Any tips for appealing?

[twolittlemonkeys]

From the title of the thread you may have guessed my son didn't get offered a place at his 1st (and only) choice school.

Here's the background:

His brother is currently in year 1 there and it would be a nightmare to move him as he is autistic and had a very rough start to school - asked to leave a school at Oct half term in reception, found an appropriate school several miles away from where we live by Christmas and he had a gradual start, building up to FT by just after Feb half term.

The nearest school to the one his brother attends is a good 10 minute drive away, plus all the time to get child into/out of school at beginning and end of the day means having them at 2 different schools would be impossible. Can't afford a childminder to drop off/pick one up.

Anyway that is just to give some background. I really need some suggestions for appealing to get him in. I plan to put on the form that if push comes to shove I will HEd until a place becomes available (I gather LEAs aren't too keen on the idea of HE!), but is there anything I can do to improve his chances of being moved up the waiting list or accommodated in the class?

FWIW DS1 was the 31st child in his class and now in yr 1 they have a class of 34 so despite the 'strict limit of 30 children in an infant class' there must be some exceptions made!

Does having a sibling give you priority? If so was he put into the correct category? Logistical difficulties won't win a place at appeal but being put in the wrong category will.

If his allocated school is over two miles away the council will provide transport by the way.

Has the LEA explained why your younger child did not get a place (it should be in their decision letter or email)? Admissions criteria usually give priority to siblings, so have they not spotted that he has a sibling at the school? Or do the oversubscription criteria distinguish between siblings inside and siblings outside catchment? It is obviously in your interests to check this carefully, because if there has been an error that deprived your child of the place, you ought to win your appeal (and in fact ought to be given the place without going to appeal).

Generally at any admission appeal, parents have to convince the panel that the 'prejudice' (ie disadvantage) to their child in not attending the school is greater than the prejudice to the school in admitting one more pupil. However, if the school admits in multiples of 30 (ie 15, 30, 45, 60 etc etc) then it would be an infant class size appeal. Because infant classes are limited by law to 30 pupils, the only grounds for winning an ICS appeal are if there has been an error which deprived the child of the place, if the admission arrangements are contrary to law or the admissions code or if the decision to refuse a place was so unreasonable that it cannot be allowed to stand.

It's never very helpful to second-guess why an infant class has more than 30 pupils but I suspect your older child was admitted as the 31st pupil because it was accepted that he had a medical/social need for a place or (I'm guessing) he had a statement naming the school. The other additional pupils might have been admitted for similar reasons or because they were admitted under the fair access protocol when other schools did not have places. Anyway, it doesn't help you because the infant class size will still apply to the class you want your younger child to join.

If yours is likely to be an ICS appeal, it would be rash to bank on winning it. You may get a place through the waiting list but you need to identify a fallback option (another school or home education).

Looking at the things you suggest as possible grounds of appeal:

Your difficulties with transport or the cost of a childminder won't cut much ice at an appeal - LEAs (and appeal panels) expect parents to get their children to school on time and use (say) breakfast clubs or after school clubs to do it - but if there are particular reasons above and beyond the inconvenience and expense that anyone in your situation would experience, you could mention them.

You could certainly mention the reasons why you would not want to move your older child from the school.

Refusing the place and ?threatening? to HE will not boost the chances of the LEA giving you a place at the school. Nor will it boost your chances at appeal. LEAs and appeal panels have to abide by the law and implement the admissions and appeal codes and won?t respond to anything that looks or sounds like bribery or coercion. You need to avoid making a bad impression on the appeal panel (which appearing to put pressure on them might). The panel will reach its decision on the merits of the case ? not on whether it likes you ? but if the arguments are very finely balanced you want them to give you the benefit of the doubt.

PanelChair thanks for the info. I am desperately hoping that they have overlooked the fact that he has a sibling in the school.

No reason was given for declining him a place. DS1 doesn't have a statement, and was only officially diagnosed near the end of reception (though we suspected ASD a long time before that).

Realistically HEing is my only option (other than pulling DS1 out and putting them both in the dire catchment school - not a path I'm willing to go down).

The only possible disadvantage to the school if DS2 doesn't get in is that I will no longer be able to go in and help out in school as I do currently.

It's not about the disadvantage to the school if your child doesn't get a place, it's about the disadvantage if he does. The sorts of things that schools and LEAs often mention here are

Going over the ICS limit and (after the first year) having to employ another teacher

Shortage of space in the school - not having room in the classroom for 31 desks, not having enough spaces in the dinner hall, overcrowding in communal areas etc etc

Effects on children's learning - less teacher time per child etc

You do need to press the LEA for an explanation of why you did not get a place.

