Junior School Appeal. Help Please!

[mel71]

Hi there,
I have a junior school appeal ( son in YR 3 at the moment and going into YR 4 in September) on the 20th of July. I have just received the paperwork. It basically says they can't have another child due to class room sizes, poor lighting, staggered breaks due to there not being enough playground space, not enough computers, not enough resources etc. They have four classes per year group and have gone one over in at least two classes per year.
My reasons for appeal are that he needs a local school in order to make local friends. He went to a community school before ( we moved at the end of March) and he is not making friendships due to the distance of the school he currently attends.
The school I want to appeal for is very structured - again what he is used to and thrives in. Current school has a very creative curriculum and call the headmaster by his first name. He is academic ( level 4 currently in all subjects ) He is a bit lost in this environment.
My youngest will be attending a primary school next door to the school we are appealing for. He is an ' atopic ' child. Asthma, hayfever and currently being tested for nut allergy. I needed him at local school should he become ill as forty minutes is too far to travel should I need to pick him up urgently. I also have arthritis in my hip and the seven miles per day walking is not helping.
Do I stand a chance at all!? Help!

Yes, you have a chance.

If they have gone over PAN in Y3 to Y7 previously, you should point this out. It suggests they can cope with one or two additional children in those years.

Needing your youngest at a local school is not really relevant. Many parents have to cope with children in different schools that are some distance apart and this is not something the panel can consider.

You can certainly raise your arthritis, ideally supported by a letter from your doctor about the effect of this much walking.

Be careful about how you approach your son's academic abilities. If the panel get the impression you are saying he is too good for his current school that won't help you. But you can certainly talk about his need for a more structured environment than that provided by his current school and suggest that his social development is being damaged by going to a school that is some distance away.

If there is anything else about the local school that would be of particular benefit to your son it is worth bringing it up. For example, if he is musical and the local school has a band but the current school does not, that would help your appeal.

It is then up to the panel to decide whether the problems your son will face if not admitted outweigh the problems the school will face if they have an additional pupil. That is entirely down to their judgement. I can't predict how this will turn out but you definitely have a chance of winning.

Many thanks for the advice. If I could pick your brains further I would be eternally grateful.
As I said previously their reasons for not admitting him are that they are cramped. I have been told today that the school actually used to be five form entry and is now four. Can I bring that up in the appeal? As in the school has not expanded but used to cope with an extra class of 32?
I have also been told today that the year group he is going into actually has the largest classrooms and there are plans to make the yr 5 and 6 classrooms larger to accommodate the children ( although this is not public knowledge yet ) Is it worth mentioning that?
Also a number of us have been pondering the reason of not having enough natural light and having to use electric lighting? Why would they use that as a reason?
They used staggered breaks as a reason but apparently this has always been the case and it is more for connivence rather than health and safety.
I am going to be using his social development as the main reason for needing a place. As in being used to attending a local community school in order to establish local friendships and to settle into the area. As well as needing a more structured approach to his education.
I had hoped for a letter from the DR regarding my arthritis but I am in the strange position of a private firm taking over my surgery and all the doctors leaving. Currently we have locums and a lovely one promised to write a letter but did not. Ho hum.
Thank you again again for your help.

Go and ask the DR again. Turn up at the surgery and give a letter to a receptionist and explain the problem. Perhaps they can persuade the locum to do it for you.

The format for appeals is such that all the things that you mention in your original post are more or less guaranteed to be in any admission appeal that happens. It is nothing specific to your appeal it is what generically the admission authority normally put down as they have to show why admitting an extra pupil would prejudice the school.
You need to pursue the question of class room sizes at the appeal in the first stage. If you are correct that the class rooms for year 4 are the biggest and that they are all of reasonable size (52sq metres plus) then you can argue that as they have admitted to two of the four classes there is no issue with admitting a further pupil to one of the two classes without a 31st pupil. If the school used to have 5 classes per year group that means that there are an extra 4 classrooms in the school and it would be perfectly valid to ask what they are being used for. I have no doubt that they are being used for things like a library, intervention room and possibly even an expanded staff room, so not possible to use as classrooms but by pointing it out you are again suggesting to the panel that this is a school with plenty of room for one further pupil. Staggered breaks, not enough resources and computers are absolutely what is expected to be said. Use of electric lights is a red herring and should just be ignored, unless some classrooms have no external lighting when it would become an issue.
Bringing up the potential increase in sizes of the classrooms for year 5 and 6 is a potential double edged sword, if they are small now the admission authority can use that as a reason not to admit. So can I suggest that you ask the question of the size of the year 4/ 5 and 6 classrooms as one question. You can then go back and ask why the admission authority think there is a problem in year 4 as they are the biggest classrooms to make that point. If the year 5/6 classrooms are 50 sq metre plus (and therefore are already capable of taking 30) then ask if it is correct that there is a plan to extend these and then you can again make the point that they are creating more space for pupils. If however the classrooms are small, do not ask about extension of the classroom. Though the panel may well ask if there are intentions to carry out any changes to the school.
It is possible that the appeal panel may think that the admission authority has not made sufficiently good case to show prejudice and therefore admit at stage 1, but it is far more likely that you will need to go to stage 2 ,where you illustrate your own personal reasons for wanting a place. However the more you damage the admission authority case in stage 1 the less prejudice you have to overcome in stage 2 with your personal reasons. So it is worth attacking the authorities case in stage 1.

Thank you!! I think I have the doctors letter sorted :S I also have a letter from his former school ( the family liaison officer ) She said she will say that he went to a local / community based school before. That he is a shy boy and that local friendships / tea dates etc really benefited his social development. Would it be okay to submit and will it rub them up the wrong way?
Thanks again!

You won't rub anyone up the wrong way by submitting this letter. It is up to the appeal panel to decide how much weight to give it.

Well just had the appeal and could not possibly tell you how it went. They seemed to keep bringing up his present school. For instance they asked if I had approached his present school about structure. So I gave an example of how spelling tests work there. They learn spellings at home and then have to go in and ask to be tested. My little boy is too shy to ask and has only been tested once in a term. He came home with another set and knew them all. I went in the next day to tell them this and the teachers response was she is too busy to test him at the moment. So he was not tested again.
I was asked about local friendships - I told them that nobody lives in our part of town who goes to the school. I gave the example that he had started cubs. They called out on the day he started to the cubs group if anyone goes to his current school. Nobody did. I said he is shy and needs to build local friendships.
They asked about how he was doing academically - I told them his results.
They asked about my arthritis. They also asked how I was going to get from one school to another in time. They asked about bus fares and about the youngests health problems.
All the things that I thought did not carry weight - so totally confused.
They asked how the school was coping with additional children. No real problems at the moment the council told them and no children on statements.
Hey ho - I shall know by friday next week.

Won the appeal! Reasons for winning : My youngest not being able to walk that distance and also my health. Both reasons I did not think would be taken into account! Thank all for the help!

Good news. I hope that your children will be happy in the schools they will be attending.