Another appeal question: Younger sibling with SEN

[justkeepwalking]

Hi

I have already raised an appeal for my logal school which we missed out on by about 100 meters. We are number 10 on the wait list of 31 however there are new houses being built closer to the school than us that will be occupied within a few months.

So, my eldest daughter is fit and healthy and I can't see that the admissions folk have made any mistakes. I am appealing based on our family situation as if my children were the other way around we would get in - my youngest has SEN. Obviously I want my children to be at the same school - they will be 2 school years apart.

My appeal points are;

• Daughters younger sister and mother are registered as disabled
• Mum has had treatment (operation/chemotherapy/radiotherapy) for aggressive breast cancer and still suffers from fatigue. A school that is close enough to walk to easily would be of great benefit. Cancer was genetic and has a very high risk of return. Future surgery in 3-5 years has been strongly recommended. When this operation goes ahead Child will need support from school and family and Mum will need a school close by to continue school drop-offs/collection.
• Younger sister, who will attend the same school, has special health requirements that will need dealing with during school hours. She has a genetic and degenerative disease called Cystic Fibrosis. The treatments are things such as physiotherapy, extra medications, and by the time she goes to school Parents may have to administer intravenous antibiotics during the school day (CF children have home IV?s when they are old enough so that disruption to normal life is less invasive). Mum would administer these and works from home so that she can be close at hand for this type of requirement. If Mum has to travel further this will have an impact on hours worked and hence reduce income.
• Child needs the support of knowing that the people around her understand what she has to endure so a Primary school would be much better than an Infant school as we wouldn?t have to explain the family situation too frequently. Child has enough change and uncertainty in her life so the school would offer a stable and comforting background for her when our family has to deal with future hospital stays (2 weeks at a time with younger sister) and difficult times.
• Walking to school would be good exercise for younger sister but too far to walk would be difficult when she is ill.
• Younger sister has to have frequent hospital stays of 2 weeks. During this time we need family support with child in terms of collection from school etc. Childs 3 cousins go to appealed School; 1 of which will be in the same class and so will also have a good understanding of what is happening within the family. Childs aunt will collect and take care of child whilst we are in hospital with younger child but to do this she will need to be at the same school as her cousins.

We realise that my daughters need to go to this particular Primary is based only on the benefits of attending a Primary rather than an Infant school, and the need for family to be able to help our family when we are in hospital. However her younger sister will naturally be going to the same school as this child and we will need her to go to this school for the reasons above.

I've been to see the head (back in Jan) and she does support us and says we have good reason to be at that school however there isn't much she can do - if anything. I can get health letters relating to me and my youngest but that's about it.

TBH I don't think they'll be able to get her in as the school is over-subscribed (which is why we didn't get in even though we're well within catchment) but I would like to see if they can do anything about our position on the waiting list.

The school is due to become an academy in September if this makes any difference.

Sorry it's a long one - I hope you can understand why this is important. I know some people have said that we don't know where we'll be when my youngest is school age but I do. With the health care team we have etc we have exceptional ties here so it isn't easy to up and move (even if we wanted to).

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

xx

I think the situation would be that you could use medical issue for the younger one when it is her turn to apply, and then your older one would use sibling priority to get to the top of the waiting list if you wanted to move her.

I know you say that you know you will still be there, but others could say that without meaning it.

My personal opinion is that you should get medical special circumstance for you, however one friend who has terminal breast cancer was told by the council that this wouldn't count, so I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Others have more experience than me so I may (hopefully) be totally wrong.

Is this school your catchment school at the moment? Where are all the other children going? What are they planning on doing with the children that will move into the new houses? Usually there is a plan that one or other school will accommodate additional children? Is there an equally accessible school in the other direction? Or are they putting in a bulge class somewhere?

Our case was slightly different. Older sibling attended an out of catchment infant school, and we got a younger sibling an sn place because it was a familiar environment and one of the sibling's would still be there. So for social reasons, despite the fact that her cerebral palsy meant that they had to get a fair amount of building work done. (the catchment primary school was accessible). We actually moved before juniors (got v used to changing health teams )

Not seen an appeal based on sn for a child without sn, tbh. Or on the potential for future medical concerns. I'm not sure the system is geared up to deal with anything but absolutes.