If your older son is at this school already, and you say it is several miles away, presumably you're out of catchment? And some LEAs push out-of-catchment siblings down the priority list. Is that what happened here, do you think? It's a particular issue in over-subscribed schools.

Please can you give a brief summary of the admission criteria to see where siblings come on the criteria or say which LA it is assuming this is not a faith school. Need to understand why with a sibling in the school you did not get a place. Assuming that you said there was a sibling in the school on the application form, I wonder whether there is an issue over the gradual introduction to the school - did the sibling have joint registration with another school possibly?

I would absolutely not put on the form that you will home educate, that comes across as a blatant attempt to force the panel to agree to admit and will be seen as such, no matter how nicely you put it. I would not say anything about what you intend to do if the appeal is not successful. If you are asked at the appeal, then say that you don't have to immediately admit and that you will H/E until as such time as a suitable place becomes available, but only if pushed to say something.

As far as receiving no information as to why you did not get a place, I would send a polite request to the admission office asking for the information, pointing out that this information should be made available under paragraph 2.5 and 2.8 of the admission appeal code 2011 and asking them to confirm under which admission category your child was considered for a place at the school. That will hopefully tell you whether any sibling criteria has been taken into consideration.

I've been trawling the Leics LEA website to try to find their admissions criteria and have had no luck. I believe it is:

1. Children in care etc
2. Catchment
3. Siblings in school but outside catchment
4. Outside catchment and no sibling in school.

Whilst the school is a CE school, it does not use this as part of its admissions criteria, no mention of it on the form (unlike some CE schools in the area). We are out of catchment so number 3 on the above list.

Will not mention HE unless asked at the panel.

I will ring admissions in the morning and ask for more information as to why DS2 was not admitted.

DS1 had left the other school and was at home with me/ doing days back at his previous pre-school until he started at school. It was the school's suggestion to do a phased introduction, not mine so I hope that wouldn't be a factor. (After his first school experience DS1 was a bag of nerves, developed a terrible stammer and lots of tics :( )

Many thanks for the help. There are 2 private prep schools in the same village as the school we want him to get into so I am hoping that there are several people clinging onto state school places who intend to send their children to private school but are keeping it as a back-up option until the last minute.

It's beginning to sound less as if there has been a mistake and more as if you have simply been squeezed out by the numbers of children applying from within catchment. However, it is important that you check all of this through with the LEA (especially as you don't seem certain about what the oversubscription criteria are).

If there is no mistake, then your chances at an ICS appeal are slim, but you may be lucky and get a sympathetic panel who are prepared to stick their necks out for you.

With new regs can't a class stay over 30? If an excepted pupil??

thats good to know though! Im still gathering all info i can re appeal but as i have said on previous threads im not sure im up for it!!!! I may have a nervous breakdown in the process :-)

Thanx for the reply :-) I will fight it and I'm lucky to have some support fro
Our wonderful sw who will attend with us. Our local councillor has been very good and she said she would present the case for us but I think it's better to come from me!!! I'm still hopeful re waiting list as we are 2nd and acceptance forms are not due in till 9th may! The fact that the school is on the border of 3 counties usually leads to about 10-15 places of movement (so the head has told us) xxx

It is definitely better coming from you than your local councillor.

Don't worry about being nervous. Most parents are. Appeal panels are used to it and will do their best to put you at ease.

Regarding the rules, I think it is unclear whether children are already excepted until the end of their time in infants or whether that only applies to children admitted from September 2013. Unfortunately we won't know for sure unless someone takes it to court.

Thanx again. You really don't know how much I appreciate all this information. You've all been fab :-) I am gonba speak to admissions again today (god they must be sick off me!!) and ask to go on 2 more waiting lists. For me in not bothered about ofsted etc but just my daughters safety. Let's hope we get somewhere. Am I right in thinking there is a second round of admissions as I heard someone say? What happens here???

Just to update that we are now on 4 waiting lists. 2nd for 2 of them and 3rd and 8th... So hopefully xx

That sounds promising, mossity.

2 of the schools are not ones I would ideally choose hence how we are at 2nd and 3rd place (there not catchment!) but it's a school place which is more favourable than no school at all :-)

I realise it's not what you ideally want, but it's a better (ie wiser) approach than putting all your eggs in the one appeals basket.

I just want a school lol... Any will do :-)

Going to view our 'allocated school" at 11! So glad we finally have one but i do have concerns that its a faith (catholic) school... hoping the head teacher will help with some of my concerns about this! Wish me luck!

It really is a good school but we had just never considered it as we are 'Gay' and im not sure how the ethos of the school will work with us.... im hoping it will be ok. Were still on waiting lists but i dont think i am going to appeal...