Can you appeal for two schools?

[Elif]

Hi to all!
We are appealing for our DD who did not get her first choice or the second.We have put down only two school names.One of them is very near to where both my DDs attends.But is 10 min drive from us and the other one is in our area but we are out of the catchment area by 177 meters. Both schools are full and according to the oversubscription criteria other children had higher priorities than her.We have declined the offered school which is near to us but there are reasons for declining. So I have submitted the appeal for the first school on Friday but I do not know if I should do it for the other school on Monday which is the last day for appeals.Will I be contradicting myself if I am saying this is the only school for her and then appealing for the other school? Will it affect our first appeal?There are many reasons for our first school but she is on a better place on the waiting list for the second one and I would like to have two chances in case one is unsuccesful. I would be grateful for any advice. Thank you all.

You can appeal for both schools. The appeals will be held separately (at least, they would be in our LEA) and it's possible in theory (even if it's unlikely in practice) to win both appeals.

Make sure you are on the waiting list for any schools that you'd be willing to accept - you can go on the waiting list for as many schools as you want.

You should bear in mind that by refusing the school place you've been offered, you may be cutting off your nose to spite your face. If you don't win either appeal, you'll probably be offered a place at yet another school, which you may like even less. It is certainly not the case that refusing the school place will boost your chances at appeal - it may even do the opposite if the panel think you're attempting to pressurise them.

Is this for primary or secondary admissions? Tell us more about your circumstances and we can probably offer more specific advice about how to approach it.

You can appeal for as many school as you want. It might be in your interest to have a look at other schools and any that you feel could be appropriate that you ask to go on their waiting list and to appeal for. You do not have to have applied for a place at a school to go on their waiting list or to appeal for the school.
I would also point out that the cut off date specified by the LA is nothing of the kind. They cannot refuse you an appeal at any time. The LA put a date limit on because they have so many appeals to arrange at this time of year. If you apply after the cutoff date you may well not get to have the appeal at the same time as all others who are also appealing for that school, but you will get an appeal within the time limits imposed by the code of practice.

Thank you for all your replies, it is invaluable to me.
There was one more question that I wanted to ask. When the panel listens to all the appeals do they decide at the end of each appeal if so if your appeal is heard later than the others during the day or the week does it affect your chances if they already decided on the sufficent amount of appeals that can be upheld?
Thank you

Panelmember- this is for a secondary school appeal. There are reasons for not accepting the offered school due to transport and dd's condition and other circumstances so there was never an option for her to start in that school, therefore we had to decline it. I've read before that the panel might think that way,it is so unfortunate!

Very quickly as it's time for bed!

1. Each appeal is decided on its own merits. The panel has to weigh up the 'prejudice' (ie disadvantage) to your child in not being admitted to the school of your choice against the 'prejudice' to the school in having to admit another pupil. So it doesn't matter what the panel decides about the other appeals it hears that day/that week, if your case is strong you can still win. There isn't a quota that the panel has to fill or not fill.

1. With secondary school appeals, it is all about who faces the greatest prejudice (as above). You need to highlight things that your preferred school(s) can offer your child that the allocated school can't. Don't make critical comments about the school you've been offered, because that isn't really the point - you have to convince the panel that the school you're appealing for will be better at meeting your child's needs.

1. You mention transport as an issue. That probably isn't going to help you win your appeal.

1. You also mention your child's 'condition'. Does she have special needs or a disability or health problem? If your preferred school has facilities or expertise that would help her, that is something you can emphasise at your appeal.

1. Depending on the circumstances, a letter from a health care professional might also help. This needs to be something that says that in their professional judgement, your child will benefit from attending that particular school. A letter which says 'her mum wants her to go to this school' will not convince the panel.

Hope this helps.

The LA will try to arrange for all the appeals for any particular school to be heard together. If that is not possible for some reason the appeals should still all be heard by the same panel and no decisions can be taken on any appeal until all the appeals have been heard.

