C of E Reception Appeal Letter.. Pls Help!!

[Busyizzy]

Hi all, I know there is a lot of threads on School admissions but did a quick search and couldn't find what I was looking for.

I'm trying to right a letter of appeal to a C of E school for a reception place for my dd. I've never done done anything like this before and I don't really know where to start :s. She currently attends the nursery which i know isn't really relevant it is mainly due to more personal reasons that I would prefer her to remain there.

If anyone has any experience or tips please advice me... Many thanks in advance :] x

I agree with PanelMember and Admission. I'm really intrigued by this, especially the odd PAN. I'd be intrigued to know what school it is!

If you want to post your letter here I'll be happy to review it.

I think the most important thing is to find out how this school is actually organised as that could make a huge difference to this appeal.

Did your allocation letter say why you did not get a place? Again, you need to know that information. It has to be in the case the school present to the appeal panel but it should be in the allocation letter. If it just says the school was full that is inadequate.

Hi there, I appreciate this thread is old but its the only thing that I can find relevant to my case. Panel Member mentions that 'the school isn't following the admissions code is by putting late applications in a lower priority group'?? My child, who is within the catchment area and has a sibling link at the school was refused a place because our application was 30mins late. We were refused on infant class size grounds BUT...33 children, not within the catchment were admitted!! My application was dealt with last of all because it was late??? Is this against the code and if so what is the exact authority for this so I can quote in my appeal?

yes, your application is last when they do the original allocations as it is late.

Being late does not affect your position on the waiting list but it does affect what happens with initial allocations. I'm afraid the LA was quite right to deal with your application last.

Busy The few facts you've given probably makes the school identifiable. If its the school I think it is then in 2009 they had 43 places, but last year they had 60 places and so the infant class size regulations will kick in. Is this correct?

Busy's post was made in 2011.

The odd PAN number may be related to the nursery places. At my DS's school the PAN is 50 because there are 2 reception classes and 10 places in the nursery (which is in a separate bit of the classroom but with a nursery worker but overseen by the teacher). We haven't had an issue with over subscription but I suspect that nursery places would have to reduce to accommodate school children - maybe this is the situation here?

I'm replying to lesleymort

Sorry, I was replying to zad716

Lesleymort as you were a late application your application will have got considered after all on-time applications. Sorry there is nothing you can do about that.
However you should now be on the waiting list for the school and being in catchment and having a sibling link should put you near the top of the waiting list.
When it comes to the number of pupils that have been admitted, 33 is a strange number. I would have to guess that the admission number is 30 and as such would be considered at any appeal as an infant class size case. Any school can exceed their admission number if they wish to but they do have to abide by the ICS regulations. There should only be 30 in each infant class unless the 3 pupils were admitted as pupils with an EHC Plan (though under the strict definition they should have been part of the 30 admitted, not admitted over the 30.) or have been admitted because a mistake was made and they should have been admitted.
Another possibility is that they have a year 1 with low numbers and are going to put the 3 extras in with the year 1 class.
The only way that you are going to get to the bottom of what has actually happened is if you go to appeal and ask the right questions of the school. There is a high likelihood that there is a sensible legal explanation in which case as an ICS Regs case you will have very little chance of winning.
However it just might be that the school has taken a flyer and is now facing the circumstances. They will need to correct the issue of having 33 in a class for 30 and for this the normal remedy would be they will have to employ a second teacher in the one classroom. If they are doing that you might assume that negates the ICS Regs but it does not as the second teacher will probably be on a short term contract only until the class reduces to 30, so the panel will not admit. If however they split the class into two classes then both classes are no where near the 30 limit and at that point the panel can admit if they believe that will not reduce the effective education of the pupils. Going from 17 to 18 in a class would I think be quite difficult to prove was going to effect the education of pupils.
If the school is splitting and putting a few pupils in year 1, then again you could appeal on the basis that it is not actually ICS Regs as long as the year 1 class is not at 30. What the view of the panel would be is difficult to predict. In theory the school should be in a position where if year 1 pupils come along they have to take them up to the 30 PAN and the panel should therefore not admit but the school having admitted 3 to deliberately put them in year 1 gives the panel a bit of a dilemma to consider.

Admission - I think it's a two form (or more) entry school, and Lesleymort is complaining that 33 children were admitted from out of catchment, but that her in-catchment/sibling link child was not (but that was because they got their applications in on time, and her's was not)?