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Original poster

Secondary School Appeal- Help

58 replies

greenoak1234 · 29/01/2023 22:54

I currently live near secondary schools that are all oversubscribed.

I have applied for a secondary school place but have been offered a school that is 2.98 mile from my house, that is a two bus journey and 50 minutes away. I am aware the LA state that this a reasonable distance but it is an unsuitable school for my child as it stressful for her travel independently.

I appealed to a school nearest to us but it was refused.

My child is suffering with anxiety as she is not in school and desperately want to attend a school that she can travel to with out distress. Her anxiety will settle once back in school.

I have appealed to other schools too and I waiting for a response. Please can I have advise to be successful with an appeal?

OP posts:
Starlightstarbright1 · 29/01/2023 23:06

Are you on the waiting list for any suitable school.?

SnoozyVanWinkle · 29/01/2023 23:06

You can appeal once a year to the same school.

You have to appeal for the school you want. Don't say anything about why you don't want the school she has.

Is there anything the school offers that she is good at? That the other one doesn't. Like Mandarin GCSE or textiles.

QuillBill · 29/01/2023 23:09

What did you put in the appeal and what did the panel say when it was rejected?

Rogue1001MNer · 29/01/2023 23:17

What country are you in?
And what year group is your child?

Original poster
greenoak1234 · 30/01/2023 07:27

Yes

OP posts:
Original poster
greenoak1234 · 30/01/2023 07:27

Starlightstarbright1 · 29/01/2023 23:06

Are you on the waiting list for any suitable school.?

Yes

OP posts:
Original poster
greenoak1234 · 30/01/2023 07:30

Rogue1001MNer · 29/01/2023 23:17

What country are you in?
And what year group is your child?

My child is not on roll and it is Year 7

OP posts:
PanelChair · 30/01/2023 07:34

As has been said already, you need to demonstrate to the appeal panel why the preferred school can meet your child’s needs better than the school you’ve been offered. That might be because of subjects offered on the curriculum, extra-curricular activities, specialist provision or anything else. Pinpoint things about the preferred school which will particularly suit your child.

The appeal has to be about the preferred school, not about the reasons you don’t want the offered school, so you’re unlikely to win the appeal by arguing about the difficulty in getting to the offered school. (I’m also surprised by how long you say it will take to travel less than 3 miles. Are you in an area with poor public transport?)

Theredjellybean · 30/01/2023 07:35

I'm not sure you have grounds for a successful appeal.
Three miles is not that far to travel and you'd be better focusing on tackling your child's anxiety than trying to appeal.
What is making them so anxious?
Time to be building their resilient not validating their anxiety by agreeing it's to much for them and keeping them out of school.
Can you not take them in to start with ? Three miles could be driven in 10 mins, or you could go with her to build her confidence, or cycle in ?
Lots of ways to get her used to the travel

Ohdearnotagain76 · 30/01/2023 07:38

Why isn't you child in school at the moment? Has this been the case since September or have you just moved?
Although it seems unfair they do have to have a cut off point, is homeschooling a option till a place becomes available?

Hellocatshome · 30/01/2023 07:39

Less than 3 miles and it takes 50 minutes and 2 buses? Does the 50 minutes include waiting time between changing buses? I think I would look into other ways she can get there if the bus really is that awful, maybe by bike and then taxi on horrendously rainy days?

OutDamnedSpot · 30/01/2023 07:40

Has she actually tried the allocated school? Surely better to go and try it than to just not have an education? Could she bike there if public transport is so bad?

LIZS · 30/01/2023 07:42

It might have been better to have at least tried to make the journey to the allocated school work. I fear you may have inadvertently made her anxiety worse by keeping her off and also meant that the LA had no obligation to find an alternative place. Where is she on wl? Where did her primary friends go to?

Hellocatshome · 30/01/2023 07:43

OutDamnedSpot · 30/01/2023 07:40

Has she actually tried the allocated school? Surely better to go and try it than to just not have an education? Could she bike there if public transport is so bad?

Yes also this. Has she tried the journey. Yes it seems like an awfully long time fkr such a short journey but actually kids do travel that long to get to school sometimes. Realistically it means if school starts at 8 she leaves the house at 7 and if it finishes at 3 she is back in by 4. That's not too bad really and definitely better than not going to school.

PanelChair · 30/01/2023 07:50

How long has she been off roll? The LEA has fulfilled its obligation by offering a school place and won’t make another offer, unless or until you come to the top of a waiting list. What happens if you don’t win any of your appeals? Do you have a contingency plan? What did you say in your previous appeal? What reasons did the panel give for refusing it?

Apologies for bombarding you with questions, but unless you can highlight other reasons apart from travel, the appeal panel is unlikely to decide that your child needs a place at your preferred school more than the school needs to stick to its published admission number (which is the central question in any appeal).

Original poster
greenoak1234 · 30/01/2023 07:52

Yes, the journey has been attempted and it takes this long. Bus journey is the only option. My child is unable to attend this journey without difficulty and stress.

OP posts:
MetalFences · 30/01/2023 07:54

QuillBill · 29/01/2023 23:09

What did you put in the appeal and what did the panel say when it was rejected?

Can you answer this? If you are writing a load of stuff about the journey in your appeal this might be why your appeal isn't successful.

Original poster
greenoak1234 · 30/01/2023 07:56

The reasons were as follows:

The panel felt that to admit a further pupil who would require pastoral support would be to stretch resources even thinner. The panel did not feel it was fair to those already on-roll to reduce the resources available to them.

OP posts:
Original poster
greenoak1234 · 30/01/2023 07:57

The panel were not satisfied that you had explored the possibility of other local schools where they may be able to accommodate your child.

OP posts:
OutDamnedSpot · 30/01/2023 08:00

She’s tried the journey, but has she tried the school? Might she change her mind about the journey once she’s realised the benefit of being in school? I teach and loads of the pupils have journeys at least that long.

Hellocatshome · 30/01/2023 08:01

What exactly about the journey causes the stress/anxiety? Can you accompany her on the journey even if it means taking some time off work just until she gets used to it/more comfortable with it?

Where have her primary friends gone? Have any gone to this school?

PinkFrogss · 30/01/2023 08:02

Why is the journey that stressful for them? Presumably DD has SEN or diagnosed MH problems, did someone involved in her care add evidence to your appeal?

Your DD can’t be out of education for this long, is there another school you could appeal for?

MetalFences · 30/01/2023 08:03

Those reasons are true really. It sounds like you did** appeal against the school you were allocated. Rather than the other way round.

You need to understand the process much better and you can appeal next year (I think)

MrsSchrute · 30/01/2023 08:04

greenoak1234 · 30/01/2023 07:57

The panel were not satisfied that you had explored the possibility of other local schools where they may be able to accommodate your child.

Have you looked at other schools that are nearer than your current one?
Could you travel on the bus with her?

PanelChair · 30/01/2023 08:04

You don’t seem to be engaging with what I and others are saying.

You keep saying there will be difficulty and stress if your child attends the offered school, but arguments about why you dislike the offered school won’t help you win an appeal for your preferred schools. You need to highlight what makes them more suitable for your child, besides being closer to home. You need also to be aware that LEAs (and appeal panels) will expect nearly all secondary school pupils to be able to get themselves to and from school, so if your child can’t do this you will need clearly to explain why and to provide supporting evidence from (say) a paediatrician.

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