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?

The plot thickens, I have now received the below from Admissions and really do feel like I'm being given the run around. I am highly suspicious that the data regarding this child initially was missing from an FOI request, which they then amended once I put in my appeal paperwork and got my local councillor involved and now all of a sudden, upon the suggestion that Admissions are failing to comply with the Appeals Code they come up with this:

"The child shown on the amended FOI response FOI/2014/191 (24.3.14) as being allocated on "9.5.14[13]" in period 20 was in fact allocated in period 21 (2012/13) on 22.5.13. This child had originally being missing from the data sheet showing all allocations and I have now checked the information against the paper application record. There was no vacancy in period 20 and the period 21 vacancy was allocated to the child at the top of the waiting list with criteria of Religious and 0.789 miles distance. This period started on 30.4.13, closed on 13.5.13 and offers were made on 22.5.13".

Again, any comments or help would be most appreciated.

They haven't answered the question as to when they were notified of the vacancy nor have they said when the child who was actually offered the place applied. The reference to periods suggests they may accumulate vacancies over 2 weeks then allocate them a week or so later. It would be useful to know whether or not it says anything about that in their admission arrangements. And the fact they have changed the date on which this place was allocated by 2 weeks is worrying. Either there was a genuine mistake in the initial response or they have got it wrong and are trying to cover it up.

You should still raise this with the appeal panel, point out the discrepancies and missing information, and say that this does not give you confidence that the correct process was followed. If the LA's admission arrangements says that places will be allocated immediately I would also raise that as the reference to periods suggests that isn't what is actually happen. Indeed, unless the admission arrangements talk about periods I would raise this as a possible inconsistency.

In their Procedures for Mid-Term (In-Year) Admissions document which is available as a PDF, it states, "Applications will be processed batches within a maximum of 10 working days". There are three appendices on the website too, one of which is Timetable for Mid-Terms 2013-14 (I presume there would have been a similar one for 2012-13), which is a spreadsheet showing three Process Periods. There are 15 working days which encapsulates the three process periods which do overlap. Process period 2 starts on day 5 of the first process period, process 3 starts on day 10 of process 1 and day 5 of period 2.

The process period is as follows:
Day 1 - open period
Days 2-4 input apps
Day 5 - close apps, DAT for FAP, snapshot applications
Day 6 - vacancies
Day 7 - input vacancies, allocate routine, snapshot applications
Day 8 - sibling checks, LA allocates, waiting list offer, update DAT
Day 9 - add late FAP check, allocation lists on SSE, run letters

Their mid-term/in year applications guidance notes state, "We allocate mid term applications in batches approximately every 2 weeks (although this will vary during the school holidays) on an equal preference".

It further states, "You may only appeal where you have applied and have been refused admission to a school. You will have 20 school days within which to state that you intend to appeal."

In the email from Admissions yesterday it stated, "Period 20 (2012/13) opened on 19.4.13, closed on 30.4.13 and offers were made on 9.5.13".

Your support and knowledge is, as ever, very gratefully received.

So I have just spreadsheeted (is that even a verb?!?) the process period dates they've given me in their email and it doesn't match the 10 working days stated in their online documentation:

Process period 19 started Thursday 28/3/13, close 19 April, offers on Thursday 25 April 2013 which in total is 10 working days, allowing for the school Easter holidays.

Process period 20 started Friday 19 April 2013, closed 30 April 2013, offers Thursday 9 May 2013, total 14 working days, including allowing for Bank Holiday Monday.

Process period 21 started Tuesday 30 April, closed 13 May 2013, offers Wednesday 22 May 2013, total 16 working days.

I'm not sure I agree with your figures. I don't make any of these periods more than 10 working days from start to close apart from period 19 which is definitely more than 10 working days. It may be only 10 school days but they specify working days, i.e. every Monday to Friday excluding public holidays. And at least one of these periods is less than 10 working days by my reckoning.

