admission appeal panel members

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Does anyone have experience of serving on these panels. I have been accepted pending attendance at a training day - i thought it would be an interesting role particuarly as i have given up full time employment. However the local authority will not meet childcare expenses for the training day (falls outside my normal nursery days) so before i essentially pay to be trained! was wondering how other panel members found the experience.

i took the training for membership both of admissions appeals panels AND exclusion appeals panels for Islington. I remember the training as being reasonably interesting.

However although now eligible and on the list, I was never called to serve. after some years I got a letter saying that if I wanted to continue to be on the list I had to be retrained. Didnt bother.

Never been called to serve on a jury either.

It is a very interesting and worthwhile experience. However I would also caution you that it is not for everybody. You will hear some incredibly distressing stories about which you have little you can do, no matter how much you might want to. You also have to be able to concentrate for long periods and pick up on the little things that are said, especially by parents, which may completely change the whole complexion of the case.

I also note that you have childcare arrangements in place and one of the potential awkward things for you will therefore be that you can never guarantee when cases will have finished. Parents are given every opportunty to say what they want to say and sometimes this can mean a late finish.

But those are the negatives and as i say it is interesting and rewarding work which I find incredibly satisfying. You will need to redo the training as a minimum every two years but most LAs run refresher courses every year.

My experience is very much like Admission's.

I really enjoy the work but it can be gruelling, both in terms of the domestic upheaval (having to get to schools that are near no known bus route at times that don't fit with my own school run) and, more significantly, having to deal sympathetically but dispassionately with people who may be in distress. It's been a real eye opener for me and I've met some very interesting people.

I have never asked the LEA to repay my childcare costs - for me, that's the other cost of volunteering, as well as the time itself. We used to be given refreshments at training events but that has ended in the new spirit of austerity and we don't yet know whether we'll get a sandwich at the appeal hearings themselves or will have to bring a packed lunch!

Coming from a slightly different perspective, but I regularly Clerk School Appeal Panels and am also responsible for training Panel Members.

One of the first posters stated that he / she had never been called up by the LA, despite being on the list and having been trained. It is a fairly issue and it usually happens because the LA already has a large number of volunteers and these long-serving individuals tend to get priority. I don't particularly agree with this as it is always nice to get a fresh perspective from someone that hasn't "been in the system" too long.

Once you are trained, don't be afraid to contact the administrator who has responsibility for putting together panels and let them know that you would like to sit. Don't assume you will automatically be called up.

As I said, I'm coming from a slightly different perspective, but most Panel Members seem to enjoy the work, despite it being unpaid. You should at least be given refreshments / food, particularly if the appeals go on for an entire day.

Whilst most authorities won't pay expenses, make sure you don't have to pay for parking. We had a long-serving Panel Member who had, without us knowing, been paying to park in the public car park every time they attended a hearing. We actually had free spaces reserved for Panel Members.

thanks so much for all the comments and advice! you have reaffirmed what i initially thought that it should be a rewarding role. I will go on the training and hopefully will be able to sit regularly.