Attending appeal hearing

[PrettyCandles]

We are appealing ds's school allocation. As far as we understand, we don't really have a leg to stand on, but are appealing in any case - if you don't ask, you don't get. We want him to go to the infant school his two elder sibs went to (they are now both in the linked junior school) but we are out of catchment - even though we live closer to the school than many of the in-catchment children.

We have submitted a written application, but is there any benefit to attending the appeal in person? I think that dh thinks I may not be up to it, and he may be right (depression, anxiety, etc).

Attending in person gives you the chance to ask questions about the LA's case and answer any questions the panel may have about your case. If you don't attend they will have to decide entirely on your written submission. I would generally recommend attending unless you really can't face it.

Thanks for replying. I've read the LA's case, and it's basically about how the school is over-crowded, even though there are fewer than 30 children in each class. Undeniable!

How can I persuade them that they should crowd it even more by taking my ds!?

I know this seems over-dramatic, but it really feels like the LA is destroying our sense of community by refusing to allow 1/3 of this year's siblings to go to 'their' school.

It is fairly normal for the case to refuse admission to talk about overcrowding. The panel has to consider the extent of the overcrowding (if any) and whether that outweighs the prejudice to your child through not being admitted.

If you want to give more details of the LA's case you will get advice on the weaknesses, if any. And if you want to tell us about your case you will get advice on how to improve it.

Why would you want your child to be in an over crowded class anyway?

iMemoo - The fact that the case to refuse admission talks about overcrowding does not necessarily mean that the school will actually be overcrowded if an additional child is admitted.