Appealing school place - tips for success?!

[IMBCRound2]

I’m hoping I’m worrying unnecessarily and my child will get the space at the only school I’d consider sending her to- but I’ll find out about two weeks after my due date for my second! I don’t want to be writing the appeal when I’m newly postpartum (and that’s assuming baby isn’t late!)

Has anyone been through the process and can provide some hints and tips for a successful appeal?

How was the actual panel? I’m hoping they might let me do it virtually if I’ve just had a baby but equally keep having sleepless nights picturing myself trying to string a coherent sentence together with a newborn strapped to me and wearing postpartum nappy in a room full of people!

Well they shouldn't have moved her up rooms early at all. Regardless of how clever she is.

Why are you so "this school or no school?" And only focused on her academics?

It's a really bizarre reason not to send them to school, because you think she's far too clever...and completely ignoring the fact that academics are literally the least important thing in school at this age....

It's like you think your child is a genius or something and if you think that the chosen primary school is going to stretch her beyond her years, bit the other won't...the. You're mistaken. The food primary schools will focus HUGELY on her social/soft skills
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Quite. C of E schools won't give a shiny shit about the conception, unless you make it a big deal.

Perhaps going private would be better for you, OP.

Bear in mind that all schools will cover the same stuff as it is curriculum. One school might have told you more about what they would do to stretch her if she is truly advanced, but all schools will do pretty much the same thing. Lots of kids go to school knowing different levels of things, it really isn't unusual.

To be blunt, you are setting your kid up for failure with this attitude. I continue to be aghast at how flippantly some people throw “oh, we’ll just homeschool” about, and to homeschool just because you don’t like your offered option is crazy. Your kid will probably be fine in most schools, and in many cases I have seen children set up to fail because their parents are sneery about the school they are given.

If you want that level of control over education, you need to go private. If you can’t afford that then you need to deal with the state school as best you can. And I guarentee there will be plenty of kids smarter than her, and more capable in other areas than her, at all aspects of her education, so it’s extremely dangerous to fixate on how special they are. Of course our children are special to us, but in a state school they’ll be part of the herd. And most of them will be fine and will learn a lot from being part of that herd, in addition to all the academics,

State schools aren’t set up to deal with naice Instagram worthy moments or holistic wellbeing cod-psychology nonsense. Most of them will do a good job of teaching your child, and your main problem will be how a state school copes with any disruptive kids - of which yours might be one. Your attitude is one of the most powerful factors in your child’s success, and how you talk about whatever school she goes to is a massive part of that.

Haven't read tft as I'm on the train. I had to appeal for my ds secondary school place & the advice I was given (and followed) was to ensure that you only appeal for the school you want and not against whatever is offered.
My son had medical needs so there was more evidence that the preferred school could fulfill his needs (and I had a letter from his consultant in support). I did have to attend an appeal meeting with LA and the school with an independent board. My son wrote a letter to them that I read out with his reasons for wanting that school.
However, please prepare your child for the school offered (don't run it down). You can stay on the waiting list as there is a lot of movement at the beginning of term. Good luck

We are in a broadly similar situation. We have got a place reserved at a private pre-prep however I would rather there be a change in government before entering the Independent sector which leaves us looking at state options for Reception.

There’s no way I’d use my local state catchment school.

I reviews the LA schools application data from the past 4 years and could clearly see which schools out of catchment I’d likely get into. There are some lovely village schools nearby that are always undersubscribed because many people won’t drive literally 10 mins up the road and would instead prefer to use the awful local catchment school.

If you are willing to put yourself out a bit you should find somewhere decent. All the info is on the LA websites so you can clearly see how far away the last person admitted each year lived.

The school we have applied for also has a PAN of 25. Apparently this is because they haven’t filled 30 for a number of years so the LA reduced it for budgeting purposes. The Head teacher said to call her if we were unsuccessful as she can accommodate up to 30 if needed.

So I suspect it will come up - when I was in primary I remember doing lots of ‘me and my family’ and ‘family tree’ type projects - all the ‘best practice’ around donor conception says to be really open about it so I have literally no doubt she will talk about it because I’ve always been really out and proud about it - she told a lady at the museum the other day just because 😂 I would really hope that if it goes against the teacher’s beliefs they’d still be professional enough to celebrate because it’s important for my child, but I can imagine that might be challenging for some people

but it’s also things like inclusive language/representation- are there books in the library that show non-traditional families? Are the maths problems always ‘Sally’s mum and dad have six apples …’ The new PSHE guidance has bits about ART and DC - is this just glossed over or is it given ample time ?

and then there’s the fact that several of the closer schools are very much into indoctrination (conversion is literally on the curriculum) I think it could end up being a real mindf*ck to discover you’ve been made to pray to a god that says you and your friends and siblings shouldn’t even exist …

You also need to remember you are not appealing against schools, but appealing FOR a particular school. You can't argue that schools 1 and 2 aren't a good fit because of XYZ.

so the academics aren’t the big draw for the school for me. It’s the fact all the classrooms had outdoor spaces, they are quite ‘liberal’ in their methodology (eg shoes are optional so the kids can be more grounded and comfortable) , there’s a big horticultural project, etc Socially, I think she’d thrive because there’s such an emphasis on things we love and value as a family . There’s also a really good dance programme and she loves dance . But I think all the things the school offers will mean a much happier school- and the happier and better provided for the kids are , the more time the teacher can actually teach as opposed to just do behaviour management.

its also the only non-CoE school in our area. I appreciate that may not be a critiera for appeals but it is very important to me .

the academics are more … I want her to keep that love of learning . right now she really enjoys it and I don’t want her to find that school makes it boring or frustrating. It’s not about her being a genius or anything like that - shes a bright kid who loves learning and I don’t want that to get crushed. Also - if she isn’t challenged, bedtimes are an absolute nightmare and selfishly - the thought of years of fighting her for sleep is genuinely stressing me out. As said above all the other local schools have said she will just have to get on with the work given (which basically all seemed to be worksheets) this is the only one that has said they actually have provision for children’s different abilities - which I think is important when I’m sure there will be things she will find difficult.

