Primary School Appeal

[nabeja]

Help Please!

I have the admission authority's case. It says they are at full capacity for the year I applied for, it also shows they have one child over their PAN in the year above, all other years are running below capacity. Does it help to mention they can run over the PAN or not? They've included info that the year we've applied for already has 15 children on school action/plus, as is my daughter, does this weaken my case?

Desperately in need of advice!

We need more information here.

What year are you seeking a place in?

What is the PAN?

Is this an infant class size appeal (the LEA's papers should state this)?

What are your reasons for seeking this school?

Why do you want to change schools (or is this a move from infants to juniors)?

It's too soon to say what difference your daughter being on SA+ might make. Presumably, the LEA's case is that the school would struggle to meet your daughter's needs in a class that is already full, so we need to think first about the question of whether it is indeed 'full'. If you can answer the questions above, we can take it from there.

Sorry, should have realised more infomation would be required, just in bit of a panic! I've applied for a place in yr 4 at the local school, as we've just moved here, my son received a place in yr 2 but my daughter was refused on the grounds of 'prejudice & efficent use of resources' The PAN for yrs R/1/4/5 is 60 each yr, for yr 2 its 90 & yr 6 is 75.

It all seems so complicated.

The extra information is helpful.

It's helpful to you that this is not an infant class size case, because you will be arguing about the relative prejudice (disadvantage) to your child in not being admitted versus the prejudice to the school in admitting another pupil.

Firstly: I'm slightly puzzled by the timing here - did you apply through the usual admissions round or did you apply in-year? If the latter, the Fair Admissions Protocol should apply. The latest version of the admissions appeal code (which you should read) says

Expressing a preference and Fair Access Protocol

3.23 Paragraph 3.9 of the School Admissions Code requires each local authority to have a Fair Access Protocol to ensure that, outside the normal admissions round, a place at a suitable school is secured quickly for unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable. It also requires local authorities to ensure that no school is required to take a disproportionate number of children with challenging behaviour. In circumstances set out in its local authority?s Fair Access Protocol, an admission authority may refuse to admit a child outside the normal admissions round even though places are available (see paragraph 3.12 of the School Admissions Code).

3.24 The allocation of a place in accordance with a Fair Access Protocol does not override a parent?s right to appeal against refusal of a place at any school for which they have applied. If an application has been refused despite there being places available, the governing body must present their case for refusal, demonstrating how admission of the child would prejudice the provision of efficient education or efficient use of resources. When considering such an appeal, in addition to considering the appellant?s arguments for their child to be admitted, the panel must take account of the requirements set out in the local authority?s Fair Access Protocol. The panel must carefully consider whether the presenting officer has clearly proven that admission of the child would be prejudicial to the school or other children.

Looking at the detail: I'm assuming that all the classes in KS2 are combined in some way to make 30+ in each class. Is that right, or are there classes of 30 in Ys 4&5 and 1 1/2 classes in Y6? And you have information to show that one year is already 1 above PAN? You can certainly include that in your arguments, although the LEA will argue that having spaces in some year groups doesn't make it any easier to accommodate your child in a year group that is full, so whether/how the year groups are combined could be important here.

You need to highlight all the reasons why your child would benefit from attending the school - the fact that you have moved to the area and so the school will help your child settle, a sibling already has a place etc etc. You also need to check what the school's admissions criteria say about siblings. Some schools give priority only to younger siblings, but if the preferred school also gives preference to older siblings this may at least help to get your child into a higher priority group on the waiting list.

The issue around your child being on SA+ is complicated. If your child has a disability, the school cannot discriminate against them because of it, but (equally) the Fair Access Protocol says that schools shouldn't be required to take a disproportionate number of pupils with challenging behaviour. A lot could depend here on the reasons why your child is on SA+. Having 15/60 children at SA+ sounds to me (without going to check my LEA's average) on the high side of average, but not unheard of. Your best approach is probably to try to identify enough strong reasons for your child to be admitted that you can convince the panel that they outweigh the disadvantage to the school, including any disadvantage in meeting the needs of another child at SA+.

