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Original poster

Secondary school appeals help

102 replies

Cocosunshine · 02/03/2019 04:27

Hi all

We are in the horrible position of having to appeal for our son's secondary school place. I would love some advice.

Situation is:

  • My son was diagnosed with leukaemia aged 7
  • Treatment ended in Sept 2018 (it lasts 3.5 years)
  • He won't be considered "cured" for 5 years
  • He has ongoing appointments and close monitoring
  • There are long and late term psychological and physical impacts of treatment

Our application was to our closest school, but the catchment is tiny so we are not close enough (1 Mike vs 0.3 miles). It has medical/social needs as a criterion, so we applied under that. Application basis was:

  1. Closest school to our house. Enables us to manage appointments, maintain attendance, deal with issues (esp if he relapses). Easiest journey, important as fatigue is a long term side effect of leukaemia treatment. Important socially as he feels safe there, will have friends nearby
  1. Social: as our local school, he has friends there. Important as he has emotional, self esteem and friendship issues following treatment
  1. The school has a "unique ethos" (their words) of pastoral care and support, which he needs after the trauma he has been through.

This was supported by letters from:

  • Oncologist at GOSH
  • Oncologist at our local hospital
  • Social worker at CLIC Sargent
  • Family support officer at local children's hospice
  • Letter from current head teacher

So:
Does this sound like a decent case or are we kidding ourselves?
How do we approach appeal - do we need to get new, additional evidence?
Can we find out in advance why our arguments weren't accepted under the med/social criterion?
What is the best strategy to formulate a strong case - pick one thing, argue them all? What is most likely to sway them?

Son is distraught and I am devastated. After everything he has been through, I want him to be safe and happy in his secondary school. Feels like a massive kick in the teeth :-(

Thanks for any help you can give us.

OP posts:
MrsJamin · 02/03/2019 04:52

There are some experts at MN for appeals (Paging @prh47bridge @admission & @panelmember)
It sounds to me like to have a good case, better than many who try to appeal and have no reason why their particular child should go to a particular school. Good luck!

Original poster
Cocosunshine · 02/03/2019 04:43

Also, our council's "schools adviser" told me (twice) and my husband on another occasion that we would get a place on these grounds, and we accepted that advice and made decisions on the basis of it. Now regretting that!

OP posts: