Appeal Secondary School

I wouldn't regard 5 pages as particularly long. I've seen much longer appeal cases than that. However, remember that you will have the chance to elaborate on your case in the hearing. You won't want to simply read out your written case. The appeal panel will have read it and will know what it says. Take a look at what you have written with that in mind and strip out anything you can cover in the hearing. But I wouldn't worry too much if it is still 5 pages long.

If you have written 5 pages, I would suggest that yes it's too long. (I sit on appeals panels). It's highly unlikely you really have enough relevant content to fill five pages.

You need to make the point re. the confusion on how the places were allocated, and that you were told distance was used. It may be that the first person you spoke to was incorrect, and distance was not used for you and you did indeed lose out on the random allocation, but you do need to raise the issue.

The rest of your appeal needs to focus on why the prejudice to the school of admitting is lower than the prejudice to your daughter of not attending. Transport issues aren't relevant given the school you have been given is only 2 miles away - secondary school pupils would be expected to deal with that, unless there is documented medical reasoning for why not.

You need to point out the reasons the school will meet her needs - are there subjects it offers you can't get elsewhere, clubs that will stretch her established interests? You need ideally to show that the school can cope with another child in yr7 - find out if they have gone over PAN before, so have set a precedent that they can cope.

Tell the school now, it won't weaken your appeal position.

Agree with PanelChair. You have a clear error which has disadvantaged you. You cannot prove that it has definitely cost your daughter a place but it clearly removed any chance she had of getting a place. You should certainly look to bolster your case by showing that your daughter will be disadvantaged if she doesn't go to this school. But you should avoid clouding the issue with things that won't help your case. Arguments about transport do not carry any weight unless your child has mobility issues, anxiety issues or similar with supporting documentation from a medical professional saying that she needs a school near home. In the absence of any such issues an appeal panel would be of the view that an 11 year old could make a bus journey on her own. Indeed, they would assume that an 11 year old could walk 2 miles on her own or ride a bicycle. It is very unlikely they will be persuaded by you saying she is not independent enough to travel on her own and may well, as PanelChair says, think you sound ridiculous in making such an argument. The only thing that would persuade them is medical evidence.

As PanelChair says, registered childminders are registered with Ofsted or a childminder agency. They are also subject to DBS checks. If the journey is only 2 miles by the shortest walking route there is no requirement for the LA to provide transport. However, if they do the driver should have undergone DBS checks.

Who you ask to take your child to and from school (if you do) is up to you but registered childminders are just that, registered, and, in instances where the local authority arranges transport in buses or taxis, then they have to abide by the local authority's safeguarding policies.

There seems to have been an error here, and that will be the main plank of your appeal, but (again, to be frank) unless your child has recognised and documented anxiety issues (for the sake of argument) or you live up a track miles from the bus stop, you will sound ridiculous if you say she can't go on a bus. Eleven year olds are assumed (except when there are major health issues) to be capable of travelling to school by bus and the panel will no doubt think you have plenty of time between now and September to practice the journey with your child. She may well be much more independent, six months from now.

Generally speaking a secondary age child would be expected to travel independently. Logistics tend not to be strong grounds unless there are medical issues. You need to appeal for this school, not against others.

I agree with Tiggytape. You will not reduce your chances on appeal by telling them now. You may improve them a little as the panel will see that you have been open with the school and given them a chance to rectify their error. That won't win your appeal on its own but it may mean the panel is more inclined to give you the benefit of any doubt.

The panel must take this information into account for all appeals even if you are the only person who raises it.

You have to submit your case before the hearing. The school will see your case before the hearing and you will see their case. That is the way appeals work. If you try to spring something on the school without warning it could result in the appeal being adjourned to give the school time to consider the new evidence and prepare a response.

I would tell them now. They may decide to offer you a place without going to appeal. There is nothing they can do about it if they have made a mistake. They cannot withdraw the offers they have made so the only way they can resolve it before appeal would be to admit your daughter (and, ideally, everyone else in category 4). If it gets to appeal you will definitely be able to use this no matter what the school have done. The question is whether it will be enough to win your appeal. That may, in part, depend on how many other parents with children in category 4 appeal.

I have sent you a PM.

Ok, so they have confirmed that you were in category 4. I think I have identified the school in question from the information you have given. If I am correct, there is no question of you missing out on a place in category 4 by random allocation and then missing out on a lower category by distance. Places only become available in category 5 and lower if there are too few applicants in category 4 and above to fill the school.

This looks like a clear mistake. Their admission criteria state that places in category 4 are allocated by random selection. I would contact them and point out that the first sentence of the tie break applies to category 4. The rest of it is for categories 5, 6 and 7 only. Also, a couple of paragraphs earlier in their published oversubscription criteria, there is a clear statement that, "where the number of applicants from any area exceeds the places available (that area's quota) then a random draw will be used to allocate places." That should put the cat among the pigeons.

The problem with the school getting this wrong is that there is no way of knowing who should have been offered places. That puts the appeal panel in a difficult position. It is clear that a mistake has been made but it is not clear that this has resulted in you missing out on a place. This will be made more difficult if other parents affected by this appeal. Even if they haven't noticed the issue, once you raise it the appeal panel must consider how it affects all the appeals.

You should definitely appeal on the basis that the school has failed to follow its published admission arrangements. You should also put together the best case you can as to why your daughter needs to go to this school. What does this school offer her that is missing from the allocated school and is particularly relevant to her. That will help you build the strongest possible appeal and will be particularly useful if the appeal panel end up having to compare the strength of appeals to decide which appeals should succeed.

Ok, that makes more sense now.

So simple things you can do:

1. Clarify that all places went to either:

A) Children with a Statement/EHCP
B) Looked after children/Previously Looked after Children
C) Children with Medical/Social Need (if that was a category)
D) Siblings
E) Children of Faith

If they didn't, that should ring an alarm bell, because your DD fitted a higher category than the nearest child that should have been admitted on distance grounds.

What are the rules about what happens if one faith area is under subscribed? Do those places go to children from an oversubscribed faith area, or do they go to distance? E.g. if St Anne's church has 14 places but 18 children, and St Paul's Church has 14 places but 10 children, do they share them out, or do the 4 extra children from St Anne's just have to hope they live close enough that they get in on distance?

Oh I get it.
You mean e.g.
After 1,2,& 3 are allocated there are 100 places left.
There are 110 applicants for category 4, so each area is allocated a certain number, maybe 7 places for 8 applicants in area 17
They then do a random draw within area 17 and you didn't get the place.

So all category 4 get a place ahead of any category 5s.

First and foremost then as a category 4 you should be near the top of the waiting list. how are category 4s ordered on the waiting list? Random, or by distance? Or if someone from area 3 declines, does someone else from area 3 get priority over other category 4s (as that was how initial allocation was done).

Sounds very complicated.

Your area had 14 spaces.
How many applicants in your area?
Where are you on waiting list?
Will they confirm in writing explicitly that it was done on distance not random allocation? Can they give you the figure for distance last admitted in your area?

Techcorp that sounds very messy.

It seems like one of two scenarios has taken place.

1. Your daughter has been placed in category 4, but wrongly denied a place purely on distance. Why??

Or

1. Your DD was allocated to category 4, correctly. A random allocation draw was held and 14 applicants were drawn for places, correctly, and your DD was unsuccessful. Your DD was then reassigned to category 6 or 7 - distance - and not allocated a place on that basis?

Either way, the letter should have told you exactly what happened, and the admissions process should tell you what happens to unsuccessful draw candidates - where do they stream to in the allocation process for fairness? They can't just disappear!