To add to that, the document from which you have quoted shows that periods should overlap with the each new period starting on day 5 of the previous period.

It is, of course, possible that the policy at this time last year was different. But if it hasn't changed this looks like a mess with a serious mismatch between their stated policy and actual practice. Whether or not this cost you a place is impossible to say. The appeal panel will have to sort it out. I don't envy them.

Hi,
Just after a bit of knowledge :)

I've applied for my sons Junior school place, it's on the same grounds as his Infant, same name etc and out of catchment.
The Junior school is over subscribed, although figures show that a certain number of out of catchment got in last year. It's not the most popular school, just 29 per class, 2 classes per year inc. 15 statemented children. Whereas the Infants has 24 avg per class, and 3 classes per year.

Anyway, my son has Autism and has 'School Action' level of need.

I've basically written on the form that it would be in my Sons best interests to stay within an environment (the grounds) he is familiar with and with acquaintances he has made (large majority of children are in catchment). His class teacher also told me to add her details and school phone number if they would like further information.

How much notice do the LA take of the 'any other information' part of the application form?

Thanks :)

If they have an admission category for medical or social needs and you have provided the evidence they require they will take notice of it and may put your son in that category. If they don't have such a category or you have not submitted the required evidence I'm afraid they will ignore it completely. That doesn't stop you from raising this at appeal.

It is, by the way, highly unlikely they would ring his class teacher.

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, i thought the teacher may have clutching at straws when she suggested putting down her name/the schools details!

prhbridge - thanks once again for your advice, I calculated the working days based on the whole process including offer letters, which as per previous post, according to the process period breakdown, the letters are run on day 9, so that is where my working day exceeds the 10 days stated. But there does seem to be a discrepancy between the two documents, Procedures for Mid-Term (In-Year) Admissions which states 10 working days, and Mid-term/In year Applications guidance notes state, "We allocate mid term applications.

Could this discrepancy be used in my favour?

The events that are supposed to happen on each day are not important provided the outcome is not affected. So as long as the offer goes to whoever is at the head of the waiting list on day 8 it doesn't matter whether the offer is actually sent on day 9 or day 19.

Discrepancies in the documents may help but they may not. It all depends. The appeal panel must figure out whether or not you would have been offered the place if the correct process had been used. You will only win if they conclude that you should have been offered the place. Discrepancies which didn't affect the outcome are not relevant. All you can do is tell the appeal panel that you think the LA has got it wrong, point out any issues you can see including discrepancies between documents and let the appeal panel sort it out.

Hi all, my child didn't get into our 1st choice school where our other child goes as we've now moved out of the catchment area, but I also work on the school grounds in a private nursery. I'm not sure how I'm expected to be at two schools and work at the same time (8:45) when I don't drive. I'm being told this is not grounds to win an appeal any help and advise PLEASE

I have twin girls who have both been given 2 different primary schools. One got the desired school which is a 10 min walk from our house and my older children currently go there and will be for the next few years. My other daughter got a different school which is just under a 30 min bus journey. This makes it very difficult to drop the children at the different schools. What can I do? this is very stressful!

Frycarly - I'm afraid it isn't grounds to win an appeal. You can still try and you might strike it lucky but that is very unlikely. Most primary school appeals are infant class size appeals which means you can only win if a mistake has been made or the decision to refuse admission was unreasonable.

blablablaxd - You are in a better position in that any appeal will not be infant class size. If the LA suggests it is you can point out that, as your daughters are twins, your daughter would automatically be an excepted child and not count towards the infant class size limit. That means you can win by showing that the disadvantage to your daughter of not attending this school outweighs the problems the school will face through having to cope with an additional pupil. The travel problems are unlikely to win your case so you need to look for other reasons this is the right school for her.

In your situation I would also check the admission criteria carefully. Some schools will admit additional children over PAN if they are multiple births and a sibling born at the same time has been admitted. It may be that a mistake has been made and your daughter should have been admitted.