I also don’t want her to feel like being smart makes her ‘different’ because I know from my own experiences at school that can be really hard (eg being sent to the back of the classroom to do my own work because they couldn’t accommodate me in the rest of the lesson with the rest of the kids, or being sent up to the local college when I was really young and sitting there with my mum because she didn’t want me going on my own at that age ) I remember how hard that was socially .

she is a very socially confident person it’s not something I worry about in the same way. I know wherever she goes she’ll find her people and she’ll really thrive with the social/soft skills aspect of the it. As she’s been with a lot of older children for her activities , it’s been really lovely seeing how they’ve supported her to develop those skills as well.

homeschooling would mean she is challenged academically , but equally has full access to all the outdoor spaces , ‘positive experiences’, etc that the other schools didn’t offer. Thankfully there’s really good homeschool provisions around us so she’d get lots of opportunities to socialize and experiences all sorts of amazing things that school can’t offer (honestly I’d prefer to homeschool for this reason but … paying the bills needs to be a consideration)

Thank you! This is helpful :)

Thank you! This is very helpful!

When you say that conversion is on the curriculum, are you sure that they don’t mean that they discuss conversion to/from other religions in RE lessons?

I always planned to homeschool but as a solo parent , that option is obviously very difficult and I’d struggle with giving up my career which I love . it’s certainly not a flippant response- Eg I deliberately moved to an area with good home school provision. I’m a former teacher myself so I’m not naive about how much work it is! I am open it would be my first choice in a perfect world where I don’t have to pay bills or have my own identity outside motherhood . It’s more that I found a school that somewhat aligned to what I’d be doing if I were able to homeschool and that’s opened the door to the possibility she can have a well rounded education AND I can have my career .

I appreciated in this thread I’m leaning on her academic potential because it is one aspect of my reasons for appealing if she doesn’t get in. In real life - I definitely don’t do that and I’m very aware of her abilities and lack there of (sadly I passed on my drawing abilities 😂) I find it oddly difficult to acknowledge in real life - but that’s a different matter!

im very careful not to discuss this around her- obviously if it does come to homeschooling or flexischooling if we don’t get in, it’ll be something we discuss (as much as you can with a young child)

Her @IMBCRound2hwr academic potential will not be considered for appeal.

It was one of their topics for Friday assembly - some of the other weeks were things like particular values, importance of prayer …

Why not? She’s happier - I’d hope (probably naively !) that any place caring for my child holds her happiness and wellbeing as part of their care

You just sound like you think your child is perfect (which is understandable) - but it's all irrelevant. Because you really have nothing for an appeal. Nothing.

So, maybe she'll get in die to low birth rates etc. my DD got into an over subscribed school (4 applicants for each place normally) and they aren't even full in Reception.

But your appeal won't work, because it's basically "I really really want her to go here" and that isn't one of the admissions criteria.

sadly I can’t afford it - and even if I could the two local private schools are both religious.

What struck me in this school is how it was taught - so in the (many!) other schools I visited, they just seemed to all be doing the worksheets. Obviously that’s not ideal because - as you said kids all have different levels of things so it’s only going to ‘work’ for certain students . Yes , it’s presenting the information but it’s not exactly engaging.
however, in this school - it was the same information being presented but some children were working with the teacher , others were using puzzles and games, some were on the Smart board. And I felt like there was a really positive way to get the children engaged in learning and to meet all the different abilities - and the children all just seemed really engaged and like they were having fun with it . And as people have mentioned - school is also about the socialising - I felt like there were a lot more opportunities to develop those ‘soft skills’ if you were given the opportunities to work together and not just be sat a desk in your own little world until break time .

Your entitlement to a state school place is outrageous. Why should your child get an additional place when other kids live closer? Because this is what you're clutching at straws to work out. There are none. Places are given fairly. All the reasons you've given are irrelevant and could be used by anyone. Swallow your pride and visit your catchment schools. Your daughter could probably really benefit from a really normal primary school education.

Are you aware you have the right to remove your child from religion at school?

Unfortunately it would meaning sitting elsewhere where her classmates are at assembly etc. Also Unfortunately, might go against appealing for a "secular" school (who are also obliged to have a similar assembly of a "Christian nature").

Please be aware that even non church schools have to have a 'daily act of collective worship that is broadly Christian in nature' (that wording may not be exactly right, but it's something like that).

OP needs to establish whether any appeal would be on ICS rules as a first step.

If it is, then all the 'balance of prejudice' types of arguments will be disallowed. But with a PAN of 25, there is a chance that it won't be.

BTW PP is correct that "I really like this style of education which is good because XYZ" is not an appeal-winning argument.

It needs to be focussed on your DD and what she needs (not just what you want for her) and how those needs can only be met by this school.