Once the panel has heard all the appeals it first considers whether all the children can be admitted without prejudice to the school. If it decides the children cannot all be admitted the panel then looks at each case in turn and decides whether the case for admission outweighs the prejudice to the school. Finally, if that leads to more successful appeals than the panel think the school can handle, the panel compare the cases to decide which appeals will be upheld.

It is a shame you felt unable to accept the offered school. It would be worth finding out what other schools in the area have places available and applying for one of those places. That will give you a backup in case the appeals fail and will avoid the problem Panelmember highlights. It won't commit you to the school in question. You can always reject the place later.

Am I reading too much into this or is it the case that your dd's condition bears on what transport is a possibility and that this has a direct bearing on your refusal of the offered school? Because if so, it might just be relevant. We did tell the panel that we would be unable to accept any school over a certain distance because our dd's condition makes her unable to travel long distances, so even if the LEA offered transport (as they did) having to travel for too long would have a negative impact on her schooling. That was accepted. But you do need to provide paperwork supporting any argument of this kind.

cory- Our case is slightly different.I will explain the reasons,
My husband is disabled so I do all the school run.Our preferred school is 10 min away by car and my two DDs already attending primary which is just 5 min walking distance from that school.The reason they are in that school is we used to live in that area ,their brother attended schools there and part of our family is still there. Their older siblings live very close to both schools,unfortunately we had to move but our daughters have been accepted to the nursery and my DD spent 8 years in her school. She suffers from leg pains whenever she has to walk or stand for a long period since the age of four. She had blood tests and xray but only to be told to refrain from long walks and take pain killers.Her GP said that he can only give a general letter about her condition but can not state the school's name and it will be costly. So I did not get the letter. I have three more years to travel to the primary school and our preferred school is so close.My husband had two operations last year and has several apppointments requires me to be with him which is when it is not possible to pick them up or someone to be at home for her to come. Our other part of the family picks or drops them and they stay over several times a week because it helps them to bond with their other siblings.We do not have any family or neighbours to help us around where we live. Offered school requires her to walk for 25 min or to walk 15 min take a bus then walk further 8 min. I have confirmed it with the Transport.There are other academic reasons because this school is a specialist and suits her abilities.
If she is not accepted this is going to have a negative impact on her both educationally and socially because that area is her community since she spends the majority of her time there.

Even if the doctor won't name the school, a letter stating that your daughter should avoid long walks will be helpful, especially if you can also give evidence of the amount of walking required if she goes to the offered school.

pr47bridge- Thank you for your advice, I will get the letter.
Admission, Panelmember,cory, pr47bridge- Also I want to say thank you to all, you have been giving advice to all parents who are desperate and do not have any experience. It is greatly appreciated.

Just to reiterate what prh47bridge said.

In most cases, arguments about transport problems don't carry any weight at appeal - lots of people argue that their preferred school is on a bus route/closer to home/near a sibling's school etc and it isn't normally enough to prove 'prejudice'. But if you can provide evidence from your doctor to say that your child can't walk long distances, and can provide evidence of the walk that the offered school would entail, that will support your case. Whether it's enough to win, I can't speculate.

Also, have a look at the part of the School Admissions Code (available here) which mentions medical need and parents' and children's disability:

Social and medical need

2.27 If admission authorities propose to give higher priority to children for social or medical reasons they must ensure that in doing so they are not failing to comply with paragraph 2.16(g) of this Code, which prohibits the use of oversubscription criteria that discriminate against or disadvantage children because of their special educational needs or disabilities.

2.28 Admission authorities must not use this criterion to give a child a lower priority in obtaining a place at the school, but it is acceptable to give higher priority to children or families where there is a social or medical need (for example, where one or both parents or the child has a disability that may make travel to a school further away more difficult).

2.29 If using this criterion, admission authorities must give a clear explanation of what supporting evidence will be required ? for example a letter from a registered health professional such as a doctor or social worker ? and how this will be assessed objectively. Admission authorities? decisions must be consistent and based on this objective evidence. The supporting evidence should set out the particular reasons why the school in question is the most suitable and the difficulties that would be caused if the child had to attend another school. Admission authorities must not give higher priority to children under this criterion if the required documents have not been produced. (emphasis added)