Hi There,

I came across this thread while googling for advice regarding my current situation. I hope someone can please help me.

My daughter has not been accepted in to any of the 3 preferences.

She has speech delay and though I mentioned it on the application I did not tick the social or medical reason tick box. Do I have a chance to appeal on these grounds? An error on both parts? Did my LA overlook it even though I stated it on the application or can they argue that I did not tick the relevant tick box?

The reasoning was distance as to why she did not get accepted though she has been offered a place in the same area.

TIA

Hi there can anyone help? We've missed out on our school of preferred choice as I didn't supply proof of address when we moved. Admissions confirmed that if we had supplied proof then we would have got a placement at our first choice of school.

We are so upset of this oversight by us. I did add my new address to my online application but was still in the process of completing the purchase of our new house and had planned on sending in the proof when we had completed. With the stress of the move we forgot that we had to send in proof and our application was treated under our old address even though our confirmation letter was sent to our new address. Please can anyone advise us what we can do?

Hi, this my 1st time doing this but would really appreciate any advice you can give. I have 4 children, my first has cerebral palsy and is in secondary school with statement of educational needs. My second is about to join him there in September. I have to drop him at school because he is unable to walk and when he joined the school the LEA said they don’t provide transport if you live less than 3 miles from the school. I would therefore normally drop him and carry on to my other two childrens primary school. When i applied for last childs place at their primary school I put down social/medical grounds for her to join them. She will have her sibling there and the schools are close enough for me to drop all of them bearing in mind that I must drop her disabled brother as per LEA laws. My daughter didnt get my 1st. 2nd or 3rd choice but has been given a school that is further away and in another direction entirely from where the other two schools are. I had put down the other two schools as one school is on the other side of the road to me but oversubscribed, the other is opposite the secondary school but also oversubscribed and obviously my first choice the school which her siblings currently attend. Note that we are not in catchment for this primary but the school have taken 5 children out of catchment but with siblings this year. I know I can appeal but I would like to see if I have a strong enough case and how to go about my appeal.
Katie

boosas - You can try but I'm afraid it is unlikely to succeed. Speech delay is not uncommon. In order to qualify for consideration under social/medical criteria you need to show that your daughter's condition means she needs the particular school for which you are applying. Simply having a condition such as speech delay which any school should be able to deal with is not enough.

sass2014 - It is possible you have a case but by no means definite. There was a case a while ago where the parents claimed that they had provided proof of address to the LA but the LA said they had not received it. The LA sent several reminders which the parents claimed they did not receive. The parents missed out on their preferred school as a result. Their appeal was unsuccessful but the matter went to the LGO which ruled that the LA should have phoned the parents to chase the required proof, arguing that this would have been good customer care and would have saved the cost of an appeal. So there may be an argument that the LA should have reminded you of the need to provide proof of your new address. The LGO case reference is 04/A/1909 and a summary of the case is included in this document. I cannot guarantee the appeal panel will regard it as applicable in your case but it is worth a try.

katiemumof4 - If your son has mobility problems you should challenge the LA over the provision of free transport. If he cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school he is entitled to free transport by law regardless of the distance to school unless he could have gone to a school nearer to home had you applied - Education Act 1996 Schedule 35B paragraph 2.

Turning to your appeal, I'm afraid transport difficulties rarely make a successful appeal particularly for primary schools. If the school for which you are appealing has classes of 30 children in Reception, Y1 or Y2 (or would if all years are full) this will be an infant class size appeal. That means you should only win if you can show a mistake has been made that has cost your child a place, or the admission criteria were unlawful or the LA has acted unreasonably. The only thing I can see in your post that suggests a possible mistake is the fact that you didn't get offered a place at the school on the other side of the road. Check that they put your daughter in the right admissions category and that the home to school distance seems reasonable. If they have got this wrong that would be grounds for a successful appeal.

