Appeals for in year

[Mrswren2020]

Advice needed.
Hi all sorry this is long . We lived in one town where children attended school. We were made homeless and Council made us take a property 40 mins away from school. I have 2 boys in school one has gone into year 10 and has asd and other year 3 and adhd and asd. Now both boys attened school where we lived before being moved we were transporting them my younger son was then starting to have severe anxiety and school avoidance and was advised to move him schools near home so he isn't doing the 40 min journey. Husband drives i don't. I am registered disabled and have mobility issues. So applied for school in September which is 5 mins away on my mobility scooter. I was told couldn't have that school as no space was advised to take one offered which is 1.6 miles away. I thought ok better than nothing and can use a mobility scooter so I went out and brought a mobility scooter so I could take my son and my husband take my older son in the car. However after he started at his new school we then found the pathway have no drop kerbs at certain points so cannot do that then I tried going across the train line and the mobility scooter stopped halfway across so again that route was out those were the only 2 routes to school. So I askednfor help from family support at the school and they said the only option was to apply againfor the school I had previously told no spaces. So family support checked yesterday and council website stated this school have space in year 3. So I applied again. I called the school this morning and they tell me they dont have space. So I call the council and say where does this leave me now. So I had an email from family support advising me I can appeal and should do that today as council website is showing spaces. They also said I have to pay out £340 per month for a taxi to collect my son and take him to school and pick him up. I am sadly unable to afford to do that and my son would not get in a taxi on his own due to his disabilitys. So I lodged the appeal but terrified the school will win and then im left with no school im able to get my son to without causing myself severe medical issues and pain. Any advise anyone could offer would be great.
Thank you

To win an appeal, you need to be able to show that the detriment to your son from NOT going to the school, is greater than the detriment for the pupils already at the school from adding an additional child when they are full.

It sounds to me that you have a reasonable case:

• you did not choose to move, you had no option
• the nearer school is your local school - you should check if it is your catchment school
• there is a safeguarding element in that due to your disability you cannot safely transport your child to the other school therefore he is effectively not able to receive an education

However,.appeals are hard to win. Good luck!

Have you spoken to the present school about any parent or child minder who would be happy to take your child to school and collect or do half the journey?

Why can your husband not take the younger child and you take the older child?
I would expect you to have exhausted all options to get the child to school although generally travel is not usually a part of the consideration.

If you are applying under medical and social criterion if they have that I would expect a range of medical evidence to support your claim and an approach to the council about disability issues you are having on the journey to work and what plans they have to drop kerbs etc. I would also ask the council to provide a plan of a safe route for yourself.

i would expect you to have explored all options yourself.

Can your y10 do the journey himself so that your dh can take ds2? Is there a breakfast club so he could take both? An appeal needs to show that the benefit to ds is greater than the potential impact on existing pupils. Focus on his wellbeing and any activities or specific support the school offers which woukd benefit him. Your logistics unfortunately carry little weight. Might there be any other primaries which you could access ?

Make sure you include evidence to support your case, and that it is given to the panel ahead of the hearing so that they have chance to consider it.

Does the school you want have social / medical in its policy? There are strict parameters for applying these but they may help.

Do you have any agencies working with you that could write you supporting letters, or attend the appeal hearing with you?

My year 10 child has autism so no he isn't able to take himself and also ive provided all relevant medical evidence ive also explored all options spoken to current school and family support who said I need the school I have appealed to. I do not drive and im not able to due to my disabilitys. My Yr 10 child has ehcp and goes to a school 2 towns over which is a 40 min drive. Ive looked at paying for a taxi myself but unfortunately I am not able to pay £40 per day. Ive spoken to said council who state that pathways are not a priority and as im the only one needing to use them currently that they would not do this. Council have refused transport for both children however I will explore that again but my son that is needed the appealed school has issues getting into cars with strangers so again that may not work but would push council for that if I loose appeal. I have uploaded photos of the inaccessible route I have done extensive research as I didnt want to move schools sadly im being left no option. There is only 2 options to getting to school and neither of safe or accessible with a mobility scooter. Family support and school agree there is no funding through grants or anything for the afterschool club which is £20 per day and want 1 term upfront plus a month. So ive asked for current support from all the correct people and none os given.