As a matter of interest, why is this the only school suitable for a child with cf? A care plan would be put in place to train and allow certain members of staff to administer medication via IV, so you shouldn't have to be worrying about school based care during your work hours?

Good luck, anyway.

Yes this is my catchment school. In fact we're in a super catchment area covering 4 schools and 3 of them are oversubscribed. The one that isn't has 1 space available. I've no idea what the plans are to accommodate the new children - how do I find that information out? I know there are no plans for bulge classes for the 4 super catchment area schools.

As for why that school for CF. Simply because she could always walk there even when she has a chest infection etc and, more importantly to me but I don't know that this has any bearing, because a primary school would offer greater continuity of care for her because she would be at the same place for longer (I have loads of reasons why a primary would be better than an infant school). Of the super catchment, this is the only primary.

I can understand the 'absolute' comment - I know it wouldn't be possible to look at each family case individually before allocating spaces.

We have looked at moving house to one of the new builds so that we're closer but we'd be paying more money for less house than we already have. I don't think that it the right answer for us.

I am afraid that your reasons for the appeal around your younger daughter should not have any weight at any appeal. That will be because it is impossible to tell what the situation will be in two years time and the appeal is about your elder child not your younger child and therefore the panel will have to give this little weight.
There is no harm in including that in the appeal as long as you do not base everything around that. I think you need to be looking much more to the issues around mum as the best way forward - they are now.
You may also be faced with the issue of the appeal being an infant class size regs case in which the only effective way of winning a place is to prove that a mistake has been made.
Sorry that I am not being very helpful but you do need to be realistic. For your younger daughter to be able to gain a place at the school due to SEN they will also need to have a statement and I would be looking to get that organised now as it usually takes a considerable amount of time.

Please don't bank your hopes on this, but alledgedly one child was admitted to our school (before our time there) on the basis of a younger sibling's SEN (and then the younger sibling went to special school!!). The school had some spaces asssigned for SEN with mobility issues as is all accessible, own nurse etc, so would be the school for this child. Some appeal panels obviously can be swayed by this, if you can demonstrate that dd2 would need to attend that school. I wouldn't mention your working hours, earnings etc. All schools seem to assume that parents are waiting by the phone at home to see if they will be called in for class assemblies, meetings, etc etc I'm sure though as admission says, the appeal panel shouldn't put too much emphasis on it.

As Admission says.

If this is an infant class size appeal (much discussed on the other current appeals threads) you have to focus on whether there has been a mistake or the admissions criteria are unreasonable. Arguments about the needs of a sibling are rarely taken into account and certainly not for an ICS appeal.

The other grounds on which ICS appeals can be won are where the decision to refuse a place is so unreasonable that it must be overturned. The burden of proof here is very high.

Your strongest argument, I think, is that your health needs make it unreasonable to expect you to take your child to any school apart from this one. You will need letters from health care professionals confirming that this is their professional opinion, too. That might convince the panel to admit your child, although it's certainly not a foregone conclusion.

If this isn't an ICS appeal you can bring in the other arguments but I wouldn't pin too much hope on them.

Another question is whether the school has an admissions category for social/medical need and whether that covers parents' needs as well as pupils'. If it does, that might get you into a higher admissions category and so higher on the waiting list (which of course is not the same as winning an appeal, and getting a place).

Hi, I can't really advise on your particular situation but just wanted to say that my 5yo DD (now in reception) also has cf. When I applied for a primary place last year I did so under the exceptional medical reason category and my LEA accepted her on that basis.

We live half way between 2 schools that don't have designated catchment areas and would probably have got in to either of them on distance alone. One school was most definitely better for her needs and so I wanted to make sure we had the best chance of getting in, which we did.

Good luck with your appeal, fingers crossed you can find appropriate grounds within the smallprint of the admission criteria.