Secondary school appeal - help needed

[zebraprint]

Hi there

I am in a very stressful situation whereby my daughter didn’t get offered a place at ANY of our preferred secondary schools. They were realistic choices, balancing likelihood of getting in with my daughter’s needs, so I can’t believe this has happened.

I am appealing to our first choice school on social grounds, in that my daughter is having to manage some very upsetting situations in her life that have caused her self-esteem to plummet, and some considerable distress. These have mainly occurred since we applied. The very fact she hasn’t got a school place at all has also upset her to the point she’s having nightmares. So, I’m stating that she needs to attend this particular school in order to provide her with the stability and support network she needs to help her manage the difficulties she’s facing.

It’s the second nearest school to me, and the one she had the best chance at getting in to. It’s also an excellent school, much in demand. We also applied to nearest school, but it’s straight through from 4-18 and had no vacancies whatsoever. Even now, we’re only 24th on the list despite being 2 mins walk from it. So my first choice really was a realistic choice. We missed out very narrowly on distance.

This is going to mean she will likely end up in one of the crap schools that I've already decided aren't suitable for her, and as well as the obvious nightmare of that, it also causes logistics nightmares. She lacks confidence and won’t go anywhere outside by herself. With first choice school I can drop her off/pick her up myself on way to and from work, and she can walk with older girls she knows. But otherwise she will end up on public transport by herself and she simply won't be able to manage that. I am a single parent and have no help available with childcare.

The GP has agreed to write a letter stating she needs to attend this school specifically. Her current headteacher is also writing a letter. I am trying to find a psychologist to assess her with a view to saying the same thing.

So please: does anyone have any experience of appealing on these grounds? Any advice for me? I am looking into everything I can to back this up, and also anything else that might help. Do panelists prefer to see several reasons, or just one solid one? Is this solid enough? I’d be so grateful for any help you can offer. Thanks so much in advance

[mummytime]

However if your DD has not been allocated any school that does strengthen your case.

[admission]

Unless you can come up with some very good references from doctor and psychologist, which are specific as outlined by Tiggytape, I think you have to accept that there will be you and a good few others all running with the same reasons for entry to the school and as such the panel will need convincing of the merits of the case.
A specific weakness of your case is why these issues were not highlighted in the original application, assuming there is a medical /social needs criteria within the school admission criteria.You need to come up with good factual reasons why you did not apply in the time for on-time applications rather than after you did not get a place.
A letter from her current head teacher will carry little weight with the panel and in fact most LAs frown upon heads singling out pupils when it comes to admission appeals, as it is not legal under the school admission regulations.
I would make sure that you also appeal for the nearest school because as Tiggy says that is a logical question for the panel to be asking - why are you only applying for this school in the circumstances. Having registered an appeal allows you to say well I would take the nearest school, I have appealed but I am being realistic about my chances of getting a place at appeal.
When you say you have not got a place at all, is that correct? Or have you been offered a place and rejected it. If so that is a mistake because the panel will view that as you being unrealistic about which school your child can go to and to some extent to be a form of bribery that the panel has to offer a place as they have no where to go. I would talk to the LA about where places are available and see whether any of them are suitable for your daughter travelling. Either way I would accept a place, so that you do have a school place for September because at some stage you are going to have to accept one and better now than in 3 months time when the choice will be even less than now.

[zebraprint]

Thanks very much Tiggytape.

The school does not list social grounds as a reason for admission under their criteria. My understanding is that even so, these are admissible at an Appeal - is that correct?

To explain things a bit better - the issues she's facing are family-based: her father will be moving 80 miles away from her. and is having another child. Plus, a very close relative has just been diagnosed terminally ill. She is understandably very upset about all of this and the stuff with her dad has specifically knocked her confidence. She does have a couple of friends going to this school, but she knows many girls higher up the school too, who will be a huge help in walking with her to/from school.

This school which is second closest (1km) suits her needs better due to the fact it's all girls and the specialisms and the facilities it has. I think I'm keen to make the point to them that I'm not just applying to that school because of its outstanding record, but that it genuinely was the most realistic option of all the schools near us. Is that wise? Everyone thought we'd be a cert to get in there, and the distance means that every other year we'd definitely have got in.

I will drop a line to my GP regarding the letter then, that makes sense, thank you. Good note about the other schools - thank you, but she hasn't actually been allocated any school whatsoever. I'm just anxious about her being dumped into the ones nobody else wants, miles away....

mummytime - thanks, does it really? I can't believe it hasn't helped her before now. Her friends are being moved from one of their preferences to another, better one, and yet she still has nothing. It's awful, and it's heartbreaking to see her being so happy for her friends, yet totally baffled as to why no school will give her a place yet. Really breaks my heart. I hope that this is taken into consideration at appeal....