Lastly, has your child got a place at another school?

Thanks.
I've applied for in-year admission. The SA+ is because of her lack of communication & social skills (to put it in context it's taken her 4 years to speak to a TA at her present school) They have offered another school but that is as far to travel as her present school, we wanted the local school so she had the chance to make freinds & settle in the community. It seems pointless to move her from one school to another if its just as far away, also the local school is a feeder to the local high school her older sister wil be attending.
As far as class sizes go it's quite bizarre. R has 3 classes of 20/20/19, Y1 has 2 classes of 30/29, Y2 has 3 classes of 26/26/27, Y3 & Y4 each has 2 classes of 30, Y5 has 2 classes of 31/30 and Y6 has 2 classes of 30/29.
I should say the school is currently undergoing a building programme to expand, due to finish on July2012. They plan to increase the PAN to 90 in each year but they're doing this in stages, basically by increasing the intake yearly through the reception intake.

I don't think the building and expansion helps you - saying that the school will have several extra classes in a few years' time doesn't deal with the difficulty in going above PAN now. I'm still puzzled by Y6 having a PAN of 75 if there are only 59-60 in the year, but that isn't the main issue here.

As I said before, I think your best tack is to identify as many strong reasons as you can for your child needing to be at this school. You've already mentioned several and - if it's true - I would emphasise that her being on SA+ is for reasons to do with confidence and social skills and so being at a local school with her sibling and making friends in the neighbourhood is going to help tackle those issues. Does your child see a paediatrician or psychologist about these issues? Would they write a letter of support? A letter that says that in their professional opinion (not just in yours) your child needs a place at this school will carry some weight, even if it's not enough to win the appeal for you.

Yes, year 6 is a bit of a mystery!
No she doesn't see a professional, I doubt they could say this school is a 'must' anyway, however I do have a statement from her teacher confirming my assertions concerning her communication problems but this is not a recommendation for her to attend this particular school. I've also included all her school reports and IEP's which all confirm this.

As for the expansion, I mentioned it because in the admission authority's case it talks about classroom sizes & communal spaces, fire saftey and the adverse effect on teacher workloads, well being & stress levels. THe building will be expanded by 6 class rooms & 2 group rooms to be finished by August 2012.

Sorry thats not very clear.

I think you should bring up the new building. It will then be up to the appeal panel to decide how much to take it into account, if at all. Your daughter will be there for several months before the new building is complete and, from what you say, it sounds like the plan is to bring the new building into use gradually over several years so the panel may decide it is not relevant. But on the other hand they may think it undermines the authority's case.

I think there is a lot of misunderstandings here. They cannot be changing the PAN all the time. My guess is that the PAN is 60 but that year 2 had high cohort numbers and they put in a "bulge" class to accommodate the extra numbers. The year 6 PAN figure of 75 I would just ignore as an anomaly. The fact that they intend to expand the school to have 90 in each year group is helpful in that it suggest to the panel that there is plenty of space in the school in the future but cannot be used directly in your appeal because the LA will rightly say that has not happened yet. However the fact that in 6 months time they will have an extra classroom for year 4 should not be overlooked and should be stated. The school is going to be in a very difficult position in september with lots of spare capacity and probably a lot of appeals to admit to the extra capacity.
The 3 reception classes of 20 is not unusual they do it to give them a good start with a small class size but then move to two classes of 30, because they do not have the classrooms or finance to keep such small classes.
Year 4 is what you need to concentrate on. There are two classes of 30 because of the PAN of 60, but in year 5 has a class of 31, so that is an indication that the school can operate with more than 30 in a class. 15 out of the 60 being on SA or SA+ is not excessive in my opinion and actually I would turn it around and say it shows that the school can and does cope well with children with SEN. You need to confirm that you want your daughter to go to the same school as your younger son as it helps her to overcome her shyness and they have a place at the school.
The information about classroom sizes is nearly always put in the school's case, so you need to ask what the size of the rooms are for the year 4 classes. The original size was 48 sq metres for 30 pupils but this has now increased to 56 sq metres for 30 pupils. I would ask the LA to divulge that information now before the hearing. if they are larger than 56 then raise the issue and say there is plenty of space. The six new classrooms will certainly be to that size and it might be worth asking whether the school intends to use the new classrooms in September. If they are less than 56 then say nothing, but the panel members will probably ask any way. The admission authority cannot just say the classrooms are small without justifying that statement. Fire safety is a rubbish statement to make, it does not make any difference that an extra 1 is in class. By the same token it really annoys me to hear the admission authority trot out teacher workloads and stress, sorry they are paid to do a job. If they were talking about 40 in the class I would have some sympathy but not at 30.
You need to try and find some good things about the school, such as after school or before school clubs that you would want for your children, or that the school is musical or sporty so that you can say that this is the school for your child. I would also make the point that the school offered is as far away as the current school, so it is only fair that your child is admitted to the local school.

