In-Year Transfer Application: Examples for Appeal

[Up74]

I am appealing an in-year school place application with my LA, as we have been turned down for all 5 of our preferences in our catchment area.

I am putting together the form but need some good arguments for the appeal. We fall under the catchment area priority for each school's over-subscription policy. However, this criteria isn't as strong as having another sibling in one of the schools or being a looked after child, which we don't qualify for.

Any tips or examples for appealing on the grounds of catchment area, would be welcome. We live just over 1 mile away from each catchment area school (aside from 1 which is 4.4 miles away).

Many thanks.

A pru is more expensive per pupil than mainstream place so they wont want to keep her there if she can manage in m s school
But a good supportive P r u might be better for her?
Have you identitified a good m s school that will provide what she needs? Appeal for that one if so

Does that mean she already has a school place?

If she does, it might mean that the original school could assist you in obtaining a Managed Move.

What is not working in the p r u?

No she doesn't have a school place at the moment. She was permanently expelled from her previous school. I submitted an in-year application for a school place which triggered the Fair Access Protocol. These processes are treated separately. I am waiting for the FAP panel to meet on 9 November and in the meantime appealing the in-year application for the schools we didn't get a place for. Hopefully she will get a school place via the FAP process but if not, it's then down to the in-year application appeal. She starts the at the Pupil Referral Unit next week until the school place issue is resolved.

The PRU is fine for an interim solution, providing education to my daughter until a new school place can be found. In my LA guidance it says they have a statutory obligation to find a new school place within 20 school days, if the FAP is triggered. I assumed this meant a mainstream school but was told the PRU is also school for these purposes.

Yes, the PRU is also a school for these purposes.

Is this her first permanent exclusion?

There could be useful context to this - a) are you in England, Wales or Scotland? b) does she have SEND or is she likely to have an ehcp? c) is a mainstream school suitable for her needs? d) what was she excluded for/does she pose a risk to other students or staff whether intentionally or not?

If the schools you've applied to are over PAN, they won't be looking at the exclusion, but may not be able to provide her with appropriate support - once you're in FAP, decisions are made with full disclosure.

It is her first (and hopefully last) exclusion. She and another boy in her year had a fight at school and they were both permanently excluded (it was an independent school). She was boarding at this school as I was working overseas and there had been other behavioral issues - hit a child last year and received a Saturday detention.

She was also self-harming but I wasn't made aware of this by the school, until my DD told me. They applied the Gillick competence as the reason for not disclosing this to me and said she wasn't a concern because so many other teenagers self-harm.

We are in England and we don't have a SEND yet but I am in the process of self referring/or referral via GP to CAMHS for SEMH needs.

The PRU could be very helpful in locating a school for her, then - rather than hoping for a panel decision for somewhere that might not be right for her, the PRU staff will be experienced in all sorts of needs, know where is particularly good - and the links they form with local heads/SLT can turn a 'whoever will have her' into a 'definitely the right place', thus avoiding the LA 'you'll take this kid even if you know it's not in her best interests because we need her off the list'.

You should definitely look at IPSEA and SOSSEN’s websites and apply for an EHCNA.

@NeverDropYourMooncup many thanks for the insight, you've been very helpful. I didn't know that about PRUs and their influence to find the right school for children who need extra/different support from a school. Do you work or have experience of this area of education?

@Thatsnotmycar I've had a look at IPSEA and will take a look at SOSSEN too. I think it is the right way to go to have an EHCP in place, to enable DD to hopefully complete her reach her education potential.

Let her settle in the pru
There will be more support there for her
Get assessments done for ehcp
Then discuss with them best option as was said
They will be keen to move her on if it s the right thing

Not sure why you want to rush to a m s school given there clearly are issues

(My dd issues were medical and the unit she attended rushed her to m s before she was ready, with hindsight.. had to goto appeal for a place and won so yes it is feasible if you identify the right school)

Your dd has a place in the pru and is year 9

You could aim to have her start m s in yr 10 or summer term so she can choose snd start gcses courses.
So there is no rush to move her from p r u until summer term really of 2023. If the p r u is good lots of support then it may be better than a big school.
And she can conplete gcse later at a college.
Main thing is addressing the issues she has

And you need to be sure the sen issues M h will be addressed.

Dd was in a hospital school not pru but the key thing was addressing and identifying issues and support needed

It's the advantage of being in the state system, rather than the private/boarding one. Staff communicate and work together because, if nothing else, it's not seen as colluding with competitors or potentially damaging a brand to discuss what's gone on in a professional context; it's about the child and their rights to safety and education.

Quite a few children, particularly those who are neurodiverse, suddenly find themselves less attractive to private schools once they're approaching public examination age - and the parents tend to not have the knowledge or experience of state education to be able to navigate their way around it all once they've been excluded/asked to find somewhere else/ousted/booted out/etc.

It's not all a bed of roses, obviously, we're talking about children who could have any number of diagnoses, adverse experiences or other complications and a system that is underfunded and complicated by some academies trying to behave like private schools with the changes to the education system that come with every new Education Minister trying to make their mark - but there is so much done behind the scenes to try and get every child safe and educated.

We just don't hear of the successes - partly because of privacy and confidentiality, partly because people don't post online about how good things can be; they post when things go wrong.