reception place appeal any advise needed PLease!!!!!!

[brin123]

Hi
Any chance of any advise? I am due to go to appeal on Tuesday, re my son who did not get a reception place due to over subscription? i stupidly only stated preference at 1 school as i had no idea he would not get in? i live in a semi rural area and have a kent postcode? although as we live on a border i actuallt pay my council tax to surrey council? i used this when applying for my first son to go to school as i have schools in almost exact distances in each borough? i chose surrey and assumed that my second son would be the same? he is currently in the schools nursery and has been since i moved him aged 3 due to a serious illness that i have? i have to rely heavily on grandparents and help from friends in the community whilst i am hospitalised?. i believe now that if i had applied under crtieria 2 i may have been accepted?? i am planning to base my appeal on this and the fact that ds2 is settled etc and benefits from knowing the school as he does not speak well ( is awaiting speech therapy)? My ds1 leaves this year to attend a junior school which is in walking distance and my youngest also starts nursery in sept which again is in walking distance. ( i have to drive to all 3) the school i was offered although they say is 2.9 miles as i live rurally this in straight line is across fields etc? by road it is 7.8 miles and takes a min of half hour?. how would you present this case??? i also thought i may be able to use the fact that admitting 1 more not a problem as school has emty classrooms and could some how share with year 1 who only have 18 of their 30 pupils??? sorry to waffle just trying to give as much info as possible

Thank you so much for your reply... i am having major panics now as the appeal is tuesday.....
They have already allocated 30 places for this reception class but year 1 only has 18 pupils and year 2 has 29 i believe at mo... in their paperwork it states school capacity is 90 and est taken for sept 2011 is 81 i assume thats as hardly any entered in reception this year....
i know that transport is available but i really would not let a 4 year old who i myself sometimes have trouble eunderstanding travel with a stranger... and 2 if i end up in hospital in emergency etc who would they bring him home to? i live rurally so no next door neighbours etc... hence where friend in community etc come in to play... and this means being middle child both others are in junior and nursey in the village will miss so much school as he will be kept off as grandparents in 70s etc have to get them ready if i am not around and this is tough even on me"!!
i have gp and consultant letters expressing there support due to my rare and life threatening condition? do you think this wont help?was hoping to prove unreasonable as had i supplied this on application could possibly have been in criteria 2 exceptional circumstances??
OH god im scared now!!!!

Everything that you have said points to this being an infant class size regs case but does it actually say that in the school's information that you have had for the appeal hearing. It should state that it is an infant class sixe regs case and that the qualifying elasures they would have to take would be to employ another teacher and / or find an extra classroom.

If it is then as giddypickle says you can only win by showing that a mistake has been made and you should have been offered a place. You would possibly have been able to be considered as category 2 on Surrey's admission criteria if you had applied but very few do fit into that category so there would certainly have been no guarantee of a place.

You elder sibling moves from the infant to the junior school in september so you have no direct sibling priority but Surrey have a phrase in their admission criteria which may be helpful to you. It says "if he/she has a sibling at an infant/junior school on a shared/adjoining site in September 2011 then they will be treated as having a sibling." So how far is the junior school from the infant school? Even if they are a bit of a distance apart I would be tempted to use this at appeal arguing that the distance between the sites is minimal and you can deliver both on time, but not if they do not give you a place in the infants. You can argue that this is a mistake by Surrey and that you should have been included under the sibling criteria and hope that gets you a place.

Thankyou again for your reply... i think i have done the things you say, i stupidly didnt give details of my illness at application as it just honestly never entered my head as i didnt even consider that he would not get in ( apparently this is the first year in 22 years that they have been oversubscribed!!) i have now sent my letters to the lea and they are going to assess whether i can go in criteria 2 on list, i have applied to 2 other schools that i could possibly entertain.. but they say they have offered me a school 2.9 miles from me but in a rural location as the crow flies is so not correct... i am not a crow and it may be 2.9 miles across fields and rivers etc.. but by road it is 7.8 miles and takes a min of 30 mins to drive to?? they say my 5th nearest school is further and i have to drive past there gate to get to the one offered!!!! work that out!!!!. i also feel a bit penalised for living rurally as i am not near enough to take priority to any school as people will always be moving in to the built up area and knocking me further and further down the lists so i am not sure what else i can do...
But all advise and comments are greatly recieved
do the fact that the oyher years are undersubcribed not have any bearing on the rule i was thinking along the shared year thing, you know not neccasarily forcing them to employ another teacher but using the year 1 teacher??

Hi Admission thankyou also for your reply... i have seen that comment but they say it is not an official shared site/school as such just close by..
They have stated class size in there case but i cant see anywhere they have said the measures required to over come it? i do know thru my son attending that they have empty classrooms on site ( so no building required) and i have known them to have more than 1 qualified teacher in classes on several occasions??(so no need to employ more?)

ah just reading there papaerwork and it says parental preference does not apply because the school arranges its infant classes in mulitiples of 30
and
" admissions above the pan will cause numbers tooexceed the accommodation capacity of the school ( either during current year or subsequent years leading to additional accomm/teachers or the inability to admit up to pan in future years without additional accomm/teachers)
ANY hELP?

As this is an infant class size appeal, then (as GiddyPickle and Admission have said) you need to demonstrate that there has been a mistake or gross unfairness. It doesn't sound as if there has, though, from what you've said so far.

