4 children were above the PAN, on this appeal 1 child was above the PAN.

[rememberme2]

My daughter was bullied in previous school was on IEP found it difficult to concentrate, stressed so I had to take her out and put her in private education. Also the children had to deal with racism and this affect whole family.

[prh47bridge]

When you applied for a place Surrey would have checked to see if your preferred school had a vacancy. As they are already over PAN they don't. Surrey have therefore offered you a place at the nearest school with a place available, which happens to be the school your daughter was at originally.

Even if your daughter does qualify under "exceptional arrangements" (and given the information in their admission arrangements I am not convinced she does) it doesn't mean they have to admit her if the school is already full.

There is nothing wrong with someone with someone who was on the panel that heard your appeal last year being on the panel again this year. And the fact they have been over PAN before does not mean they have to go over PAN again.

I am afraid I don't see any maladministration by Surrey in the information you have posted so far.

Did you have independent evidence of the bullying and racism? One of the problems appeal panels face when dealing with appeals for transfers is that they hear allegations of bullying all the time. Unfortunately many such allegations are false so they tend to discount them unless there is independent evidence of some kind such as letters from the parent to the school or vice versa.

[DeWe]

Have you had it confirmed she's special circumstances though? It's a fairly small area it covers to my knowledge, as in a couple of people who you would think would get it were told they wouldn't, even, in one case, with a supporting letter from their consultant.
It's a very few children every year use the exceptional circumstances so maybe when you're thinking they haven't looked at it, they have but you don't count.
You also need to provide proof of the circumstances, and show why this school is essential for your child's needs due to the circumstances.

[prh47bridge]

That is exactly why I am not convinced the OP's daughter qualifies under Surrey's definition of "exceptional arrangements". To qualify there needs to be a positive reason why she needs school X - that it is the only school for her. Having been bullied at school Y may be a reason not to go there but it doesn't say that school X is the only possible school. Schools A, B, C, D and a whole host of others are also possible as none of them is the school at which the OP's daughter was bullied.

The only way forward I can see for getting a place at this school is if there is anything in the way the appeal was conducted or the panel's decision to support a reference to the LGO.

[rememberme2]

No, I have not had it confirmed admissions and transport confirmed they did not look at the exceptional circumstances on two occasions, hence the same school and then offered 2 schools too far away. Evidence provided was crime ref n0,s x3. Younger sibling at a school 0.1 mile from the school I applied for and daughter has a deformity on her feet and has special appliances to walk.
As far as understand the appeals process, I applied with in a school academic year due to change of circumstance if this is the case the appeal should consist of a completely new panel. To the appeal panel provided same evidence including needing physio.

[rememberme2]

My older son too an overdose as well due to racism. How much more evidence do they need?

[prh47bridge]

This was an in year admission. You have told us that your preferred school is already over PAN for the year in question. That means Surrey didn't need to look at your arguments for "exceptional arrangements" as they wouldn't make any difference. If the school had a place it would have been offered to your daughter regardless of whether or not she was in the "exceptional arrangements" category. The school is full so you will be refused admission regardless of whether or not your daughter is in the "exceptional arrangements" category. If they agreed you qualified under "exceptional arrangements" you would be at or near the front of the waiting list but that is all. That is the way the system is supposed to work. As far as I can see Surrey have followed their published arrangements for in year admissions correctly and I cannot see anything in those arrangements that is in breach of the Admission Code.

According to one of your earlier posts your first appeal was for Y3 and your second appeal was for Y4. That means the LA does not have to provide a completely new panel even though the appeals took place within the space of one academic year. If it had been a second appeal for the same academic year (i.e. both appeals were for a place in Y3) it would be maladministration if any of the appeal panel members served on the earlier appeal. However, if it was for admission in a different academic year Surrey have done nothing wrong according to the Appeals Code, although I agree a completely fresh panel would have been preferable.

Have you had the decision letter from the appeal? If so, what did it say?

I am trying to find something that would justify a reference to the LGO for you.

[rememberme2]

The Appeal was refused - I have not had an explanation as to why it was refused since my appeal on the 14th July 2011.

[prh47bridge]

How did they notify you that your appeal was refused? If it was by email or letter, did it say anything other than stating that your appeal had been refused? Did it, for example, talk about the balance of prejudice?

[rememberme2]

All it confirmed was the appeal was unsuccessful and I would receive the reasons in 10 working days. It is now 8 working days and I have still not received anything.

[prh47bridge]

It shouldn't take that long but there isn't a lot you can do about it. When the letter arrives please let us know exactly what it says.

[rememberme2]

I thought they are supposed to reply within 5 working days of the appeal?

[prh47bridge]

The appeals code says the decision letter should be sent "ideally within five working days", which means it is not compulsory to get it to you that quickly.

Even if the timescale deadline was compulsory there wouldn't be much you could do about it. If it was compulsory you could complain to the LGO about the time it was taking to get the decision letter to you but it wouldn't get you a place at the school or another appeal. At most it would result in the LGO telling Surrey to get a move on. However, given the wording in the Appeals Code I doubt the LGO would even do that unless they take a lot longer to send the letter.

[rememberme2]

I still have not received letter from the clerk of appeal for the reasons why my appeal was unsuccessful.

What do I do now?

I received a response from the unsuccessful appeal on 19th but not the one on the 14th.

[prh47bridge]

Contact them and say that you need the full decision letter from your appeal as you want to see if there are any grounds for a reference to the LGO. Tell them that if the letter is not forthcoming by this time next week you will contact the LGO anyway.

[rememberme2]

I have already taken it to LGO and emailed them about not receiving a reason for the unsuccessful appeal. I also spoke to A.C.E who have advised me that Schools Appeal service has not followed the School Appeal Code Page 23 Paragraph 2.35 to 2.38.
I did ring them previously and the were very abrupt with me. Now its with LGO.

[prh47bridge]

I'm not sure I entirely agree with ACE. Surrey have not yet complied with paragraphs 2.35 to 2.38 but that does not place them in breach as the 5 working day timescale is not compulsory and, as I understand it, Surrey have told you they will send a full decision letter. As I have said earlier, the fact that the decision letter is late will not win you a place at the school or even a second appeal.

You may already know this but the LGO is not a further appeal. They won't revisit the appeal panel's decision. They will, however, check to make sure the appeal process was handled correctly, including making sure that the panel followed the correct process in arriving at their decision. They will also consider any evidence of maladministration by Surrey.

It would be easier to advise if the decision letter was available. Good luck.

[rememberme2]

Thanks prh47bridge I understand what you are saying, there are other points that I have raised with the LGO.

Thanks again!

[rememberme2]

Can anyone recommend someone who specialises in Education Law?