In-year application appeal

@CSY you need to start a new thread, as this is under Secondary Education and your dc are Primary age. Logistics will not win a primary appeal, you need to look for a breakfast/after school club or a childminder. Is there a reception place available at dd school?

Why though? Your older one makes his own way to school, you take the younger one. That's normal and expected. You won't win an appeal on that basis. Take the place.

My gal is 8 and I have another 5 years old son going to different school. It’s a problem to send them both to school on time

@CSY 15 minutes is that a typo? 45/60 mins is normal and unless a medical reason they would travel alone.

Secondary pupils normally make their own way independently, 15 minutes is pretty close. Logistics alone won't help an appeal unless there are Additional Needs or circumstances which mean only a particular school is viable.

Thanks!

Thanks for reply! About 15 mins without traffic, the problem is I have 2 kids and they go to different schools. I can’t manage them while their school time is the same.

CSY - People who know that school are unlikely to see your question here. You’ll probably get more response if you start your own thread, naming the school in the title.

Don't decline it as you may not be offered another place. How far away is the offered school? Many kids travel 45 minutes or more.

I have just moved to nuneaton from abroad and my girl has been offered to go to middlemarch school which is so far from my home. Does anyone know anything about this school? I am new to the area and so I don’t have any idea. What happen if I don’t accept the offer? Or I should accept and appeal at the same time? What should I do? Thank you

For those suggesting home edding - do you truly think that this is better for an inexperienced parent to take on than school (plus tutor) to fill the gaps?

Plus the infant and junior in Alresford are great and you have equally excellent primaries in the villages eg Itchen Abbas, Cheriton, Ropley, Owslebury

I also highly recommend Perins in Alresford.

As well as prepping the appeal, it’s worth asking where does have spaces for a year 8 and year 10 and going for a look around. I suspect that might be either Perins in Alresford, or even Amery/Eggars in Alton or one of the Eastleigh schools. (I don’t know the Eastleigh schools well, but the Alton/Alresford ones are good.) It would also be worth then looking at transport whether that’s the bus to Alresford/Alton or train/bus to Eastleigh and see what’s doable for where you live.
I’d look at your DSes separately, it is more important to get the closest match for your oldest DS with exam boards, order of books studied etc. and that’s probably worth a bit more of a journey than for your younger DS.

Moving into the year below is common in the independent sector if you have moved from abroad. Something to ask about if you do look privately.

Or since you are the main earner, could their other parent home educate just for the next academic year?

Yes, you can appeal for any school where you’ve been refused a place. The panel might ask whether you’re appealing for other schools, in which case it’s perfectly acceptable to say something along the lines of you’re keen to get your children into a local school with minimal disruption to their education and so are appealing to those schools which you think will meet their needs, etc.

Hello. Just to let you know that Kings is full in all year groups I believe. So no spaces. Sorry. We are looking for a Year 9 space.

You asked for advice on appeals, not (as far as I can see) a lecture on the merits of moving, or not.

If the LEA can’t offer anything, you can ask them whether they’d use the Fair Access Protocol to create spaces in a school that’s otherwise full, but that wouldn’t necessarily be the school that you’d choose.

For any appeal for secondary school, you need to convince the panel that the prejudice (detriment) to your children in not attending the school outweighs any detriment to the school in having to accommodate additional pupils. You can mention things like needing to be in education (especially for your child in Y10), needing to be at school to make friends and settle in a new area and anything about the school that would particularly suit your children - subjects offered, extra curricular provision, pastoral care or whatever.

Bear in mind that waiting lists are held in admissions priority order, so if one child gets a place, the other (as a sibling) is likely to move up the waiting list.

Private schools might be more open to the ‘repeating a year’ option. I would say you should ring every possible school and favour any that would allow this - remembering that you are then applying and appealing for a Y9 place not a Year 10 one. I genuinely don’t know how possible this us, but the disadvantage of moving nearly half way through (assuming not in new school until half term) his GCSE teaching is so severe that I would push very hard for it if you can.

Does the school you are most interested in have spaces in Y9? It's worth exploring if they do.

When is his birthday?