[zebraprint]

Thanks admission for your thoughts.

The school doesn't admit specifically under social/medical reasons, and also - these things affecting her have all occurred since we applied. Yes, the letters from doctor/psychologist will be specific, of course.

The nearest school to us technically never had vacancies, as they offer to all the children in Y6 who are going through to Y7, as it's a school which goes from Reception through to Y13. As there's a sibling policy applicable as well as children of staff, there is next to no chance of getting in there. My first choice is really the most realistic, which is why I made it first choice. However, I included it BECAUSE it's the nearest school, and I'd be stupid not to have! I'm not crazy about it myself, but could see that common sense meant I needed to add it.

Do you think not worth getting a letter from her headteacher? Or her class teacher? If they were to say how her confidence has been affected since all this?

Yes - I mean it when I say we have been allocated no school whatsoever. Even now with second rounds etc, nothing. I haven't rejected anywhere. At the moment I'm being told by the LEA to look at schools some 8 miles away - totally unrealistic for us.

[zebraprint]

Hi Tiggytape and thanks for your posts.
However I agree with admission that if you are saying DD needs a school close to home, you will have to have very good reasons as to why it needs to be the school 1km away rather than the one much closer. That is the logical thing an appeal panel will query. To a panel, it raises the possibility that the school very near home isn't as good as the one 1km away and that this is a factor. Unless the reasons are well founded eg the one closer to home has no peer support of course in which case make sure you explain this.

Our first choice is the one with the support network of friends. You're correct actually, and we don't have a support network at the school next door to us, but know plenty of people at the first choice. The first choice school is the second closest school, and it's on the way to my work. The school near me is a very good school, but it's not the best fit for my daughter.

Will the appeal panel know where else I applied? I applied thinking of the first round process: to be honest the appeal process didn't really cross my mind - I assumed - naively, I now realise - that I would be allocated one of my choices. They were realistic enough that I never imagined this would happen.

No, the council have not been in touch. I've phoned them a couple of times and they are hugely unhelpful, patronising and unsympathetic. I take your point about having a plan B. We are 10th on list for another of our choices, which feels like a sliver of hope.

Appeal date is mid-May by the way. Do you really think it possible an offer would be made before then? Do you mean on the basis of a pending appeal?

[zebraprint]

Thanks again tiggy.

For example if you were to say that the appeal school is the only one she has friends at and she needs peer support and, if the teacher's letter also says DD is very reliant on her friend's support right now, then that would help.

Perfect, thank you... This is true of her, and her teacher can definitely, honestly say that.

Unfortunately it's too late to apply to appeal nearest school now. I didn't appeal as I never felt we had a reasonable chance of getting in there, whereas I really did with first choice. Sorry - that probably sounds horribly naive, but I've never been through this before. Despite reading everything and seeking advice, it just isn't all that clear.

I very strongly feel that our first choice school is the best for her. We go to the church affiliated to the school, but not regularly enough to seek admission that way (mistake!). Her friends are going there. She has friends there. It makes drop off/pick up easy. I want her to be in a school with certain religious values, which nearest school doesn't offer but first school does. Sports facilities (a strength of hers) are better are first choice. Plus it's girls only.

For example if you were to say that the appeal school is the only one she has friends at and she needs peer support and, if the teacher's letter also says DD is very reliant on her friend's support right now, then that would help.

[zebraprint]

I could cry - this is all so helpful, thank you. I had no idea I could still appeal. I thought I was quite clued up in all this and feel a bit abashed. Right, well yes I'll definitely appeal for there too then. It is absolutely better than an 8-mile away school and better than a lot of places she could end up. Thank you tiggy so much. Will look this up this evening and crack on with it.

[admission]

