infant school appeals

[jobbers1]

Hi I wonder if anyone can advise. My Son hasn't been given a place for the Reception class starting in September where his older sibling attends. He is currently in the Nursery and we will be appealing. My son has special educational needs but not enough to be given a statement of education. A boy in the current Nursery class has got a statement of education and was awarded a place at the School but he will be attending a special needs School 2 days a week, which means the class will only have 29 pupils these 2 days. I have been advised from one of the companies that deal with School appeals there could be a loophole, but they charge so much money to attend the appeal we cannot justify paying this when they still cannot guarantee a place for him. We are desperate as my son has only just started to settle into the Nursery and is making some improvements, but taking him out of an enviroment he knows and loves will be heartbreaking. The School is a voluntary aided Catholic School. Thanx

There is no loophole there. The boy will be registered at the Mainstream School and registered as 'educated off site' on the two days per week that he attends Special School.

What you can do is check the admission criteria for the school and check that you are in the right category. ie. If there is a sibling link priority and the last pupil was admitted on distance, then there has been a mistake.

Do you think that your DS's needs are significant enough that only this school will do?

This boy would be an excepted pupil (which means he would not count towards the infant class size limit) if he was spending most of his time in the special needs school. As he is not this doesn't help you. As Lougle says, you need to see if you can identify a mistake that deprived your son of a place.

thanx for replying. I am Catholic myself but my two boys are not, so my understanding of the admission policy is he wasn't given a place as the places were filled with Catholic children living in the catchment area. I asked the church if I could change their religion but was told children cannot change, so accepted this. Upon checking the admission policy they can offer a letter advising they have been accepted into the Catholic church. My son struggles with his communication skills and misbehaves when confronted with enviroments he doesn't know, so we are really worried a new school will knock his confidence and it will take his education backwards as it would take so long getting used to the new teachers. The appeal date is approaching fast and we feel the decision will be a NO! due to infant class sizes and funding. Do you have any advice.

I think that the religion clause is going to be irrelevant, unless the church in question is connected with the school in question. If, for instance, you realised that there was some sort of points system and you also discovered that the person who told you that nothing could be done was also a person who sat on the Governing body of the school and had part in the decision making process of who qualifies as 'Catholic enough', then you could claim maladministration on the basis that there was a route to admission that you were not allowed to pursue by someone who had a vested interest in the outcome. However, it sounds like the onus would have been on you to note the admission clause which allows for a letter of acceptance and to approach the church to ask for that. Depending on the criteria, you may find that children baptised before 6 months are prioritised even then.

With regard the SEN element, was there a 'special medical/social' clause? If so, did you apply under that criteria and did you offer supportive evidence? The bar is set incredibly high for success under that criteria. You would really need a letter (submitted at the time) that this school was the only school that is suitable for your DS, for x, y, z reasons, from someone like a Paediatrician. It wouldn't be enough to say 'DS needs a small school' or 'needs a familiar environment'. It would have needed to be very specific. Bear in mind that he will be in primary phase for 7 years, so it will not be very convincing that he will struggle that much with the change if his needs are speech and language alone. Many children are a bit naughty if they are uncomfortable and most schools will deal with that.

Thanx once again. I'm trying to get ready for the actual appeal and I needed to get all my facts right. I do have lots of supporting evidence from Educational Psychologists, speech and language therapists and Hospital reports. The sen team have advised as there is a lack of evidence!!!! they will not start a statutory assessment, but they feel he needs to be closely watched.

I do understand my son can be educated in any school. But the school is so small he is friends with many children and is well known due to his brother, they understand he has problems and everyone has helped. We really don't want him to be unsettled anymore.

To be honest if there is no mistake in the admission process and it sounds like there was not, then as the admission appeal is an infant class size appeal then you will be very unlikely to win at appeal.
There is no loophole for the admission expert to exploit, the other child will be dual registered and as such will be counted for admission purposes at the school.
If child has SEN then I suspect that your best bet is to get on the waiting list for the school but ask for a formal statutory assessment in writing. The SEN team advising that they will not start a formal assessment is more difficult to say if they have to reply in writing.

Did your evidence say that only this school would be appropriate and why?

Hi, thanx again for responding. The Sen Team wrote back recently to advise due to a lack of evidence they wouldn't carry out a statutory assessment at this time. But they do agree that my son needs to be closely monitored under School Action Plus. The Sen team also advised it is not up to them to decide if the current School my son attends is the only School right for him, unless he is statemented. They advised we should take this up with the appeal panel. So we are in a difficult situation with the Sen team not wanting anything more to do with my son.

That won't make any difference to the appeals panel. I perhaps wasn't clear in my question.

Did any of the evidence you submitted in support of your school place application state that the preferred school was the only suitable school for your DS, with reasons, and that attending any other school would be detrimental to him? Did it in any way indicate that the school was most suitable for him? Or did it simply detail the SEN your DS has?

Sorry I haven't responded earlier. The Sen letter only detailed that there was a lack of evidence and to continue with the school action plus, but a specific school isn't mentioned. They advised until he is given a statement it is not their responsibility, it is up to the appeal panel or accept that he will have to attend another school, regardless of the impact it will have on my son. After speaking with yourselves and doing loads of research I think my only option is to going along to the appeal and try to remain positive that they decide the decision to send my son elsewhere would be perverse. Thank you once again for responding and we will let everyone know what the decision is after the appeal