Another appeal post advice needed - sorry!

[wooda]

Hello

My son was refused a place at our chosen primary school and I want to appeal - I'll try to get as much info in as possible.

The school is a 'usual' priamary school (sorry not sure of the correct term!) i.e. it's not C of E, Catholic or VA and the admissions criteria are prioritised as follows:

1. SEN (0 childnre in this category)
2. Children in care of LA (0 children in this category)
3. Catchment area (23 children allocated from this category)
4. Sibling link (17 children allocated from this category)
5. medical/social/exceptional circs (1 child allocated from this category)
6. distance (19 children allocated from this category)

We were refused on distance, a rough calculation (while awaiting exact info from the LA) leads us to believe we are about 100-200 meters away from the furthest distance of the last child admitted to the school - we think we have only just missed out.

The school take their full 60 children and I realise that this appeal will be difficult!

Basically I feel that the LA, in their calculation of suitable walking distance are wrong. I feel that there is a more suitable shorter route which they have disregarded because it involves walking through the allotments. By through, I don't mean litereally through people's allotments! I mean that there is a dirt track that people use for access to their allotmanets, that they can drive along, and this is forms part of the route we currently use to get our son to nursery (at the school we want him to attend). This track is very wide, pedestrians and cyclists have access at both ends of the track and can use it as a cut through whereas vehicles can only come and go through one entrance (they can't use it as a cut through).

What I want to try to argue is that the LA should consider this route as suitable and therefore we should have received a place for our son as the estimated distance in meters falls within the furthest distance that has currently been allocated.

What I would like to know is

1. would my appeal going to fall under infant class size ( I suspect it will as they take the full compliment of children)?
2. does anyone have any experience/advice they can give on arguing alternative suitable walking routes?

I have requested further information from the LA regarding how they decide what the shortest suitable walking distance is and what they decided our shortest route would be so that I can try to argue that this less suitable than the route I propose.

Thank you in advance for any information/advice you are able to give me

Anya

Unless it is a registered footpath I don't think you will win :-(

Hello.

What does your LEA's school admissions booklet say about how distance to school will be measured? Many LEAs use straight line distance (ie "as the crow flies") so the argument about the footpath through the allotments would be irrelevant. However, if they use 'safe walking distance', you may be onto something but a lot will still depend on how they define a safe walking route. In our LEA, this mean a public footpath that is lit.

I heard an appeal once where parents pointed out that the LEA's computerised mapping system had not recognised a public footpath which they would use on the walk to school. The LEA went away, added the footpath to the program and came back with revised measurements. That still left the applicants at a greater distance than the last place awarded, but if the new distance had placed the applicants inside that distance, the child would have had to be admitted to the school.

As you suggest, this is going to be an infant class size appeal, based on an admission number of 60. You will win your appeal only if you can satisfy the panel that a mistake has been made or that the decision to refuse a place is so unreasonable that it should be overturned. From what you say, I think the problem for you in arguing for the distance to be recalculated is (a) that a dirt track (especially if it is unlit and/or through private land and might conceivably be closed to the public if the owners are so minded) may not fulfil the LEA's definition of a safe walking route and (b) if you are as much as 200m beyond the distance at which the last place was awarded, the new route would have to offer a very substantial saving on distance to bring you within the the distance of the last place awarded.

The information you're waiting for may give a better indication of your chances. You have nothing to lose by appealing, but you need to go into it with your eyes open.

It is an infant class size appeal and as panelmember has said it depends entirely on the detail that is in the admission booklet about what the LA define as safe walking routes.
I would not expect them to accept a path through an allotment area as appropriate. As a minimum it would have to be defined as a public path rather than a dirt track that people use. So I suppose the first question has to be, is this a public right of way according to the Local Authority? If not I would say you have no chance at appeal. If it is a public right of way, then it comes down to arguing that the LA should have accepted that as an acceptable route, but it does depend on what the booklet says.
Even if they do accept that the track should have been used, they will have to redo all the applicants and it could be that others who are appealing have priority over you in being nearer, so do not assume that because it cuts down the distance it hepls you, because it cuts down the distance for everybody who can use the path.

::Waves at Admission::

To add to what I said earlier. In the appeal I heard, there was only one family affected by the omission of the footpath, but if a number of families are affected, then (as Admission says) it may not necessarily help you. If (for argument's sake) the LEA agrees that the track through the allotments is part of a safe walking route and correcting the measurements brings another (say) 6 children within the distance of the last place awarded, the appeal panel will have to decide how many of those 6 the school can reasonably be expected to admit. If the panel feels that the school cannot reasonably take all 6, they then have to decide how many children should be admitted and prioritise accordingly. So, even in that situation, you couldn't take it for granted that you would get a place.

Thank you for the advice/replies. Will definitely look into whether the allotment route is a registered walkway/right of way. I suspect not, as otherwise they would have considered it. But, we're going to give it a go - the worse they can say is still no and we go onto the waiting list. The school he has got into has a good ofsted so we're lucky in that respect. I would still prefer him to go to our chosen school though!

Keeping our fingers crossed that there might be some parents who no longer require a place at the school and we might get in from the waiting list without needing to appeal.

Thanks again,

Anya