school transport appeal tomorrow

[vincentvangogh]

I am nervous now as I have my school transport appeal tomorrow. I am appealing on the grounds that there is no safe walking route to any school from our house. The council have refused transport as they say our kids don't go to the nearest school. The kids go to school A, 1.2 miles from our house, which has a catchment radius of 4 miles. There is another school, school B, 1.5 miles from our house. It has a catchment radius of 0.6 miles or less. We didn't apply to school B as the chair of governors laughed, at the open evening, when we told her how far away we lived - we recognised too we had no chance of getting a place there.

The council say that school B has a shorter walking route to our house, although that's still more than 2 miles, and that providing us transport would set a precedent resulting in financial tumult and disaster.

Any last minute tips?

Just be careful about what is being said. This is a transport appeal and as such it is not the shortest walking route that is pertinent but the shortest driving route, even though the distance to the schools which would have decided actual allocation will have been around shortest walking distance.

I suspect that school B is actually your catchment school and if you therefore did not apply for that school, the LA will argue that you have no right to school transport as you elected to go to school A.

:o we won.

Well done.