winning appeal

[mrgreenpoppy]

The general consensus on this site seems to be that winning appeal for a place in reception is rare. I just wanted to reassure anyone going through this process, that it is more than possible. I successfully appealed the councils decision to not offer us a place at any of our three choices and won by appeal in the second term of reception. I wish I had done it immediately instead hemorrhaging money on private education whilst waiting in a list. My grounds of appeal were that they miscalculated the distance. Just to add that friends living locally have since followed in my footsteps and rightfully gained a place for their child by way of appeal, also.
This [central london] council used an alternative method of calculation for the year of my application (2008). The result differed wildly from the distance that would have been given in previous or subsequent years.
It was a bit of a battle but worth it as my child now has a place at the one of the best schools in Islington as will he brother come next September.

If the LA has made a mistake, as in your case, it should be straightforward to win an appeal. I know - I've done it and helped others do it too. However, in an infant class size case (which most reception appeals are) it is almost impossible to get in unless the LA has made a mistake. I'm afraid that many of the parents who ask for advice here want to appeal on grounds that simply won't work in infant class size cases.

Thats true, there needs to be a strong case. But I really wanted to make the point that they do make mistakes and it can be very difficult to prove that they have as in this case they were not able to show me their proposed route or means of calculating the 'safest walking route'. This is objective as different systems have different criteria. Google maps was useful although they dismiss this as inaccurate but it gave me a good basis for comparison. I also had a case for them having given misleading advice prior to application where they gave me a calculated distance and I based my decision on this information.

In my area they have been known to walk the final few with a trundle wheel ( well a more modern thing but the same). See the old admissions man pacing the streets. They try every safe walking route (one with pavements). He can say exactly how many 0.00s of a mile a road is from the most popular school off the top of his head.

When I moved in he asked me where I was moving to- immediately said top end is xxx and bottom end is xxx been consistently in catchment for xx years.

Oh dear (to both the last two posts!).

The LA must be able to tell you their safe walking route if that is how they measure distance. Indeed, they should provide a map for the appeal showing that route. If they can't do that it is a serious problem which would undermine their case at appeal.

But they shouldn't be measuring with a trundle wheel as Simbacatlives reports. Trundle wheels are far too inaccurate. They should be using a GIS system - a computerised system which gives very accurate measurements.

Yes, their inability to provide the map of their proposed route did indeed undermine their case at appeal.
Trundle wheels are inaccurate but so are certain GIS systems as the 'capita 1' system used on my application proved varying by nearly 500M from the regular system. Obviously it had a different criteria but 'the safest, fastest walking route' should be definative. I think.

I think to be fair they only walk it when the electronic systems have been disputed. There is a large open park and parents say they would go across one of the smaller tracks not marked on maps but well established. They walk them to find out how much that actually saves etc it's not a trundle wheel (I did say more modern thing) it's a big gps box of some kind.