Secondary school appeal

"Also, I feel it is mad that we are penalised for living in a rural village and can't access our closest school when other pupils who live in between the two schools could walk to either one."

@Anneycul unfortunately there is no admissions system that can please everyone. Did you consider secondary school admissions when you bought your home in the rural village? That may have been a very long time ago, but it was arguably a foreseeable issue. That is why it's not a strong appeal argument - in theory, we choose where we live. People and schools aren't evenly distributed, so if everyone had an automatic right to go to their nearest school, the system wouldn't cope.

Do you qualify for free transport to the offered school?

If you are not happy for your child to be home alone, can they travel from the offered school to their grandparents' home? Or can the grandparents travel to your home to provide childcare on evenings when you work late? Or is there a local childminder or babysitter or responsible teenager who you could pay to do that role?

Do they need after school care in year 7? I always just got myself home at that age but I know times might have changed now.

Yes, agree with the above. Given that childcare doesn’t really have to be in place now except in special needs situations, this won’t be a grounds for appeal as that criteria won’t count for long in your child’s secondary school career.

Can you start to leave them alone for periods of time from now, building it up over time? In Year seven I just encouraged mine to do a lot of after school clubs organised by the school so they weren’t on their own for too long after school. Does the school website show clubs and societies so your child can pick ones of interest now?

in the meantime you can always stay on the waiting list for your preferred school.

Hey OP agree with @ThatBeverleyMacca that there is more hope for a secondary appeal than an infant one. But also agree yes that secondary school students are expected to get themselves home and not need any after-school support.

If you do a search on secondary appeals you will find lots of threads with good ideas. Basically, ignoring aspects like after school care and transport, what can the preferred school offer that your son needs? It could be something like specific subjects, clubs offered, music tuition - things he has already got a demonstrable interest or affinity for. Say he has a German-speaking grandma and studied German at primary, and this is offered as an MFL at the preferred school - that kind of thing.

Btw since he may need to start at the allocated school, what sort of time will he get home? And what time do you get home? It's very usual for 11-12yos to be on their own at home for an hour or two after school. Barring SEN of some kind they should be Ok with that.

What you have said about appeals generally only being successful if an error has been made is more applicable for appeals for places in reception/infant school, and is incorrect for secondary school admissions, where infant class size rules do not apply and an appeal can also be won by proving that the advantage to the child by gaining a place is greater than the detriment caused to the school by having to admit an extra pupil. However, unfortunately childcare and transport issues are generally not taken into account for appeals and will not give you a strong case OP, as others have said. There are several admissions and appeals experts on this board who will hopefully be along soon to offer advice.

Unless your dc has additional needs, after school care isn't deemed necessary once at secondary school. I don't think you can use that as an argument.

Given the distance,presumably your LA will.provide school transport?

Generally speaking an appeal on a school place is only successful if there has been an error in how the allocation rules were applied.

Is there a waiting list for places? I work in school intake and there is usually a fair bit of shuffle between now and the first few weeks of September. Make sure to read the admissions policy document for the school you want so you know all the details about any waiting list and how it's operated.

You might want to report your thread and ask for it to be moved to secondary education OP, there’s lots of knowledgeable posters with appeals experience on that board.

My understanding is that at secondary age they are expected to be able to travel themselves and childcare isn’t really a factor due to age. Could grandparents pick them up?

Very unlikely. Unfortunately childcare issues don't have any bearing on appeals.