Appeal to a faith school

[7fostermum]

Please help, I am a foster parent and want my foster daughter to attend the local faith school. The school she currently attends is a terribly underachieving school which is not near where we live, she is now with us long-term, she is due to start Year 4 in September. The best school locally is a catholic school. We have applied and been turned down because they already have 30 in the class. The process would usually be that she would take priority as she is a LAC but because it is a faith school their rules can change. Any tips with our appeal??

Experts will be along no doubt, but I think that faith school also have to give priority to LAC under the admissions legislation. What does the school's admissions policy say? Also, the 30 max per class is only for Key Stage 1.

Sadly they do not have to give looked after children priority, some round here only do it for children of the same faith. Shame on them.

Thanks JWIN, Their priority is LAC's but they have some different rules around class sizes, I can't find anywhere what those rules are though.....and how to get around them.

I think lopsided is wrong. The appeal may be heard by a denominational appeals board rather than the LEA is the main difference.

Thanks lopsided. This particular school gives priority to LAC's and as I understand it do have to take a percentage of other faiths, they are only turning her down on class size where they are allowed their own rules.

Happy to be corrected :) it might depend whether it is VA or VC?

Thanks mummytime, that is how I understand it too.

VA or VC......sorry, what does this mean?

The pupil admission number (PAN) is set by the school if voluntary aided or LA if voluntary controlled or community. However you can still appeal for a place even if a successful appeal for your DC means the class going over the PAN. You will be arguing on 'prejudice' basis - that the prejudice to the school is outweighed by the prejudice to your child in not geting a place at the school because - list positive reasons why the school is right for your child. Childcare and distance will not be relevant.

OMG JWIN, thank you....but can I pick your brains a little more....
"arguing on a prejudice basis...." what can my arguments be??
She is a model student, she is not fulfilling her potential at school she is in and never will, there are other local schools which are as bad as the one she is in so I don't want her going there, so will not be arguing the distance thing.
I'm just not sure what to say. x

Just give me the children to look after and I'm fine, give me some paperwork and I haven't a clue where to start!

Look at everything the school can offer her, she needs stability, good pastoral care and a local friend base now she is to be long term fostered.

Look at clubs and other things within the schools ethos that will support your dfd and help her to settle and develop. Identify any clubs that this school offers that aren't offered by any other local schools and find out if they are of particular benefit to dfd (like aa athletics club if she is a strong athlete, music club/lessons if she is a musician), does the school have any specialist support in place for children who have had difficult starts in life or have suffered loss like an in school councillor. It is things like this that can win you an appeal as you can show why this school, and only this school is right for dfd.

Stay away from anything about childcare, transport or academics, these will not be able to be taken into account by the panel as parents are expected to deal with childcare and transport issues and all schools are expected to offer the same academic levels (even if we know in reality this it's not true, they have to see all schools as equal in this respect)

You are appealing for this school not against her current or any other school so do not rubbish or criticise her current or any other school (this can but the back up the panel, you have no idea if a pannelmamber has a child at one of these other schools!). Stick to reasons why this school is right for dfd and only this school.

Find out how big the class rooms are, have any other year groups in the past gone above 30 (I bet they have) and if so did this negatively effect the results or the school in any way.
When you put in your appeal you will receive paperwork that will state the schools case against admission, you can then use this to build your case, For example, if they say that public areas of the school will be over crowded and dangerous ask if there have ever been any accidents as a result of over crowding in the hall ways.

The school have to give you any reasonable information you ask for that will help you build your case and that is how you will get most of the answer to the questions I have suggested. You will need to state a basic case when you put in the appeal paperwork but you can add to and expand on this afterwards but don't arrive at the hearing with any big its of new information as you may find they will adjourn the hearing to give everyone the chance to go through it.
If you can get statements from your dfd social worker supporting why this school would be the best for her and also if she has any medical needs or a councillor get them to write an supporting letter but make sure that they are in their own words, not '7fostermum tells me that this school will be best for dfd' but rather 'In my professional opinion dfd needs to go to X school because of Y and z'

As this is not an infant class size case (YR to Y2) and not bound by the legal class size of 30 you stand more chance of winning this appeal. I imagine that a panel would be very sympathetic to you but you must prove that the balance of prejudice means that by not going to this school your dfd will be more disadvantaged then the school would be by taking on another pupil in the class.

I hope I have made sense and sorry it is a really long post. I hope one (or more) of the MN admission experts will come along and give you some of their trademark excellent and clear advice. I wish you well with this, keep us informed and any questions please ask and hopefully somebody will be able to help. Don't be put off with the fact it is a church school and 'they make their own rules', yes they have their own admissions criteria but the panel must be independent and they still have to stick to the admissions code.

