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Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Secondary education

appeals

73 replies

tamtam2 · 18/04/2011 23:49

hello has anyone got there appeal date yet?,i cant stand the waiting.

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admission · 19/04/2011 23:20

Don't want you to feel even worse than you do but the appeal can be at any time upto 6th July, so you could have quite a wait. Sorry

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Sallysadface · 12/05/2011 14:02

We had our appeal hearing yesterday. (11/05/11). It wasn't as bad as we thought. The panel were all very nice. We had our date confirmed five weeks before the hearing if thats any concerlation. We our now awaiting there decision. Fingers Crossed ;)

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tamtam2 · 12/05/2011 14:11

i hope you win your appeal ,ours is on the 24th may ,did they say how long you would have to wait for there decision?

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bubblecoral · 12/05/2011 14:34

Sally, we had ours on Monday (9th), and I agree with you, it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. Waiting for the descision is driving me a little crazy I hope you get the result you want.

We were told they would write to us within five days.

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joencaitlinsmum · 12/05/2011 14:45

Ours is next thursday, I hope it's not as bad as I think it will be! Mind you the disapointmwnt if we fail will take some getting over :(

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tamtam2 · 12/05/2011 18:20

good luck bubblecoral and joencaitlinsmum i really hope you win it is so stressfull .

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bubblecoral · 13/05/2011 09:19

Good Luck to you to tamtam

It really is stressful, it's a horrible process to have to go to just to get your child a decent standard of education in an environment they are comfortable in. I think expecting parents to know how to lodge an appeal successfully is a big thing for LA's to ask when they give out so little information, especially the fact that parents have to do a presentation. I hadn't done any kind of speaking like that since I was at school myself! Everything we learned about the process and all the do's and dont's came from this site, and a few others, but without them I would have been truly clueless.

I never realised all this went on regarding appeals before we started, it's like a whole other world!

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janeyjampot · 13/05/2011 09:38

Have you had any news, Bubblecoral? I keep looking out for it :)

Having been through this last year I have so much sympathy for all of you going through it this year. I have managed to use what I've learned, though, as a friend across the road has had the same issue and I've been able to help them to write their appeal. It was nice to be able to offer practical help when we were so desperate for it last year.

Good luck everyone.

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bubblecoral · 13/05/2011 10:16

Thankyou Janey

Nothing yet, and it's making me go crazy! I just want to know either way now, because although we will obviously be dissapointed if we don't win, I don't have any real problem with the allocated school. We are supposed to be going away for the weekend this afternoon, so I'm desperately hoping the letter arrives today, and soon! Our postman often doesn't come until after school pick up time.

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tamtam2 · 13/05/2011 12:46

im so nervous about the 24th ,how long does it last?,do they ask you loads of questions ?,im so not prepared,i have a lovely neighbour helping me as im hopeless,but she has never been through this before ,we were supposed to go through the papers and prepare our questions on wedensday ,but some b***d burgled how house, i just cant think straight at the moment its awfull .:(

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janeyjampot · 13/05/2011 13:22

Bubble - hope it comes today. Will be thinking of you :)

Tamtam2 - I think we were there for a couple of hours, but maybe only 45 minutes of that was us in our appeal. We waited a while at the beginning while the panel got ready, and then the four families who were appealing for that school that afternoon (there were 40 appeals for this school, so they held a number of days of meetings) went in together to hear the school's case. We were invited to ask questions after that, and there were quite a few questions about the admissions process that had led to so many appeals. After that, the other 3 families left as we were timetabled to go first, and we put forward our case. The panel asked us questions, but I never felt that they were trying to catch us out. They were really kind and gentle and asked us questions which brought out our situation and the real issues for us.

The school were there (they came in with us) and actually they were great too. There was a very funny moment when we had to check the maps to look at the distance. We live 20 miles from the school and they only had a local map, so they got out the local map and then drew a long line down the table to show us where we lived in relation to others. We couldn't help laughing because it all seemed so ridiculous. The school were supportive of our case, which had arisen because of a change in admissions procedures which were subsequently reversed...

Afterwards we came out with the school and DH burst into tears to be consoled by the headteacher... It was all quite bizarre. We had to wait a week to hear because there were so many appeals, but the headteacher called us on the Friday night and we had a letter from the panel to confirm DD2's place the following day.

Try to relax and not to panic. It is hard but our panel was really good and they worked hard to put us at ease so that we could make the best of the opportunity.

Do ask for help on here - there are lots of people with experience of appeals and some admissions experts who will help you all they can :)

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tamtam2 · 13/05/2011 13:40

thankyou janeyjampot :) you have put me at ease a little bit ,i hope ours goes as well as yours .

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Sallysadface · 13/05/2011 13:56

GOOD LUCK to TAMTAM, JOEN and BUBBLE

We are awaiting the LETTER!!!!!! We were told that by law they have up to 7 days to confirm in writing the outcome of the appeal. He said we would probably recieve the letter either Fri or Sat, Monday at the latest. Recieved the post today. IT'S NOT ARRIVED!!!! :( I'm sooooo anxous it's making me ill.

There were 7 parents who appealed. four in the morning and three including us in the afternoon. The ONE question they asked was not really a question. "What if she doesn't want you to drive her to school when she's older what will you do"??????? My reply was. "I don't think she would. Unless catching a bus is what she prefers then thats fine".

I felt it went well. HOWEVER!!!!!! That might not mean we have won the appeal.

I know how you all feel. I will post as soon as I know the outcome. :)

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janeyjampot · 13/05/2011 14:38

Good luck, Sally. Hope it comes soon and that it's what you want... :)

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tamtam2 · 13/05/2011 14:40

good luck sallysadface,ill keep my fingers crossed for you so you can change your name to sally happy face !

