My very last appeal questions, promise.

[MrBloomEatsVeggies]

OK, this will be my last appeal thread, it really will, promise . Thanks to all who have put up with me helped me thus far.

I just have a couple of questions:

Am I likely to be asked about my faith, given that I have not attended regularly? Will they ask me why? Will they ask what makes me think I am a Christian? I have answers to these, but should I expand on them?

What kind of questions am I likely to be asked on other topics, if any?

How thoroughly will I be questioned on the points I have raised as reasons for my appeal?

Is there anything I might say that would be frowned upon (apart from slating other schools, I know that's a no-no)?

And this really is the last time I'm going to ask!

*attended church regularly

You should not really be asked about your faith, even if it is a faith school, because it is the admission criteria that dictates whether you have shown sufficient "faith" to get priority in the admission criteria. However I would be being very naeve if I did not feel that a faith school who arranged their own panel are not going to choose three people who are regular worshipers. How much does matter, it should not matter at all but you never can tell.

You will be questioned thoroughly on anything that is not clear, though don't expect questions on everything and if you have been very clear in your written submission you might actually not be asked a great deal. The panel will not ask questions, simply for appearances sake, especially if there are a lot of appealants. I will have 18 cases to consider in the next set of appeals for one school that I am doing, so asking superfluous questions is not something I will be doing.

Being too familar with the panel does not always go down well as does some one who tries to be a smart a88e. There is a difference between being clear that you have reseached the subject well and know what you are talking about and rubbing up people the wrong way by being a know-it-all.

Panels tend to be very forgiving of the appealants, they understand they are very nervous and also generally not well acquainted with talking in such a formal situation, so do not be over-awed, just be yourself and be as natural as you can be in the circumstances

That answers everything. Many thanks admission, that's been really helpful . I definitely won't be a smart a88e!! I'll be pretty lucky if I'm able to speak at all (nerves), so I'm going to write down what I want to say, and hope I can read the words because of my shaking hands! I am also going to be struggling with not bursting into tears because of nerves. I will be furious with myself if I do. I have a feeling that in this situation it won't help at all. At my last meeting with the headmistress I burst into tears, so embarrassing.

Does anyone have any tips on avoiding tears? I really want to avoid making a wally of myself.

Many thanks again.

I was worried about tears because it was so important to all of us and I was very conscious of having just that one opportunity to put everything right. I was fine on the day but DH was upset afterwards, possibly because he was relieved but also I think because it was very daunting. It didn't help that our appeal was heard in some kind of medieval banqueting hall - we felt very small and insignificant.

I think one of the things that helped me was feeling really prepared. I practised by preparing answers to things they might ask, and wrote points down to remind myself. For example, I wrote headings like '3 things I cannot leave without mentioning', '3 things that distinguish our case from others', and '3 things I need to avoid saying' etc. I also thought about nothing else for months, but I'm sure that will be coming naturally to you by now

Sorry if it all sounds a bit pathetic but I thought I'd pass it on in case anything was helpful. Good luck and try to keep calm.

Not pathetic and all and very helpful janey. I'm really daunted by it all and it's good to hear from people who have already been through it. I'll use your tips and hopefully will be as prepared as I can be. I hope your appeal was/is successful. We almost deserve to get through because of the stress!

Hello again.

I doubt that you'll be questioned about your faith. As we discussed on the other thread, the admission category for a faith place is based very much on what you do (ie go to church) rather than what you believe. If the subject of your faith comes up at all, it'll most likely be because you choose to raise it, eg if you want to protest that despite not going very often to church you are a Christian and subscribe to Christian values. As we also discussed on the other thread, that's probably not a very useful approach, because the panel's task is to check whether the published admissions criteria have been correctly applied, not to shoot the breeze - as we did on the thread - about what an alternative set of admissions criteria might look like and what effect they might have had on your application.

Panels are used to parents being nervous and emotional. Having a script -and sticking to logical and factual arguments rather than an emotive (and probably not very productive) plea that "I really really want my child to go to this school" - will help you stay calm.

Good luck.

Thanks again Panelmember, you always talk sense .

I'm going to give it my best shot.

I don't know if it will help, but our panel was very understanding about giving me a little time to have a quick look through what I had written down to make sure that I had said everything. When they asked if I had said everything that I wanted to, I asked for a moment to check and they didn't seem bothered by it at all. We won, so it must have been ok!

Also, I was ridiculously nervous before the hearing, and for the day prior to it, but when we got into the room and started talking it was fine and the nerves went away. I think the determination took over!

Good Luck!