If your child is in y3 you have a very good and real chance of getting them a space at appeal. Provide as much evidence- medical or otherwise why your child can’t do XYZ; you can’t do XYZ etc etc. I’d also find out from school admissions where on the waiting list you are for the school you want; make sure you are actually on the waiting list. Also find out if the school has previously had larger than PAN classes- this is the published admission number (usually 30/class) but will increase or decrease depending on the size of the school. If you do an FOI request to your local council they should be able to tell you the number of the children in y3/4/5/6 in the past 5/6 years and if the school regularly go over 30/class and this years year group are at 30 you’d be able to argue at appeal that the school have previously had larger classes and are able to cope- thus, not having that school place is more detrimental to your child than the school/others at the school.

Also, at y3 and over schools can legally have larger classes (more than 30/teacher) and it’s easier for appeals panels to grant admissions.

It depends on the cohort. One year it may be easier to take an additional child and another year the cohort needs a lot of interventions, support and additional staff. Having 5 children with an EHCP in a class is a different ball game to having one.

@Mrswren2020 if the school you want has an exceptional circumstances criterion on its admissions policy you should have applied for it. Getting accepted for it would only have put you at the top of the waiting list, not given you a place, but it may also have helped the appeal. (If this option was available, but you didn't know about it, you can state that in your appeal evidence).

Fwiw, I think your case is stronger than many I've come across on Mumsnet or in my own role as defender of appeals for a school. You have explained your case well. Ultimately it may come down to the personality of the panel and, in particular, the Chair, and how compelling they find you.

Don't see the school as the enemy though - they do need to present a robust case for being full, but it is not personally directed at you. The panel will decide if your case is stronger than theirs.

Thank you,
Ive never done an appeal an old family support worker is going to help with the appeal. Ive provided 21 pieces of evidence the school are yet to provide any is that normal?
I have done all I can hopefully they will see it school told me they don't have a waiting list.

Most appellants have never done an appeal before, so don't worry about that.

The school will have a deadline for uploading their evidence before the hearing date.

What is the appeal hearing date?

We haven't got one yet. The council are still advertising that the school has spaces in year 3. Stated its updated daily checked again today and still stating there is space

If they do have a vacancy and no waiting list(why are you not on it? ) then it has to be offered to those applying,

Well that will certainly help your case. Have you replied to the school's rejection letter to ask why the council says they have space? It may just be an admin error but it's a reasonable question.

Have you applied to the council? If the LA are the admitting authority, it's them who issue spaces, not the school. Or is the school its own admitting authority?

No i applied through LA they stated spaces then school said they didn't have spaces.

Then the school will need to explain the discrepancy at the appeal.

The admissions code says they need to inform the LA of any applications/admissions within a certain number of days.

Im not sure. I asked the school myself and they stated there is no waiting list. This was after they told me there is no spaces.

You need to know who the admitting authority is. If the LA are the admitting authority, they should deal with the application. Were you told to apply direct to the school by the LA?

No i filled in on the council website. Twice once in September and they said no spaces so then I took school that they offered back then as didnt realise it would be an issue to get my son there. Now ive applied again and again saying no spaces so ive been put on the contunied interest list and told I can appeal. LA is the admitting authority and are not updating the system so im not sure if im being lied to regarding there being no spaces

The continued interest list is the waiting list , so if there is a space why are you not being allocated it and why are they saying there is no wl if you were added to it?

They've been showing spaces on the council website since September but school is telling LA and me there are no spaces i took a screen shot as states as of 08th Dec there's space I made sure to get date in the screen shot aswell I applied a few days before and was told no space by the school and ive had the official letter stating school told council no space I received this yesterday however showing spaces still so no idea

Yeah and I get told it will be updated in a couple days but never is updated so I feel something isnt right I questioned it last time in September aswell

The following clauses of the national Admissions Code are relevant ...

2.27 Local authorities must, on request, provide information to prospective
parents about the places still available in all schools within their area. To enable
them to do this, the admission authorities for all schools in the area must
provide the local authority with details of the number of places available at their
schools whenever this information is requested, to assist a parent seeking a
school place. Such details should be provided no later than two school days
following receipt of a request from the local authority.

2.30 ....... Where an admission authority manages its own in-year admissions, it must also notify the local authority of every
application and its outcome as soon as reasonably practicable, but should aim
to be within two school days, to allow the local authority to keep up to date
figures on the availability of places in the area and to ensure they are aware of
any children who may not have a school place.

What does the refusal letter say? If it says that the school is full and you've been added to the waiting list then the quickest way to resolve this is by appeal. It sounds like they don't update the website frequently.

Is your son still on roll at the other school?