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Sallysadface · 14/05/2011 10:05

WHOOP WHOOP!!!!!!! We WON!!!!!!!!
Iv'e been running round the house like someone possessed. We phoned our little girl. She's down the caravan with her nan and grandad. She's the happiest little girl on the planet at the moment.

TAM - Yep I'm defo Sally Happy Face!!!!!! hehehe.

JANEY - Thankyou for the comment. We did it!!!! :)

It was stressful, but we are sooooo glad we did it!!!!!!

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janeyjampot · 14/05/2011 10:21

Well done Sally - fantastic news :)

If you're anything like us you'll still be boring telling people about it in a year's time

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Sallysadface · 14/05/2011 11:19

JANEY - Hehehehe. Iv'e already text half the population in the Midlands and Staffordshire.

I'm so glad to be honest. We never got in to any of our three choices. 19 out of 24 pupils are going to CH (school we appealed against) the other 5 are going to there first choice Schools which are Acadamy's and an all girl school.

HCE (Primary school she attends) is one of CH's Cluster schools, however it's NOT a feeder school for CH because the class numbers in HCE are too small to comply with Feeder school status!!!!! We felt that this was discrimination towards the small Village school. The Head teacher of HCE was always under the impression that the school was a feeder school and so were we. However when the local authority confirmed last year it wasen't a feeder school thats when we reallized we were in the S**T!!!!!!! because we moved out the catchment area about three years ago.

Our appeal was based on this fact and also the affect it would have on our little girl. All her friend's are going to CH. She will know no one at the school (CG) she has a place for. Although it is a very good school.

We also learned at the appeal hearing by the person supporting the local authority that the way Feeder schools are determind will change next year and HCE will then become a Feeder School for CH. The one panel member then replied "Which will be too little too late for this young lady".

If I can give anyone any advise it would be. DON'T go in guns blazing. We were all friendly towards each other which helps alot. It's all about the childs wellbeing NOT parent choice.
If children from her Primary are going to the school, explain about the strong amotional bonds she has with them and the affect it will have on your child if she/he were to lose that.
Explain how Shy, anxious and nervious your child is and about his/her lack of confidence. The concerns you have about this if she were to be seperated from her peers.
We had a letter from her primary school HT about what type of person she is and the emotional torment it would have on her. That worked really well for us, because thats one off the reasons why we won according to the letter.

Hope this is helpfull guy's :) GOOD LUCK!!!!

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tamtam2 · 14/05/2011 12:46

well done sally you must be so happy :)

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Sallysadface · 14/05/2011 13:05

Thanks TAM. Hope yours goes as well as ours did. I wonder how BUBBLE got on????

I'm still texting everyone. My facebook page is red hot. I've even started looking for the uniform stockists.........hehehehe.

FINGERS CROSSED FOR YOU ALL :)

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janeyjampot · 14/05/2011 13:54

Really pleased for you, Sally. We were the same with the uniform - got the letter on Saturday, bought the uniform on Monday. We went out for lunch and DD2 tried her tie on :)

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admission · 14/05/2011 18:31

Sally
Well done, the case is interesting because I would say that the reason for it not being a catchment school was decidely dodgy and probably why it is being changed. I would suspect that this is the main reason why the panel found in your favour.

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Sallysadface · 15/05/2011 11:32

ADMIISSION - I agree. You have to have a 90% Target of children in Y6 going to a particular school for it to meet the Feeder School critieria.

SO If you have a small class of 17 which was the case last year for HCE then each child is worth 5.9% however you will always get a small number of children transfering to grammer Schools (4 that year). Therefore it is impossible to attain the 90% target.

When you compare other "Feeder" Schools SMCE with 60 children in Y6, each child represents 1.6% then that school reaches the "Feeder" critieria.

Yes very complicated but unfair for the smaller school who can never reach that target. This has been the same problem with another small school in the area. The appeal panel asked the person supporting the local aurthority if there were a Procidure (writen documentation) to state the critieria for "Feeder School" status. She said NO. They seemed very suprised at this.

Things are to change next year. So hopfully no one will have to go through what we had to go through. :) HAPPY DAYS!!!!!!
(I apologise for any spelling mistakes I've lost my glasses)

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admission · 15/05/2011 16:08

If there is no procedure for what is a feeder school then they cannot set an artificial limit on it and even that is definitely very dodgy in my opinion as to whetehr it would meet the admission code.

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bubblecoral · 18/05/2011 22:35

WooHoo! Well done Sally!

We won too! It has been awful waiting for the news, I expected the letter to come last Friday or on Saturday but it didn't, and my husband and I were both abroad doing a charity thing until the early hours of this morning. I was sure the lletter would be there when we got back, but it wasn't! Insanity was starting to become a very realistic option! But the appeals administrator called me today after I left a message and told us the good news! I still have to wait for the letter to come detailing why we won, apparantly it's quite in depth. It doesn't feel real yet, and I need to see it in black and white before I will really believe that it's all over and we won.

Tamtam, I'm still thinking of you and wishing you all the best for your appeal. I would agree with what Sally has said above about not going in all guns blazing. I think it does help if the panel see you as a reasonable person who has a genuinely good reason for wanting a place at your chosen school. They really do do their best to put you at ease, although I can't say the same for the school representative that was present at our hearing. I think we won him round in the end too though, because I have a feeling that he was trying to put me off a bit during my presentation by fidgeting and making little noises, but by the end of it he seemed to change his tune. He even said to us outside after the appeal that we didn't need to worry about having missed any letters or anything if we won, because nothing had gone out yet. I think the thing that helped me most was a strong belief in our case, and the knowledge that we were doing the right thing for our ds.

Keep your thread going so that we can still be with you until yours is all over