Exceptional Circumstances

[rememberme2]

Does anyone know what the process is for applications that are sent to LEA regarding exceptional circumstances and how they should be processed by Surrey County Council

(Just remembering DS's first day - we were literally moving house to that town on that day. He was joining almost at the end of Year 1, when all the friendships were already formed. And then the local river looded, and we very nearly didn't manage to get back in time to collect him as we were stuck with a van full of our belongings on the other side of a flooded river....

He was fine. Nobody now believes that he ever had any difficulty with his speech, and his gang of friends reckon that he's been there 'forever'!)

My daughter has been granted exceptional circumstances under medical condition. I have an appeal for the school that I want my daughter to go to on the 29th nov. Under the fair access protocol
1.12 Schools cannot cite oversubscription as a reason for not admitting a
student under this Protocol.
1.13 Students placed under this Protocol should be given priority for
admission over others on a waiting list or awaiting an appeal.
1.14 Schools should not insist on an appeal being heard before admitting a
child under this Protocol.
i) Children with disabilities or medical conditions which have
already impacted on their attendance or participation at school;
She is currently educated at home due to her medical condition.
Link below

www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspublications.nsf/f2d920e015d1183d80256c670041a50b/7374620e1eb0fb988025782d004012fe/$FILE/Draft%20protocol%20for%20In%20-Year%20Fair%20Access.Jan%202011.pdf

Please advise what I can do?

You have had a lot of advice already. Has anything changed since then?

The Fair Access Protocol doesn't have any immediate connection with your appeal - the FAP is a means by which the LEA can (if it so decides) admit an additional child to a school which in other circumstances would be considered full.

You can (as far as I can see) do two things here

1. Use the appeal to highlight why you want your daughter to be admiited to this school - you have already had lots of sensible advice on this point.

1. Keep trying to persuade the LEA to admit your daughter under the FAP, but if they haven't agreed to this by now, it seems very unlikely they'll change their mind.

Apologies if there's anything I've overlooked.

Dear Panel Member, I was only informed yesterday that my daughter has been granted exceptional circumstances and I have emailed them to check if they have considered her under the FAP and awaiting a reply.
She has not participated at a school since September due to her medical condition.

LA will not look at FAP because they do not think she is a hard to place pupil and because they have offered two schools which have been declined by us because they are unsuitable.

Can they do that?

My understanding is that, once they have offered you a place, the LA has done their part. If you refuse it, then it becomes your responsibility to find a suitable school place, not theirs to find one for you.

You can, of course, appeal at the school you would most like, and at any others you wish to.

Agree with teacherwith2kids. The LA didn't even have to offer you a second school, so they have already done more than the Admissions Code requires. You cannot simply decline all offers until you get the school you want. As you have declined two offers it is now up to you to either home educate or find a school for your daughter.

I have got a 2nd appeal for the school that I want but in the meantime she has been taught from home since the beginning of September. The schools offered are unsuitable due to medical and social reasons and my daughter has been referred to CAMM by her GP. I am doing all I can to make sure the school she goes to is the right one on this occasion as she has already been in 3 different school in 2 years.

rememberme2, I think that the LA have gone as far as they can now that they have allowed you to be considered as an exceptional circumstances, which gives you priority in terms of the admission criteria.
However that makes no difference in relation to the admission appeal on the 29th November, it will still be about you showing that you have good reasons for needing admission to this particular school that outweigh the prejudice to the school. I have to warn you that the panel may find it difficult to accept the need for another change of school, when they have already been in 3 schools and home educated in 2 years and you need to have clear and justifiable reasons why this has happened, not just that this school is the one that you want.

