Secondary appeal due in 4 days- bit of an issue

I think there's a business opportunity here for some shop near the school, offering phone deposit services.

If your son did end up at the unwanted school would he actually be expelled if a phone was found in his possession on two occasions?

Would your Local Authority still have the responsibility to find him a school place if this happened? Where would this likely be?

Walking just over 1/2 a mile home without a phone isnt a massive issue. It would only take 15-20 min?
Without a diagnosed SEN or an ECHP I can't see why he'll be granted special treatment and nor can I see it helping an appeal. You are asking for a school further away? In our area year 5/6 would routinely make that type of journey.

30 minutes by foot is fine. Dd leaves home 40 minutes before she's due in school and she gets home 30 minutes after school finishes. I can't see a panel thinking this is unreasonable.
Do other children do this trip? I see a trail of children in one uniform or another heading in various directions after school.

How much do you know about the school you are appealing for? On here there are lots of posts about the school you've been allocated and the one you would like. As your DS may have additional needs, you might want to find out more about the pastoral and SEN support offered by the hoped-for school. Posting on the MH parents Facebook group may provide you with more information too. FWIW, the uniform policy pages of the website for your allocated school explains the reasons why smart phones/watches etc aren't allowed. I would say that the OwnFone doesn't fall within that and so would send him with one if it'll help you feel less anxious. I wasn't able to find anything that talked of permanent exclusion for bringing in a phone.

It's been in the news that the Minister for Education will probably ban mobiles in schools from September.

Our school are introducing a mobile ban for everyone up to year 11 from September. The letter from school cited Everybody's Invited as their motivation. Phones are allowed in school if they are turned off and stored in bags.

@FortisMum like others I don't understand why he has to take a bus to a school that is less than a mile away. 0.56 miles would be less than a 10-minute walk. Even if there is a motorway in between your house and the school, there must be a road to the school that goes underneath it? Even if this meant a slightly longer way round, it still couldn't take more than 15-20 mins (that would be about a mile's walk).

So if your main concern is about him not being able to contact you while he gets the complicated bus home, I would let him walk. He will be fine. In fact a phone can bring a danger of theft or attack in itself.

As others have said, if you wish to go forward with the appeal to the further away school, you need to come up with things that it offers that the offered school does not which would benefit your son - science club, orchestra if he is musical, chance to study Spanish if he speaks that (that is actually a really good one if the offered school does not do Spanish).

You mentioned he has only lived in the country for two years, so if the school you want is particularly diverse, or has a reputation for supporting children with English as a second language, then that might be worth a try

Things like PAN and classroom size you can argue against if they have previously taken children that take them over PAN. Ask, for example, how many students they have in other year groups.

You need to focus on something that the school provides that is important to your son and not available at the other school. You mention "independent learning" - this sounds like something that would be available in any school, but if you can evidence particular things the school does that would be beneficial to your son that can be used in the appeal.

Other wise think about things like curriculum and after school clubs - is he a keen musician and one school has an orchestra? Does one school offer a subject the other doesn't that he has a particular interest (that you can evidence) in?

Even with your update, to be honest 25-30 minutes is still walking distance. I can't imagine preferring an awkward bus journey which involves changing, over just doing the walk.

You can’t make a case on that basis

Any ideas on how to best face their arguments: PAN, classroom size, resources..

You’d have to look at whether they have admitted above PAN in the past and make an argument that it can accommodate above PAN again. Look at whether they’ve made any proposals for adding more classrooms in the future, for example. But I really wouldn’t focus your energies on challenging the school’s case so much. The panel will first make a decision about whether the school can admit any more pupils without causing prejudice. If they decide it can, then they will also need to decide how many pupils can be admitted before there is prejudice and will need to offer places to at least that number of appealing pupils. If it decides the school can’t admit any more pupils without causing prejudice then it will look at the case you’ve made that it would of greater detriment to your son not to attend the school than it would prejudice the school to admit him. So the case you need to make is in what way will it cause your son problems if he is not admitted to this particular school. Transport is unlikely to be a consideration (given he is well within statutory walking distance to both schools) and he has no formal diagnosis of SEN to fall back on. Both schools he has been offered are outstanding so you can make a case on that basis. It’s a tricky one to win, for sure.

With no diagnoses SEN I think you’ll struggle to convince a panel that he’s incapable of walking half a mile to and from school on his own. Just practice it with him, have him practice on his own, go through what to do if there are problems.

