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Any appeal help- no special circumstances or solid evidence

78 replies

allcrossednow · 03/03/2019 15:31

Please could anyone advise what help/evidence I can request from our current school (& anyone else you.can think of!) to support my appeal application? I was thinking of asking my son's teacher if they could provide an impact statement highlighting why 'in their professinal opinion' they support our choice for the chosen school & believe it to be better suited to him & his learning styles & current academic level etc over the one allocated.

None of our 3 choices or catchment given- was allocated a dismally, very publicly failing school with an outstanding petition from its current 6 form students to remove it's academy status for failing them with little funding & lack of basic resources.

Does anyone know if a school/teacher would be happy/allowed to do that? I don't want to ask if it's not the done thing! Especially as I rarely see her other than parents eve because my DS walks in & out of school himself. I do know her well enough though she has had him a previous year too & only has high praise for him so would think she would be ok to ask.

We basically fall in to the 'other' category of criteria for all schools with no extenuating circumstances. I can demonstrate why the chosen school is the right choice based on my child's interests & academic ability. The school's own ethos is very academic driven with high achieving across the board being their focus. So I hope that basing most of my case around that will be ok. (I am in no way a tiger mum or wish to come across like my child is brilliant because I say so)! That is not us I just wish to make a solid case with little to no professional backing Sad & do the best for my child as who really would set their kids up to fail from the off when there may be the slimmest of hopes. He will drastically full behind at the allocated school within weeks if he isn't given good role models or working to the current standard he is used to.

Would also like to say we are mainstream not private. Very hard to get across on paper that he is not a little genius who I am pining over. He's just an average child who enjoys to learn & does well at his expected level & slightly above but is highly thought of by all teachers, peers.

He has a recognised certificate from Trinity London College achieved last year in musical theatre along with an in depth report from the principle of the academy of arts he has attended for 5 years. I am hoping that would be a solid piece of eveidence- detailing west end work & local theatre experience? As the chosen school has a great department for music/drama. Along with many supporting extra curricular clubs which he would thrive in. He has a keen interest in several of the other clubs too. Some of which are not available at the allocated school.
(Also not sure if it would be relevant but the arts academy he attends actually uses the school site on weekends, so my son is familiar with part of the school & the travel route).

I have no help to draft my case & just feel at my wits end that in reality we get very little choice on where our kids are given if we have nothing other than "this is the best fit for us".

Any help appreciated. Apologies for the length wanted to give as much info as we have. Thank you for reading if you got this far!

OP posts:
ShaggyRug · 03/03/2019 17:16

You need to show evidence of how the school you want for him can provide things that your son needs when the other school doesn’t provide them.

So of for example as you say, he’s got a great talent for Performing Arts, does the school you want have an after school PA club/opportunities to perform/offers GCSE or other qualifications in PA that your allocated school doesn’t?

This sort of thing builds the appeal.

Rabstar · 03/03/2019 17:07

I am in the same position as you, no school place offer at all (despite being in catchment for the 3 choices), just told to apply for another . The other that does have places is in special measures (recent)and I just feel sick at the thought of him having to attend there. I would describe my child similarly to yours and I know that with out a encouraging and nurturing environment he will get lost in the system and go back wards. The school has a reputation of teachers not turning up for class, let alone the pupils.
I feel so penalised for not having older sibling or the funds to move house, how is this fair ?
We are 7th on waiting list and 4th on another but given the reputation of the special measures school i just cant see how how the other school will get places declined. Sorry to crash your post , but 3 days on an I am struggling to think of reasons for appeal given everyone keeps saying we can't use the reputation and of stead report of the other school as the reason? I can remember the last time I felt such an emotional wreck.

spanieleyes · 03/03/2019 16:42

Sorry,no. I don't think you can ask a teacher to say that. They will be able to confirm academic levels, interests and achievements but can't say that one school is better than another. The presumption has to be that all schools can provide the necessary level of tuition and challenge ( whether they actually believe that or not!)

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