The LA have granted exceptional circumstances. In 2010/11 the LA allocated 2 extra places for the school I have an appeal at which was above the PAN. The two places were allocated to 1 child living close to the school the other had a sibling. If they were going to act fairly they should allocate a place for my daughter who has exceptional circumstances. The LA are showing no consistancy, my daughters situation outweighs the 2 extra places that were given in 2010/11. The school have gone back to the PAN number, so why won't they look at the in year fair access protocol. Don't you think they are acting unfairly as they seem to be choosing who should or shouldn't have a place and exceptional circumstances don't matter, so therefore my childs circumstances don't matter yet they go on about 'every child matters'.

The fair access protocol is about getting a child a school place (in any school) where there are no school places available anywhere. That place can be anywhere, it is given at the school best able to take the child, not the school which is the parent's first preference.

You have been offered a place in two different schools, which you have turned down - so your situation is NOT that there are no places anywhere, but that the LA isn't giving you a place in the school you want.

That does not come under the FAP, so that is irrelevant. It is a situation that you can address by appealing, which is what you are doing. If the school has previously admitted above PAN, then that is an argument that you can use in your appeal to say that the prejudice to the school of admitting your daughter is less great than the prejudice to her of not being admitted.

The FAP is not relevant in your situation. Wait for the appeal and present the arguments then.

When is your appeal?

It seems very likely that the two children admitted in 2010/11 were admitted after successful appeals - and if your arguments are strong then there is no reason yours shouldn't be successful as well (though your actions in refusing two other school places and moving your child frequently between other schools do, as admission says, need very clear and compelling explanation for the panel).

And of course the LA chooses who should be admitted and who should not. That's their job. They do it on the basis of the admissions criteria and the admissions code, and the appeal system exists to rectify mistakes made during that process and for you to seek to put forward further details to support your application for that particular school.

The LA also administers the FAP to allow children who are hard to place, or who move into a very over-subscribed area out oif the normal admissions round, to obtain a school place at any school - NOT at a particular school. For example the FAP can be used to place traveller children who move into a highly over-subscribed area at short notice, and the school best able to accommodate those numbers over PAN in the LA's eyes will take those children.

I would expect that the places given beyond PAN in 2010/11 were either because they won appeals or because there were no other places available in the area. Even if they messed up and gave these places incorrectly it doesn't create a precedent. They do not have to go over PAN for your child.

I know you want your daughter to be considered under 2.1(i) of the LA's Fair Access Protocol but I do not believe she qualifies. As I have explained previously, turning down a place because of your daughter's condition is not the same as her condition impacting on her attendance. And I must again emphasise that even if you can persuade the LA to place your daughter under their Fair Access Protocol it does not mean you will get the school you want. If there are other schools with vacancies which they think are appropriate for your daughter then that is what you will be offered.

Unless your daughter gets a statement of SEN you do not have the right to choose which school she attends, and even then there are circumstances in which the LA can allocate a different school. You can express a preference but that is all. The LA decide which school to offer.

I would recommend that you concentrate on winning your appeal. You can try to argue that the LA has got it wrong if you want but, given that the admissions experts on here unanimously agree that the LA is correct, I doubt that argument will sway the panel. Concentrate on explaining why your preferred school is right for your daughter and why the offered schools are not.

rememberme2, you can make any case you want at appeal,it is totally up to you.
However if you ignore the collective experience of people on this site who know about admission appeals then you are not helping your daughter. What happened in 2010/11 is irrelevant to your appeal other than to confirm that the class has operated with 32 in it in the recent past, which is the point that should be made. There is absolutely no chance that the Fair Access Protocol applies to your daughter and you need to let go of the belief it is relevant. You are also misunderstanding the relevance of exceptional circumstances, it is about where you are on the admission criteria, not that it some how gives you a magic pass to attend that school.
Please concentrate on as PRH says, explaining why this particular school is right for your daughter.

Thanks for all your help everyone. I am hoping the appeal goes well on 29th November.

Just to let you all know my appeal was successful and thanks for all your advise.
Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!!!!!

Well done. I am pleased for you and your daughter.

Thanks PRH for all your help! Hope you have a wonderful Xmas & a Prosperous New Year!