About to send in admissions appeal no. 2. Do I refer to the first one?

[bunjies]

I did an in year appeal for a primary school place for dd1 last year but we were unsuccessful. The issues have remained the same and in fact have been getting worse and so I am appealing again this year. Should I refer to the fact that we appealed last year for the same reason and were unsuccessful or should I treat it as a brand new appeal and not mention it at all?

[prh47bridge]

I would treat it as a brand new appeal.

[bunjies]

OK, thanks prh. Just out of interest, why do think this?

[bunjies]

Any other thoughts?

[LoveBox]

PRH is definitely the voice of reason on all things appeal-y

Buttttttt

If it was me, I would mention it. It you are referring to ongoing issues that have worsened, then it makes sense to explain you have tried to deal with this many times (including appealing) and it shows this isn't some recent issue that could still resolve itself.

[admission]

The basis of your appeal has got to be the continued issues at the school currently being attended and you need to present all the evidence that you have. As Livebox says this at least shows that it is not a recent issue and that it has not resolved itself. You need to show that you have attempted to resolve the situation with the school, preferably with written evidence, so that the panel understand you have tried everything possible.
If your appeal is however the same as last time, then I think you will end up with the same result.
Whether to mention the last appeal is a two edged sword. If you have no further evidence then I would definitely not mention it. If you have plenty of new evidence that the school is doing nothing, then it may be appropriate to say that you appealed in *, you understand why that appeal failed but look at all this extra evidence that the school are doing nothing and I need to move my child urgently. The problem is that the reasons for the last appeal failing may have nothing to do with the issues at the current school but the overcrowded situation at the school you want to go to. If that is the case and there has been no change at the desired school, again the result may well be another answer saying no.
One question I would ask as a panel member is whether your desired school is actually the nearest alternate school. If it is not then you will need very, very good reasons as to why your preferred school is necessary and not the nearest alternative school to your home.

[prh47bridge]

Sorry - very busy day, hence the short answer!

If you refer to the previous appeal I would expect the panel to ask what has changed. It may feel like a lot has changed to you but the panel may not agree. If they know about last year's appeal and think nothing much has changed they are likely to come up with the same decision. If they don't know about last year's appeal they may come up with a different decision.

Overall I agree with Admission. If you are certain that a lot has changed then it may be worth bringing up last year's appeal. But if things have only got a little bit worse I would keep last year's appeal to yourself.

[bunjies]

Thanks all for the helpful posts. Basically the issues haven't changed, dd not settled, very unhappy, some low level bullying but these are all related to the fact that her class has very few girls who have all grown up together & don't want dd in their group. Nothing the school can do will change this situation. There is only one class in her year. Our only option is to move school and we will move her to wherever has a place for her, even if this is in the next town as long as there is a more balanced mix of girls in the class. Our appeal will be for the school closest to us which for obvious reasons will be the best option.