Thanks for response prh47bridhge. He currently attends nearest school and I didn't appeal when I was told they couldn't provide transport because he didn't really want it anyway. Is there any grounds for sibling and the still the fact that I have to transport my disabled son or am I at the mercy of sympathy

Thank you prh47bridhge for taking the time to reply.

My thinking was more so an administration error? Do children with medical conditions have more priority than those under the distance criteria?

If so, did my daughter lose out because I did not tick a box? Her nursery teacher referred her to speech therapy so I could obtain professional confirmation from the teacher and speech therapist.

I did not include this in her application as she had only just had initial appointment and it was a mistake on my part for overlooking it. Though I mentioned it on her application I should have provided confirmation.. Am now kicking myself thinking what if...

Thank you for your advice.

Thank you prh47bridge for your reply and for the trouble that you have gone to. It's really appreciated. I feel a glimmer of hope. I must admit it's strange to have the proof of address highlighted a day before the schools admissions results came out. When I questioned the admissions team as to why they didn't contact me for proof of address they responded with the reason that they can't contact everyone as they don't have enough resources. I'm a web designer by profession and it doesn't take much to add an automated messaging system reminding people that they still need to confirm their address on their application form.

katiemumof4 - I'm afraid sibling priority doesn't really help in infant class size cases. Officially nor does the fact you have to transport your disabled son. I think you are at the mercy of sympathy I'm afraid. All you can do is make the best case you can and hope.

boosas - Some schools give priority on medical criteria but simply having a medical condition doesn't qualify. You have to show that your daughter needs this specific school because of her medical condition. So if there is evidence that the appeal school is better able to help with speech delay than other schools in the area you may have a case.

sass2014 - Looking at the LGO decision I mentioned they don't need to contact everyone, just those where lack of proof makes the difference. In many cases the child isn't going to get a place anyway so lack of proof is neither here nor there. As you say, an automated system would not be difficult to implement for those applying electronically.

Good morning.

I'm after a little bit of advice regarding our appeals letter. The school we wish to get into is a small village school with 20 places in reception. (Last year it was 15 and has been increased) the way the school is arranged is the children all stay within the same class and move up as one group. This is what we like about this school. They then share a classroom in y1 and y2. The school we have been given is also a small village school but they split the year group depending on ability after reception so pupils could spend 2 years in reception. Is this something we can use in our appeal? That we think our child would benefit from remaining with her original class rather than being 'held back'?

Last year this would have been an ICS appeal assuming there is only one teacher for the Y1/2 class. Whether or not this will be depends on the way the school intends to organise its classes. If they are moving to 3 classes covering Reception, Y1 and Y2 this will still be ICS as there will be 30 children in each class. That means you need to show that the admission authority has done something wrong that cost your child a place in order to win your appeal.

If it is not an ICS appeal you can try the argument you suggest but I doubt the panel will give it much weight.

I have 3 children. Two going into reception and one year 3 this year. The two in reception got the 1st choice school and the one going into year 3 got her 3rd choice. I really want them all in the same school. My year 3 daughter is very shy and sensitive and finds settling into a new environment difficult. Most of her friends have got into the school where my other children are going and she won't know anyone where she has been allocated. Any tips for appeal would be appreciated. Thanks

The good news is that there are no class size restrictions in Y3. You can therefore win your appeal by showing that your daughter will be disadvantaged if she doesn't go to this school. Having said that, your desire to have all three children at the same school, while understandable, isn't an argument that is normally likely to win an appeal. If you want to rely on an argument that your daughter needs to stay with her friends and siblings you will need independent expert evidence to confirm that she has a much stronger need than other children of her age. Alternatively you can strengthen your appeal by looking for things this school offers that are missing from the allocated school. If these are particularly relevant for your daughter they can help. For example, if she is musically talented and the appeal school has a school band but the offered school does not that would strengthen your case.