To just re-iterate what Tiggy has said. You can appeal for any school that you wish, even those that you did not apply to start with. I would say in the circumstances that you have to appeal for the nearest school because it puts you in a far stronger position when it comes to the appeal for your first preference school for the reasons already discussed.
I think you also need to start applying pressure to the LA to provide a place for your daughter. If you do not, again the panel could take the view that you are simply relying on getting a place at appeal. What you need to be doing is presenting a situation that you have done everything that you can to get a school place put in place for your daughter.
I would do two things. Firstly I would send an email to the LA admission office saying that your daughter has still not had the offer of a school place and that you are aware of other pupils being offered at schools that were preferences of yours and that you cannot understand how places can be offered to pupils who already have a place offer when your daughter does not. That will happen in practice because of the way that the admission criteria order process works but it is perfectly reasonable thing for you to be asking and puts the LA in a position of being on the defensive.
The second thing I would do is separately in writing ask the LA to confirm whether the schools which are over 8 miles away do have places available. I do not understand why the LA is suggesting you look at these schools when if there are places available they should be by law offering you one of those places. I appreciate that you might not want to go to one of those schools but it would be perfectly reasonable (in legal terms) for the LA to offer one of those places. They would then have met their legal obligations and if they were really sneaky they will make the offer of a place there about 3 days before the appeal hearing because it severely weakens your case and gives the panel more reason to reject your appeal. By asking the question now, you are putting them in the position where they have to offer now or not at all and the question that you also need them to answer now is whether given the distance the LA will be providing free transport to the school.
The other point of doing this, is that it gives you some time to consider the difficulties of transport to the school in question because believe me that is where you will get offered a place in all probability, not the preferred school. I would assume that at best the LA will make a contribution towards travel costs on public transport. You can then look at the real time it will take to get to this school. Whilst it is usual not to be negative about the offered school, there may be a opportunity to combine a glowing set of reasons for the preferred school around school clubs with the reasoning that your daughter could not possibly attend any clubs either before or after school because of the transport difficulties. Panels like facts and so actual bus times and waiting times if you have to change buses, are useful in being negative about the offered school but positive about the preferred school.

[zebraprint]

Hi all,

I had my appeal yesterday. Before the deadline, I had submitted a 7-page document detailing why she should be admitted, supported by a letter from the GP and current headteacher. 10 minutes into the appeal it became clear that the panel did not have any of this - only my initial notification of planning to appeal with the general outline of why. However, the clerk and the school's presenting officer both had everything. Cue much confusion amongst the panel and clerk, and eventually the clerk declared it had to be adjourned for 3 weeks so they could read it. They were very apologetic and as frustrating as it was, I'd much rather they did actually read what I'd prepared. So now I have to wait another 3 weeks.....

[HouseofEliot]

Wow that's bad zebra. Hopefully you will have a good outcome when you eventually appeal. The wait is a killer we have our appeal soon.

[admission]

Whilst the three week wait is annoying, it is not going to be un-noticed by the appeal panel and at the very least they are going to want to know is why the paperwork was not with the panel as required.
I have to admit that as Chair I would not have been looking to adjourn for three weeks. As the school had your case they were in possession of all the facts, as you were. Could the panel have adjourned for a couple of hours so they could read the papers or were there other appeals?

[zebraprint]

Thanks Houseofeliot, and good luck with your appeal.

Thanks for replying admission. My appeal was quite late in the day, though there didn't appear to be anyone after me. The clerk (who also had the papers) seemed to be the person who declared that it couldn't go ahead that day - she was very forthright. My additional papers were quite long, and I suppose they couldn't have read them quickly enough to deal with them that day. It seems the next day of appeals is not for 3 weeks, which seemed odd, and they've added me to go first that day. I burst into tears once out of the school - just so stressful and frustrating to have got all prepped. This on top of the fact that I have had a death in the family at the weekend, so I have a huge amount to manage there - plus my daughter is doing SATs...

Is there anything I can do to help this to work in my favour, do you think? I plan to write an additional paragraph to mention when I present my case about the additional stress. Should I contact the council? Thanks so much again for your advice on this

[prh47bridge]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I am very surprised if they are hearing the appeals for this school on two days three weeks apart. The appeal panel is not allowed to make a decision on any appeal for this school until they have heard all the cases. That means those who had their hearing on Tuesday won't hear until after you've had your adjourned hearing. It may be that the panel is hearing all the cases for this school this week but the next time they can get together is in 3 weeks time.

The panel will already be unhappy with being placed in this situation. I don't think you need to do anything further to make this work in your favour. In theory it isn't relevant to the outcome but in practice the panel may be more inclined to give you the benefit of any doubt.

Personally I wouldn't mention the additional stress. The panel cannot use that as a reason to find in your favour. If you feel strongly by all means mention it but don't spend too long on it as it isn't really relevant.

[HouseofEliot]

Thanks zebra.

So sorry for your loss. Wishing you strength to get through this difficult time.

[admission]

I suspect that the answer as to why there is three weeks between the appeals may be that they are currently doing all the year 7 appeals and that the appeals in 3 weeks time are for other year groups at the school.
If that is the case then I think that what PRH said is relevant. You were at the appeal it was not your fault somebody messed up and if they make decisions on the appeals heard and ignore you for three weeks then in my opinion you have been disadvantaged.
I would send an email to the clerk and ask them whether the appeals are actually continuing in three weeks time or whether they are new appeals for different year groups.
If they are not making decisions for three weeks then that may play to your advantage in that your appeal will be fresh in the panels mind whereas all the others will be 3 weeks old. Having said that I think that is equally bad practice by the appeal panel.

[Doonuts]

Were you successful?

[wannabestressfree]

Yes I wondered that too.