nabeja, sorry to divert slightly. Is your DD's social/communication issue exclusive to school?

If she isn't seeing anyone externally, why is she on SA+?

Does she have any other issues apart from her relative 'quietness'? ie. can she speak appropriately to her age if she chooses to; does she understand appropriately to her age?

On the face of it, from what you have posted, it sounds a bit like you've been abandoned! A child who is going into Y4 who took 4 years to speak to a TA - why on earth did they not seek help?

Thank you so much for the good advice. I was starting to think I was wasting everyones time. I will follow up class room sizes tomorrow.

The communication issue is restricted adults, she is able to understand & speak appropriatley for her age she just chooses not to communicate to adults or in front of them (parents excepted). Thats why siblings & peers are so important for support. The SA+ was the schools intervention, its all that was deemed appropriate, she has seen a speech therapist but as she refused to speak or comply with simple requests it was kind of pointless. To be clear as far as communication is concerned its not just verbal, she doesn't even acknowledge that adults are speaking to her.

Again many thanks

But there are so many things that can be done with elective mutism

The speech therapist shouldn't have been expecting speech

They could have started by just being alongside her. Looking for opportunities to interact with her. Even if it was just picking up a pencil that she dropped and handing it back, without saying a thing.

It's all about relationship and trust building.

I am frankly flabbergasted that a child who will not speak to adults is on SA+ I mean, what are they going to do when she reaches secondary school? What are kids going to do? They'll notice.

I honestly think you need to kick up some fuss. A school place is the least of your worries

Gosh, you sound so cross!
I'm guessing the school doesn't consider this a major problem, she works well with other children and though she is below average it isn't by a significant amount. Coupled with the fact she is perfectly normal at home they obvisouly think they have fulfilled their obligations, incidentally she only got to see the speech therapist because of my insistence, for all the good it done.

Now, I've spoke to the addmissions and they tell me they don't know what size classrooms Year 4 are taught in, the school on the other hand, have said they will be using the new class rooms come september although they haven't allocated them to which years they did say it wouldn't be key stage 1 as they have access to outside spaces from the classes they already reside in. Once the new building is complete the school will have over half of their class rooms compling to new standards, I'll bet its more than most schools, but does that help?

I would say that it does. The panel does have to take into consideration events that are known to be happening. What you know that is happening is that the school will have 6 new classrooms and 2 group rooms in September, that they are built to the new standards and that the school have said they will be using them for junior classes from September. So you actually have a far higher number of classrooms than currently required and nice big rooms, what is the problem with one more pupil in the classroom?
OK I know that the admission authority will say that they will still only take 30 but overall this is a school with a lot of space and a lot of classrooms, in the immediate future. Suggesting that there is overcrowding, the classrooms are small and there is a fire safety hazard simply does not seem to stack up against the reality of the situation. I would really attack the admission authorities case in stage 1 of the appeal because this has to be a weak case against admission, whilst looking to make sure that you have good reasons for admission to submit for stage 2 of the appeal.
Nabeja, I think you have timed this just right in that once these classrooms are in place, I suspect there will be a rush of appeals for all year groups as soon as parents realise that there is spare capacity in the school. In that I have some sympathy with the school.

