Evidence from schools for school appeals

[edukation]

Hi
Just wanted to know if anyone has received a letter from a current teacher of their child which they used in their school appeal. The head at our son's current nursery has refused to give us a letter his class teacher had written outlining his abilities and character (he is significantly ahead of where he is expected to be at his age and we were looking for evidence of this to support our appeal). She has said he will get a report soon but this will be too close to our appeal to submit it and will be the normal bland report which doesn't really say a lot. Are we not within our rights to ask for a statement of fact about our son - surely this can not be seen as bias from the school? It would be really useful to know if other teachers have written letters which have been submitted as evidence (of any aspect of a child) to school appeals.
Many thanks in advance.

PS Just read another thread saying school's were prohibited from supporting appeals but I am not looking for support - it is just that son's teacher is the only professional who is competent to assess his potential without me paying for a ed psych report - surely a statement of fact is not prejudicial one way or other? Also surely if I were appealing for a school he was not at they could write me a statement of his abilities? Isn't this biased against us because he is appealing for that school?

edukation,
thehead is quite correct to not let the teacher send the letter but more importantly I wonder how you think that the letter will help at the appeal. The panel cannot and will not take any notice of the capability or otherwise of the pupil. The panel has to assume that all schools are equal when it comes to their educational achievement, which I accept is not correct but it means that appeals which are only to do with capability of the school will never be successful. Reasons for admission have to be more than just the capability of the school.
Is there another reason you want the letter?

We are appealing on the grounds that my son has special educational needs and these would be most successfully met at the school we want him to go to. The school he has been placed at has below average standards of pupils at intake and it's stated aims are to work on supporting these students and we feel that it would therefore not be a suitable environment for stretching my son. We know it is a long shot because giftedness is not recognised as a SEN in the same way as struggling academically but we are really concerned that if he goes into this environment he will not be able to reach his potential, will be bored and lose interest in education.

Sorry but that is not a reason that will win you a place at appeal. All schools have to be considered as equal by the panel (though I accept they are not) and the LA representative will say that the school is quite capable of differentiating the work in the class to stretch your child no matter how talented they are.