By all means appeal, it’s your legal right to do so, but I wouldn’t hang all your hopes on it

On the account the education minister is trying to ban all phones in school I don't think this will be successful. He has no registered SEN and it is very close.

The problem is that phone policies can change, so there is no guarantee that your preferred school is going to keep their current arrangement regarding mobiles.
So I don't think this can be used as an argument for an Appeal.

I too don't understand why there is talk of buses if the school is less than a mile away.
I think whatever school he goes to you need to be practicing walks around and about without you (or a phone).

How far is his current school and how does he get there? Are you able to do the walk/bus ride with him a few times before he starts? Maybe the school could buddy him up with an older pupil for a few weeks to help him get used to the trip. In London lots of children travel and come from different backgrounds so such a short journey would not be an issue for most, either by bus or on foot. Perhaps the allocated school are trying to demonstrate than an over reliance on technology is not ideal for self confidence or mh, that is not to say adjustments may not be allowed with appropriate proof. However the chance of you getting professional opinions in support of an appeal now is very slim. What activities or curriculum at preferred school are specifically relevant to your ds? What was the reason his application was refused?

Without any kind of diagnosis/evidence/senco support I don’t think this will fly.

Is the school really only 0.56 miles? It’s a 10 minute walk, why does he need to catch a bus at all?

You said in your OP that there is a strict no phone policy, but also that you could get him a brick phone. Have the school said he can have a brick phone?

Have you actually asked the school if he can take a smart phone or are you just reading their policy? My dcs have a strict no phone policy but some dcs are exempt eg dds friend has diabetes and is allowed hers for glucose monitoring. She would get a bollocking if she was using it for photos or social media in school though.

What have you done to prepare him for the journey without using a phone? Can you evidence that he can’t do it?

The phone thing is only relevant to the reason why you don’t want him to go to the school he has been offered a place at. It is not relevant to your appeal to the school you want him to go to.

For a successful appeal, you need to be able to demonstrate that there will be greater prejudice to your child of NOT attending the school than prejudice caused to the school (and other pupils) by admitting more children. It is highly unlikely “because this school has more relaxed rules about mobile phones” will fly with an appeal panel. You need to be looking at your son’s needs and why they can only be met in your preferred school, and what detriment there might be to him if he is not offered a place. The panel will be aware you have been offered a place at a school closer to home so distance and travel arguments are unlikely to carry much weight.

Given both schools are less than a mile away, surely he doesn't need to getting buses?

With the allocated school only 0.56miles away, that's a 10 minute walk, or a very short cycle - I honestly think you are on a hiding to nothing trying to persuade a panel he needs a place at a further away school because he can't manage a 10 minute walk/cycle without you needing to keep track of him, in the absence of any medical advice/diagnosis confirming this.

Would the allocated school agree to the arrangement the primary had - drop the phone off in the morning, collect end of day?

The appeal paperwork will be fairly standard I expect - any school up to PAN will produce a very similar statement in terms of classroom/lunch space, specialist rooms being aimed at a max capacity, existing overcrowding issues, etc.

If the school is just over half a mile away, it is less than 10 minutes walk. If he is unable to do this without a phone I think he has additional needs that should be diagnosed and recognised.

Overcrowding is a common reason for the school’s refusal to admit. You can ask what are the numbers on roll in each group - if any of them are over PAN then it shows the school can cope with extra pupils. Have there been accidents due to overcrowding? All of these can weaken the schools refusal to admit.

The different borough doesn’t matter.

However the distances you mention are small - unless there is a motorway or dual carriageway in the way - 0.56 miles - most pupils will walk and same with 0.86 miles - that’s around 15 to 20 minutes.

I think unless your son has diagnosed SEND then the case is likely to be weak and you need to be mentioning as many other things as you can e.g. my son has a proven interest in computer science and the school I’m appealing for has a computer programming club.

It might be worth looking at the school’s policy on smart watches? You could have a GPS tracker on one of them to give you some reassurance, some of them allow you to ring a few numbers too but you can disable that function during school hours.

You really need one of the experts to come along but can’t work out how to tag them!

I honestly think this is not going to fly as an appeal argument. There will be hundreds of children at school who could fit the description 'shy and a bit of attention deficit'. The allocated school is 0.5 miles away. The reasonable travel distance at Secondary is 3 miles.

That's not to say that you can't win an appeal. All you have to do is show the panel that he would the benefits to him from a place at the school outweigh the hardship that the school faces by accommodating another child.

I would forget the phone at school issue. It really isn't a persuasive argument. Look at the things that would benefit your child at your preferred school. Your commute is also irrelevant to the panel.