You mention Criterion 2. What is that? Is it social/medical need? You need to check exactly what your LEA's published admissions criteria say (I have just failed to find them on the Surrey website) and whether the social/medical need can include the parents' needs, or only those of the child. The admissions code allows LEAs to take account of both but some (like mine) only consider the needs of the child. You should certainly take evidence of your own health problems to the appeal, preferably with a note from your GP/consultant explaining why you can't always do the school run.

In an infant class size case, this probably won't win you the appeal, but it may persuade the LEA to place your child in a higher category on the waiting list.

An afterthought. You will get nowhere if you argue that the school could admit 31 to reception and then move some into year 1. The panel has to consider the set-up which the school currently has, and can't determine that the school should rejig its classes to accommodate pupils above 30.

What is your back-up plan? i don't want to rub salt in the wound, but applying only for 1 school has backfired badly on you and, similarly, you can't rely on winning your appeal. You need to join other waiting lists and, if it is important for all your children to be in schools that are close, that may mean looking for another school for your older boy.

Thanks again... i know my odds are bad... criteria 2 is exceptional circumstances. i think i have messed up my meaning with regard to teh year 1 thing ... i am trying to say in all the other schools they do some sort of sharing teaching and mixing yr1 and reception etc not really sure how it works and just thought it may help that the school has overall capacity for 90 with only 80 in it? i have joined other waiting lists, was told can only be on 3? but as i said i am fairly low priority on all as i live 2.3 miles from any school so as people are coming into the area etc i am just getting further down... have already gone down 2 places on 2 lists... so to be honest i have no idea what i am going to do next>>>. feel a bit unfair moving older son as he is settled with friends he has been with since nursery..

The fact that other schools in your area mix Y1 and reception is not relevant I'm afraid. The panel has to deal with the class arrangement for this school as it stands, which means it is an infant class size case on the information you have posted. The fact the school has spare capacity in other years is also irrelevant as, unless they adopt mixed age teaching, it doesn't create any space in Reception.

Regarding the number of waiting lists you can be on, it is my belief and that of other experts here that there is no limit. However, a number of LAs seem to be imposing limits at the moment. An MNer has a case with the Schools Adjudicator which should clarify things one way or the other.

I would think seriously about using the free transport the LA will provide to get your child to school. A lot of parents do end up using free transport for children of this age. And I'm not sure I understand your point about there being no-one at home if you go to hospital in an emergency. If you insist on taking your child to school yourself, who will bring him home if you go to hospital in an emergency?

i have friends with children at the school who could collect and keep them etc until someone could collect them...

That kind of arrangement should also work if you are using free transport. But I'm not lecturing. It is up to you to decide what works for you. My main point is that you are likely to lose this appeal on the information posted so you need a backup plan which may include figuring out how to make things work with the allocated school.

Brin,
I think that "admissions above the pan will cause numbers too exceed the accommodation capacity of the school ( either during current year or subsequent years leading to additional accomm/teachers or the inability to admit up to pan in future years without additional accomm/teachers)" is the LA's very poor attempt at infant class size regs case wording.
Section 3.28 of the admission appeal code is clear that the admission authority needs to explain what it would have to do to comply with the infant class size limit. Personally i do not believe that the above satisfies that need, it simply says what will happen if the PAN is breached which is entirely different situation.
I also wonder whether the School Adjudicator would agree that differentiating between siblings in infant / juniors on the same site and those that were clearly linked but not on the same site was actually fair when it comes to setting admission criteria. It might be worth an ask of the School Adjudicator, you have nothing to loose by doing that.
Having said that I have to agree with PRH, you need a Plan B because you are likely to loose any appeals.

How /where do i contact the school adjudicator?? am i likely to get an answer befor tommorrow?

Hello,

I am no expert but really want to wish you the best of luck for your appeal this week, I hope you manage to find a place. My DS has been offered a place a similar distance away and it poses difficulty for us and is not ideal but I would expect a case like yours to take priority.

With regard to the free transport, do you know what is actually offered? Some councils offer taxi's or milage re-imbursement - mine offer a free bus pass for the child ONLY (4 year olds travelled free on buses last I looked anyway) with no consideration for an adult who could have to make 4 journeys per day to accompany! Do the council seriously expect me to pack off my just turned 4 year old on a bus alone each morning, I think I would be locked up ...the idea of allowing him to travel in a taxi with a stranger is hard enough to accept.

Do you know of any others who have been refused? Perhaps contacting your local councillor or MP to see if they can offer you any support or influence with the LEA. We have a situation where I live and our MP is being very supportive to our cause.

Good luck again,
Catherine

thankyou for your wishes x

The Schools Adjudicator's website is at www.schoolsadjudicator.gov.uk. You will not get an answer from them about the admission criteria before tomorrow. If you do complain about the admission criteria it is likely to take several weeks before they come up with a decision.

I personally find the whole admission system dated....no vunerable child of this age should go through rejection......my child has gonethrough 5 terms in nursery...working alongside reception..building friendship trust and respect for her peers ....we live in a rural location with no children of her age...yet because of "a safE WALKING DISTANCE DOWN A FLOODLIT PATH"..she has lost her place...we hav no footpaths nevermind streetlights!!...good luck and prayers to parents going through the appeals

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In Surrey I don't think parent's medical condition counts at all. One child I know's parent was given a life expectancy which would have meant they were likely to die during the summer holiday or first term and they were told that wouldn't be considered under medical. Totally ridiculous.

Sorry about that.

This thread is two years old. Not much point giving the OP advice now!