Any tips for primary school appeals?

[smallmotherbigheart]

This is my first time doing this, and I want to do this right. My son didn't get into any of the preferred schools that we listed? Has anyone done an appeal before?

You shouldn't need legal support for taking this to the LGO. Unless you are getting legal help for free, I wouldn't bother.

Hi this is my first post on here,but been lurking for a while,well my little boy has not got in to our first choice primary school, he has got into our third, the reason he did not get in is that we was classed as late applicant, I thought I had till end of January I noticed the date applications stopped the day after the end date it Watson his notice board when I picked him p from nursery connected o the school, I rang my local admissions department on the day and she said if I come in before 4 I could still apply on time but due to a emergency scan (GP thought the baby I am currently pregnant with was ectopic) that ran over I missed the 4 deadline so rang first thing and said I now had to be a late applicant, I am not making excuses I know this is my fault and not got much chance of winning the appeal but feel I need to try, we are buying a house and get kys tommorow the house is 0.1 from our preferred school nearly on school grounds that close and this was reason for buying this house, and 0.6 to school given. My reasons for wanting him to go this school is he goes to the nursery connected to the school there and has settled well and made loads of friends and everyone at his nursery are going into reception, it's at end of street,he will be really distressed to change school,I am due to have my third child sept 16th and think new school new house new baby will really unsettle him, also I have Been diagnosed with curviture of spine since having my second child and think walking to this school and back twice a day I'll be impossible, it is a numbers appeal the pan is 60 his teacher as told mee is first on the waiting list so hope there. I now this is a long shot but like you all I am desperate for him to get in any how my questions..

1. Do you think I have a chance?

2.do you think a letter from health visitor if she would do me one on what effects it could have on him willl help? 3.do you think a dr letter about my emergency scan/ back problem would help?

1. I have already sent my appeal from back and appeal date is the 11th july so is it o late to add any letters to my case or can I take them on day to present.
2. I have a appointment with my local mp to discuss this do ou think this will help?

Everyone else in his nursery has got in,I know this is my fault and only one to blame but it is getting me down so much PLEASE HELP!

Your best chance is through the waiting list. This is an infant class size case so you should only win if they have made a mistake. Since you admit you were a late applicant, that is very unlikely. You should still give it your best shot as you never know what will come out in the hearing.

Letters from your health visitor and doctor should not make any difference in an ICS appeal. You can submit them as evidence and hope you get a sympathetic panel who are prepared to bend the rules for you, but if they are sticking to the rules the letters will not affect the outcome. Similarly there isn't anything useful your MP can do other than offer sympathy. He/she could write a letter but it won't change anything.

If you want to add evidence to your case you need to do so as soon as possible. If you take them along on the day it may result in the appeal being adjourned to another date to allow the panel and the authority to absorb them.

Thank you very much for your quick advice.

Hi can I just ask if we are not successful at the appeal apart from the waiting list is that the end of our chance getting him in? Thanks

If there is something wrong with the way the appeal is conducted (including the way the panel makes its decision) you could refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman. They don't act as a further appeal so they won't review the decision (although they will step in if the decision is clearly contrary to the evidence). If the LGO found in your favour that would result in a second hearing with a different panel. However, it would still be an ICS case so, without any evidence of a mistake, your chances of winning would be slim.

It is also possible to go for judicial review. The courts have wider powers than the LGO but judicial review takes time and costs money, whereas the LGO is free and generally deals with school admissions cases quickly. The courts powers do not extend to ignoring ICS legislation so your chances of getting a place through the courts are slim.

So, being realistic, I would say that a failed appeal leaves you relying on the waiting list.

Hi, been reading this thread and there has been some great advice especially from prh47bridge.

We are currently preparing for our reception school appeal and just wanted a bit of advice if you think we stand a chance. We are appealing on a few grounds as we didn't receive any of our original 3 choices.

basically as it stands our grounds for appeal are as follows:

1. We feel that the LA made a mistake on the distance calculations as the headmaster for the school we want made his own caluclations on the waiting list and found that an error, our boy was position 2 but the LA told us he was pos 10. When the LA were informed by the school they admitted they made a mistake and rectified the waiting list 3 weeks later after us pursuing this. For us this has cast doubt that all the calculations are incorrect

1. All the schools we appl;ied for had an after school club but the school offered does not have one, making it difficult at 3pm to leave work for pick up

1. the school capacity can take on one extra child as they have done this before without any detrimental effects as their ofsted report has remained consistantly good.

Do you think we stand a chance or are we just another statistic???? any advice would be great

If this is an infant class size appeal your first point is the only one that carries any weight. The big question is whether your son would have been admitted in the initial offers had there been no mistake. So you need to know what is the correct distance and what was the distance for the last child admitted. If you are closer to the school than the last child admitted you have a good case that your son has been deprived of a place by the LA's mistake.

Your third point is worth bringing up if this is not an infant class size appeal. However, if it is ICS the fact there have been previous successful appeals does not help you.

Your second point won't win you a place regardless of whether or not this is an ICS appeal. It is about childcare difficulties and appeal panels aren't allowed to consider those. Parents are expected to cope, I'm afraid.

So you have a chance but you really need to check the distances to see if your son would have been admitted if they had got it right.

