Secondary appeal based in languages

[AppealHelp]

Hi, my daughter (Y6) has not been accepted in any of our preferred three secondary schools. We've been offered a place at the catchment school instead. I'd like to appeal this decision on the basis that Spanish is the only language offered at this school, whereas the three I chose have several other languages as part of the curriculum. My daughter is bilingual in Spanish and English as both my husband and I are Spanish. I consider that it would be a waste of time for her to be seating in Spanish classes 3 hours per week. When I visited this school, I asked about this and they answered that unfortunately, they did not have other options in languages. As she already speaks two languages, it would be easier to learn an additional one and I think this can be important for her future.
My daughter is a very good student with an excellent can do attitude. Teacher's feedback has always been very positive in terms of her personality, effort and willingness to help others.
Do you think I may have a strong case? Should I ask her teacher for a letter supporting the benefits of having her in class (something along this lines)? My first choice school offers the IB and this is one of the main reasons I chose it. Should I include this somehow in my appeal? How do I support this? Thanks a lot for your help, I am very lost in this and any comment would be very much appreciated.

[theMoJareajoke]

You can only appeal on the grounds the schools have not applied their acceptance criteria correctly I'm afraid.

[GU24Mum]

OP, there are some posters who are very knowledgeable about appeals who are the best people to advise but I'm pretty sure you can appeal at secondary and cite various reasons. You are appealing FOR another school rather than against the allocated school. The test is whether the detriment to your child by not being given the place is more than the detriment to the school by admitting over its PAN. This isn't the precise wording but is the gist of it.

The languages point is a perfectly sensible one to try. There may well be people with stronger arguments but that shouldn't put you off trying.

Hopefully one of the waiting list places
might could up in the interim.

[clary]

@theMoJareajoke

You can only appeal on the grounds the schools have not applied their acceptance criteria correctly I'm afraid.

This isn't true. You can appela for the school if you can show that the benefit to your child of going there outweighs the detriment to the school of accepting another child.

The languages argument is a good one actually, as it is something offered by the school you want. You need to find things about the desired school that only it offers (or are not offered by the allocated school). Remember you are appealing for the school you want, not against the offered one.

Are there extra curricular clubs that would be good for your dd - music, sport, language?

The argument about her being a good student is not relevant I am afraid.

[SeasonFinale]

I think the language thing may be something you can appeal on but one of the admissions experts will be along to say for sure. I do believe that Oxbridge will not allow a language that is a native language to be used as one of the A levels they base their offers on when applying to do MML or MFL but am not sure about others.

[Lougle]

Hi @AppealHelp you absolutely can appeal at Secondary level on the basis that your DD needs a place at school x and they wouldn't be unduly strained by taking her.

Any suggestion that your DD is a 'good' student who would be an asset to the school is to be strictly ignored by an appeal panel. They can't consider her character.

However, the languages issue is ideal as an appeal argument. I wouldn't phrase it as 'sitting in Spanish is a waste of time'. After all, monolingual English speaking children sit in English lessons all week and benefit from them. But certainly, saying that you want her to learn an additional language and x school offers these languages in addition to Spanish will be a strong argument.

Don't be afraid to point out any little thing that your preferred school offers. In the end, you are trying to tip a balance in your favour, so lots of little things can be worth as much as one big thing.

[UserTwice]

@theMoJareajoke

You can only appeal on the grounds the schools have not applied their acceptance criteria correctly I'm afraid.

As already said, this absolutely isn't true. Applying on the basis that you want your child to learn a new MFL and this is not possible at allocated school would be a good appeal criteria - the main point is that you are appealing for something that the school you want offers, that isn't offered by the school you've been allocated.

[lanthanum]

The languages reason seems like the sort of reason the appeals system is designed for; she would undoubtedly benefit from a school where she will have the opportunity to learn a language which is not her mother tongue. If she wishes to study languages later, I believe that some universities are less willing to count the grade in their native language, so she could be severely disadvantaged by not having had the opportunity to learn another language.

It might also be worth asking the IB school whether, if she transferred to them for sixth form, it would be a problem for studying the IB if she has only studied Spanish. If so, that would be another reason why a Spanish-only school would be a disadvantage; she might well want to do IB for its currency abroad, especially if you might return to Spain.

[MuddyWalks]

You can only appeal on the grounds the schools have not applied their acceptance criteria correctly I'm afraid.


You are thinking of infant schools.
OP I think you have a good chance.

[titchy]

@theMoJareajoke

You can only appeal on the grounds the schools have not applied their acceptance criteria correctly I'm afraid.

That's not true at all for secondary!

[PanelChair]

@theMoJareajoke

You can only appeal on the grounds the schools have not applied their acceptance criteria correctly I'm afraid.

Here we go again. This is not true for secondary admissions appeals (although it’s one of the three reasons you might win an appeal in a case where the infant class size rules apply). Please, people, if you’re not familiar with the appeals code or don’t have any experience of admissions appeals don’t hand out bad advice like this.

OP - you’ve got a decent argument about the IB and the range of modern languages but (as others have said) don’t waste time in irrelevant arguments about your child being a good student, because the panel can’t give any weight to it. As with all appeals, much is going to depend on how strong (or not) the school’s case not to admit is, so highlight any other aspects of the school that make it best for your child.

[AppealHelp]

Thanks a lot for your answers. Sorry for opening an old thread before, It was the first time i posted something anywhere. You have bien very helpful!

[AppealHelp]

I have another question about my appeal letter. I've made clear that my preferred school has something (languages) that my allocated school does not. I understand that I need to show that the harm done to my child by not getting a place there will be greater than that caused to all the other children by overcrowding. Should I do this by attaching an end of year school report or at least citing fragments of it where teachers say that my child is helpful in class, etc..? I don't want to sound naive by doing that and confuse the main message. Thanks!

[titchy]

No. To chip away at their overcrowding defence, you need to see if any year groups are over PAN, and ask how many accidents there have been that are attributable to them being over PAN in those years. There won't be, which suggests to the panel that they can cope with extra children.

[Lougle]

No, you mustn't! The panel can't look at the personality of your child unless it directly impacts their need for the school. For example, if your appeal document claimed that they were incredibly shy, needed small form classes and high pastoral support, and had documentary evidence of that, they could consider that.

But schools must not:

'take account of reports from previous schools about children’s past behaviour, attendance, attitude or achievement, or that of any other children in the family;' (Schools Admission Code 1.9).

Keep it objective and factual.

[AppealHelp]

Thanks again! You are wonderful! I wish I had discover this before

[ScopeToCreate]

I am going to tag the very knowledgeable @prh47bridge who hopefully should be about to help out.

[PanelChair]

No. You’ve already been advised not to talk about your child being a good student, because the panel can’t give any weight to it.

[prh47bridge]

There has already been good advice on this thread and I don't really have anything useful to add, which is why I haven't contributed!

[PanelChair]

I'm highly amused that on International Women's Day, someone called in @prh47bridge to check/confirm what the (presumably) women had said!

[Hoppinggreen]

@PanelChair

I'm highly amused that on International Women's Day, someone called in *@prh47bridge* to check/confirm what the (presumably) women had said!

I doubt most people know his sex, he’s just known for his knowledge.
Which I appreciate you have too PanelChair

[PanelChair]

No, quite possibly they don't but, as I said, it amused me.