Y3 school appeal. Advice please.

[cantbelieveiamdoingthis]

DC1 is transferring from an infant school to a junior school.

He has not been allocated a place at our preferred junior school (school A). School A is our catchment school and DC2 is at the linked infant school. He was not offered a place as all places were taken up by children transferring from the feeder infant school. He is second on the waiting list.

He was also not offered a place at the junior school (school B) that his current infant school feeds into as there are not enough places for all the children at the feeder infant schools and we are non catchment / non sibling.

He has been offered a place at school C.

We moved to our current catchment area towards the end of his reception year and he was put on the waiting list for the feeder infant school for school A. Waiting lists ended at the end of reception. We applied for a place for him at the beginning of year 1 and then year 2 but none were available. Children have been admitted into his year group in year 1 and 2 as their applications happened to coincide with a pupil leaving. The council have realised that this system was not very fair and have now started waiting lists again for years 1 and 2.

We also have DC3 who is at nursery. I have been doing 3 drops and pick ups every morning and night and can't face it for another 4 years!

We are going to appeal for school A and I would appreciate some advice about the following arguments:

1. Needs to be at same school as sibling. Multiple pick ups and drops mean more child care for them all, will never walk to school, less time for after school activities and home work.

1. Social - School A feeds into our catchment senior school. School C doesn't have links to his current infant school or catchment senior school so no shared friends.

1. The PAN for school A is 90 but always goes over by 2-4. So the school can cope.

1. He would have got in had he been at the linked infant school and the admission system in year 1 and 2 was unfair. I am waiting for the postcodes and sibling statuses of those pupils admitted during this time.

Thanks for reading htis VERY long post. I really need some help.

Taking your points in order:

1. You can include this but I wouldn't make it your main argument. Transport and child care difficulties generally will not win an appeal.

1. I don't think that one really flies as phrased here. It seems to be effectively saying that you want a place in school A so that he gets in to your preferred senior school. If school C is some way from home you could try suggesting that your son's social development will be damaged as he will not be able to mix with school friends outside school hours and will not see local children in school. I don't think it is a terribly strong argument but it is worth a try.

1. That is worth mentioning as it weakens the school's case for refusing admission.

1. The admissions code does not require the council to operate a waiting list beyond the end of the first term in Reception. You may feel that their failure to do so was unfair but they didn't break any rules so that is unlikely to win an appeal.

I think you need to strengthen your case. Look for things offered by your preferred school that are missing from your allocated school and which will be of particular benefit to your son. Look at things like after-school clubs, for example. That will help you to show that your son will be disadvantaged if he is not admitted to school A.

Thanks tiggy and prh for your insight. It is all very helpful.

I am struggling to find an after school activilty that any school would do that DC1 must have access to. He is not even 7 yet. Do people really win appeals on the basis of an after school activity that a state junior can offer? What kind of things can a state school offer at this age that would disadvantage him if he didn't get it?

DC1 would get into our catchment secondary regardless of which junior school he attends as catchment is first priority and we are very close. One reason I would like him to go to school A is so that his peer group would be more conatant on transfer to secondary. If he went to school C he would move now with no one from his infant school. Almost all the children at school C go to a different secondary so again he would not move with any peers. Would this hold any weight?

Thanks again.

Unfortunately he has very good social skills and sounds awful playing the violin!! .

I think I need to accept we won't win the appeal but give it a try and then move on!