Thanks for your advice...I will keep you updated

Hi, I need advise for my daughter. I live on an estaste where a school was built 18 years ago for our estate. The school was funded by both Catholic & C of E churches as the education would not fund the building of a school even though at the time the estate was the biggest individual estate in europe. My daughter now has 5 children and cannot afford to live on the estate so lives just 5 minutes away from it but is outside the catchment area. She has 2 children in the school in current reception & year 1, Her 3rd child is in the same school but in nursery, She applied for a place in reception for Sept 12 but did not get in. She also appealed but did not get in. She does not want her 3rd child in any other school, She has found out they still have places available for september 12 in the nursery so is willing to let her stay in nursery for another 12 months but my question is, if she stays in the nursery, can she remain on the waiting list for a place in reception or by taking a place in nursery mean she is removed from the waiting list. Urgent advise required as the local LEA have said the latter which I cannot beleive.

The LA is wrong. She can stay on the waiting list and keep her child in the nursery. If the LA refuse to allow her to stay on the waiting list she should refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman.

Thanks guys, I will dfo the letter for her and hand in at the local council 1 stop shop.

ok, the headmaster of the school she wants and where there are currently no places in reception for Sept 12, but where child currently goes to nursery, and they still have nursery places available for Sept, has today told my daughter they will not allow the child to stay in the nursery from september. reason given is because if no place becomes available in reception between september 12 & Jan 13 which will be the start of the term following childs 5th birthday, then she will have to be removed from the nursery anyway as she cannot stay past the end of the term in which she is 5. is this correct. Can she not stay in the nursery for the entire year and then go straight to year 1 in September 2013?
Also, my daughter is considering moving said child to live with me as I live within the catchment area for the school. The head told her today, if the child lived with me she would move straight to the top of the waiting list as A) she lives on estate, B) has siblings in the school and c) been babtised (1 of the criteria for admission. How can my daughter legally have the said child transferred to my care? Any help would be appreciated

No, she cannot stay in nursery for the entire year. She must be in full time education by the start of term following her 5th birthday.

Whatever the head says, having your granddaughter live with you in order to get a school place and then return to live with her mother would count as a fraudulent application. The LA would be entitled to withdraw the place even after your granddaughter starts attending the school if they found out. If she is going to live with you permanently that is another matter, but a temporary move could cause more problems than it solves.

I would be most grateful for any advice anyone can offer me. I am appealing for my daughter who has a hearing loss, wears hearing aids and attends speech therapy. The school we are appealing for is not only our nearest but also has a hearing impaired unit. Each class Is filled to the legal limit of 30. can anyone offer me any advice for my appeal please, thank you.

This will be an infant class size appeal so you need to show that the LA has made a mistake or that their decision is unreasonable. Did you supply information about your daughter's hearing loss when you applied? Does the school have an admission category for medical needs? If the answer to both those questions is yes and your daughter was not placed in this category you should argue that the LA got this wrong.

The other alternative is to establish what the criteria are for entry into the hearing impaired unit. I suspect that this will be a statement of special needs and if you then name the school this will guarantee that you get a place at the school. In those circumstances the limit of 30 pupils does not apply, your child would be an excepted pupil.

Hi I am back with another question, so we had our appeal and it was not successful so we decided to take our son on a walk to his school to prepare him any how on the way we noticed that the path was not big enough for a pram and my son holding on to the side,and as I am having another baby in September I will be using a double buggy and there is no way that you could fit a double buggy on the path,and as it is a busy road my son would have to walk in front. Also part of the road only has path on one side, we did this walk on a Sunday I can not imagine what this will b like on school day with parents all walking towards me as they will be going to the local school. Do you think we have another case with this?

In all honesty, no. Getting your child to school is your responsibility 'the path is not wide enough' sounds a very weak argument.

On a practical note, you could consider a long thin double, rather than a side by side. Or get your son to walk directly behind you, so he can hold onto your coat if necessary. Not ideal, but doable.

Sorry not to be more positive but I can't imagine you winning an appeal based on this.

No, you don't. You can only appeal once (for each school) for each year, unless your circs change significantly, anyway. Sorry, but you need to come to terms with it for now. Are you on relevant waiting lists?

Good evening, I am hoping one of you helpful ladies can give me some advice, I have three children under four and have recently bought a house close to our local school 0.1 from our house, however our little boy did not get a place there he has been given a school which is a mile from our house, I have been under the dr for four years with bad back problems, I struggle to walk far, my dr has written me a letter stating that i can not walk this far and it will aggrovate my back and he strongly recomemds my son gets a place at our local school.we have been accepted for a appeal ( it is a class size appeal) will my back condition be enough to get him in? Or will it move him up the waiting list? Up until yesterday he was number one on the list which we were happy with as we know of one child who is moving out of area when his house sells so he would of eventually got a place but someone with a sibling has taken his number one spot? I am so worried I am not going o be able to get him to school if my back becomes ba again thanks in advance.

I am very sorry to say that if the appeal is an infant class size case, then the only way that you can win the appeal is to show that a mistake was made in not offering your child a place. That does not seem to be the case. If the appeal was not an infant class size case then your medical condition could be a reasonable reason to allow an appeal, but the regulations around infant classes prevent there being more than 30 pupils in a class with one school teacher.
You need to look at the admission criteria for the school. If there is a criteria which mentions social / medical conditions then it may be at a highly level than siblings or it might be after siblings. If it is before then it is in your interest in trying to get the LA to accept your medical evidence and be put in that category. If it is below siblings or is not an admission criteria then you will always be below any sibling.

Hello thank you or your quick reply,I have checked the criteria and it is as follows

(i)Children in care to a local authority (looked after children)

(ii) Pupils with a medical or psychological condition that warrants placement at the school
(iii) Pupils with an older sibling who will be attending the school at the time of admission

Would a letter of my gp stating I was unable o walk to the school he has been allocated be sufficient enough or will I need to do or provide anything else? Thank you