Junior School Appeal Info

[WannabeNigella]

Hi, a friends daughter hasn't been offered a place at the Junior School which is a natural progression from the infant school she attended. Both are out of their catchment area but she was lucky to get a place at the infant school but now it is time for them to move on to junior school and she hasn't got in.

She has missed out by literally inches as their next door neighbour has got her daughter in there and she has no additional reasons to get a place and has got one as she is inches closer as the crow flies.

She is 1st on the waiting list so hopefully will get in but the parents are preparing to go to appeal just in case.

So, I understand the infant class size rule but I am presuming a junior school also has a maximum capacity even if there is no maximum class size, am I right?

Most of their reasoning for appeal is based on the emotional impact it will have having to go to a school where she knows no one now that she has cemented friendships and got used to school life there etc. Also all their support network is people based at this school and she also attends after school clubs out of catchment area with all the friends she has made at her existing school etc.

I know this won't stand for a lot at appeal probably but we don't have a lot else. Has anyone got any pearls of wisdom or advice on the best way to go about this?

Thanks in advance.

The main difference between infant and junior is that the infant class size regs do not impact on any appeal. So there is no maximum of 30 pupils per school teacher or that only a mistake made by the admission authority will get you a place at appeal.
So whilst there will be a limit on the pupils allowed to be admitted into the juniors, typically still 30 or 60, at an appeal the emphasis is on the personal circumstances of the pupil and why they deserve a place at the school over the allowed limit. It is not unknown for junior classes to have 31 or 32 in them, so a question that needs to be considered is whether the school class rooms are big or not. If they are then that is an obvious reason why a further pupil could be admitted. If they are small, well the school will raise it as a reason for not admitting
You have mentioned the obvious reasons around friendship cohort and after school activities but you should also consider the difficulties potentially of going to the allocated school.

Thank you, that's a real help.