Well everyone thanks for the good advice, just had the appeal, I think It was disaster - if she gets a place it will be nothing short of a miracle!

What makes you think it was a disaster?

I think it was a disaster because I messed up, I was so nervous I failed to ask even half the questions I needed to ask the admission authority and in my summary I just completely missed everything I had wrote down. I did manage to put my case for admission but I don't think I was forceful enough. I didn't realise how difficult I would find it talking infront of a panel, I feel awful.

Nabeja,
What you do not know is how bad others are when presenting their cases. Many are quivering wrecks and some just completely loose it and I am talking about the presenting officers here, as well as the parents!
You don't need to be forceful as long as you managed to put your case forward.
Do not feel awful, you did the very best you could for your child and nobody could ask for more. Whatever the outcome you have done your best.

Don't feel awful. Panels know that parents are often very nervous and, if they're doing their job properly, will pay more attention to the substance of what you said than your nervous manner when you said it.

Appeals do suck, I can understand your frustration (we didn't succeed in ours, hope yours is better).

But as for the numbers in years etc, slight variations can occur if they get children in care come into the school, special needs or other successful appeals - which bumps them over the PAN.

It is frustrating when you want your child to have just one spot, but fingers crossed they see the logic of the situation.

Hello - can I take a couple of minutes to wish you luck with this. I don't know you but the situation is clearly very confusing and distressing.

In one of your posts you mention unusual patterns in the year groups relating to numbers. I live in WB, Notts and these patterns have been very common since the current Y3 joined in their reception year. We have had "bulges" since 2004 with far too many children for the local schools. Some schools took additional classes in what you see as Y3, others then had to accommodate more in Y2, it was dreadful trying to get a school place in the current Y1 and even worse in the current YR.

Just to add my own encouragement, I felt awful after my first appeal. It is very stressful. Appeal panels are used to it. They aren't there to judge your performance. They are there to look at the facts. Hope you get the result you want.

Thank you all for such kind words & encouragement, I really appreciate it. I just didn't realise how stressful these things can be. The panel, clerk & admission rep were all very kind, I just felt I was letting her down. I do feel better knowing I'm not the only one to find an appeal so 'differcult'. Thanks again.

Well my appeal was unsucessful, as expected, this county doesn't hold waiting lists, so what do I do now? Come September I will have three children at different schools. Can anybody help with how I stand concerning dropping off and collection times, there is at least an hours difference from being able to collect them, which means one will be an hour late every morning and one will have to leave an hour early every afternoon, child care isn't an option as I simply don't have the money for it and I have no family to help out. I feel so abandoned by the education system!!

The county MUST hold waiting lists for all community schools. Faith schools hold their own waiting lists. But every school must have a waiting list until at least Christmas.

You have the option of referring the case to the Local Government Ombudsman but they will only intervene if there was something wrong with the way the appeal was conducted. What are the reasons given in the refusal letter? If they are not clear or appear to be inconsistent with the evidence I would be tempted to refer to the LGO to see what they make of it. It is free and you won't lose anything by doing so.

On the practical issue, the schools should be able to identify pre-school and after-school clubs that will cater for your children at a reasonable price, allowing you to drop them off early and pick them up late. They should be much cheaper than using a child minder.

Hello, they have quite clearly stated that they do not hold waiting lists. The reason for refusal was 'the panel concluded that there was insufficient evidence to establish that the prejudice facing your child outweighed the prejudice to the school and your appeal was therefore refused'

I have checked out the afterschool club and that would cost me £112 per week, they don't do a breakfast club, I simply don't have that money each week and it wouldn't solve the mornings.