Secondary school admissions appeals

No he dosen't have a statement its a fairly new issue he's been diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder so was picked up way after selection.

Free transport or not there's no school bus and unfortunately I wont be letting him get 2 busses at 7am to get there.

We would like to appeal for our nearest school which is 0.9 miles away and was our 4th choice. I want to be able to take him & collect him from school, were completely new to the area were living in at the moment and he is not the most confident child. He is easily distracted by goings on around him he forgets what he's doing n what he needs to do (I don't feel getting busses & being in bus stations will help) The school has a fantastic write up for those who need extra help developing and the extra help to get them where they need to be academically.

The 6th choice school leaves us unable to take him and collect from school, it has over double the average of statemented children & a large number of high SEN dependant children. I think if my son was to attend it would make him feel like his APD is a massive disability and will either feel like he's been let down academically or labelled. In such a small school I feel that that would be inevitable.

All of this sounds ridiculous to read back and I have no idea of what I'm talking about. I do honestly I just cant formulate the words in the right way,

Chelc- do you now have a Statement?

chelc1979 - You will get lots of help on here from various experts if you post details.

Taking your points in order:

• Distance isn't really relevant in most cases. Your child will be entitled to free transport if the shortest walking route is more than 3 miles.

• The fact this is your sixth choice is definitely not relevant. However, the reasons it was your sixth choice may be. If you can set out why your other choices are better for your child than the allocated school you may have the beginnings of a case.

• If your child gets a statement of SEN you will be asked what school you want named on the statement. The LA only has limited grounds on which it could refuse to name your choice. Once a school is named on a statement your child will be admitted. But for the appeal you could try to show that your preferred school has better facilities for coping with your child's SEN than the allocated school.

I am absolutely petrified and daunted by going to the appeal process. I have no idea where to start what my actual issue is the fact its 4.1 miles away, our 6th choice, the fact since December we've now got a SEN problem come up I just want to cry!

Forever, if you want your SIL for moral support and may be to put across the arguments in a less emotive way than possibly you might then that is OK. If your SIL is there because you are going to play the "they are a head teacher and know what they are talking about" card then you will potentially antagonise the panel which will do the appeal no good at all. Use her for the right reasons, not the wrong reasons.

Forever - If you really think you need to have your SiL there for moral support, then there's nothing (as far as I can recall) to say you can't. However, panels know that parents may be anxious and will make allowances for that. As long as you can get all your points across, you shouldn't really need someone to speak for you.

Thank you all for this advice, I think I might need it!

Thanking you all for your words of wisdom at this really stressful time. Our catchment school is not fit for purpose and my heart sinks for my son, all we want is a good school with able teachers, seemingly too much to ask. My SIL is a HT, would it be an advantage to have her with us on appeal day?

Yes, that's one of the reasons - apart from irrelevance to the admissions criteria - why raising things like the allocated school's GCSE pass rate is not a winning approach.

And remember you are appealing for school A, not against school B. You need reasons why school A is right for your child, not why school B is wrong.

Hear, hear to all of that. And I would add

Read all the old MN threads for general tips and pointers - especially one started a couple of years ago by a poster called (iirc) BetsyBoop.

Don't base your appeal on your preferred school outperforming the school you've been allocated. Ofsted ratings, GCSE pass rates and the like form no part if the admissions criteria and won't be the basis of a winnable appeal.

Equally, the fact that you or your child really, really want a place at your preferred school won't help you win the appeal. The panel will take it as read that you want a place at the school you're applying for, but the appeal is about needs, not wants. If it was simple as admitting every child who wanted a place at a given school, some schools would have to be four times their current size.

Do your research. Crucially, has the school exceeded its admission number in the recent past? Dies it have classes now that are bigger than its supposed class size? If so, you can argue that it could admit your child as an additional pupil and live with the consequences.