X-post with one of the fabled admissions experts who of course has put it all far more succinctly!

They DO have to give priority to looked after children regardless of whether they are VA (Voluntary Aided - amongst other things that means they can set their own admission criteria) or VC (Voluntary Controlled - the admission criteria are set by the LA). However, the rules are a little different. They must give first priority to looked after children of the faith (I'll stick with "Catholic children" for the rest of this answer as it makes it easier to understand and this is a Catholic school). Non-Catholic looked after children must be higher priority than any other non-Catholic children (unless they lump all non-Catholic children together in a single admissions category) but can be lower priority than all Catholic children.

They are NOT allowed to set their own rules on class sizes. In Reception, Y1 and Y2 they must operate with classes of no more than 30 children per teacher (although there are a few exceptions). After that there is no legal limit. They should still operate to the same PAN (minor correction to JWIM - it stands for Published Admission Number) for each year so, in this case, there will still be 30 children in each year unless an appeal panel admits some more.

You should find out if any of the classes in Y3, Y4, Y5 or Y6 currently has more than 30 pupils. If it does, you should point this out in the hearing as it suggests the school can cope with larger classes.

To make a case about prejudice to your foster daughter you need to show why this is the right school for her and she will be disadvantaged if she is not admitted. She may be a model student but that is not relevant. Saying she won't fulfil her potential at her current school and that other local schools won't help your appeal and may hinder. You are appealing for this school. You are not appealing against other schools. Talking about how bad the other schools are does not give the panel a reason to admit her and, if one of the panel has a child at your daughter's current school, for example, may put their backs up.

You need to look for features of the Catholic school that are missing from her current school and would be of particular benefit to your foster daughter. To use an example I've used before, if your daughter is musically talented and the Catholic school has a school band but the current school does not, that would be worth mentioning.

Fostermum - if this helps with paperwork...

Something like... my foster daughter has not had the best start in life, but certainly deserves the opportunities afforded to children who have been nurtured consistently from birth. What I am sure , St Do-Dah's offers her, is the chance to be nurtured and educated as a whole person, to develop in a faith system that has been around for over 2000 years, and to fulfill her potential as a human being a precious child of God/Jehovah/the Church of Scientology.
She has always aimed to please others, to do her best and to strive for excellence in everything that she does. Whilst I aim to always do my best with her as an experience foster-carer, I am not a teacher and I know that the professionalism and expertise of the teachers at St Do-Dah's would greatly enhance her learning opportunities and give her one more boost to her self-worth that we all know each child deserves, whatever their start in life.

Hope that helps. I've had a beerr.

You need to look at the admission policy. Each school has its own criteria and most will have looked after children in first criteria or at the top. However if the class size is 30 your daughter will have to go on a waiting list I believe.

ALL schools must have looked after children as their top admissions category. However, faith schools are allowed to limit this to looked after children of the faith (see my earlier post for a fuller explanation). The OP has clearly already looked at the admission criteria for this school and has told us that they do prioritise looked after children. However, as the school is full and we are outside the normal admissions round, that simply means her foster daughter should be at or near the head of any waiting list. It does not get her a place.

The class size limit of 30 only applies in Reception, Y1 and Y2. The OP wants a place in Y4. Her foster daughter has not been awarded a place as the school is already full but the OP can still win an appeal on the grounds that the prejudice to her foster daughter through not being admitted outweighs the prejudice to the school through having an additional pupil. She is entitled to go on the waiting list but that is not the only way she may be able to get a place.

I agree with all that tiggytape and prh47bridge have said.

Do you have current involvement with social services? If so, a letter from your child's social worker setting out the benefits of attending the appeal school - better pastoral care, being closer to home, making local friends and settling better into the home area, whatever it may be - could strengthen your case. Make sure that any letters you submit are clearly the opinion of professionals, rather than something that merely says "7fostermum tells me that ..."

Thank you soooo much everyone, you have all raised some brilliant tips. Well, Appeals Process here I come, I shall let you all know the outcome. x

The correct process is as PRH and others describe. You have not got a place because the admission number of 30 has been reached. You do need to go to appeal, where you absolutely need to play the LAC card for all it is worth. I know that many like your self do not want to make a fuss about things but this is one occasion where you do need to put down your strongest hand. Think in terms of what you are doing is for the benefit of your foster child, not you her and she deserves the best.
Get a really strong letter from your social worker, it must be her opinion and be an opinion that St XXXX is the most appropriate school for foster daughter given the many issues that she has had to face up to.

Having said what you should do officially, do you know the priest? If you do tap him up about foster daughter being admitted to the school. Believe me things sometimes happen if the priest is in favour, that would or should never happen.

Good luck!

I think the thing is to appeal at what they DO offer, rather than what is lacking at her present school.