Can I link an in-year transfer appeal and infant class size appeal?

[HumphreyB]

Hello,
We are moving town and the local school is full (one class is already at 32, the other at 30) so my children (going into Y2 and Y4 in Sept.) have been offered places at another school in same town. I am planning to appeal but my grounds are more personal circumstances than administrative errors. I am aware we can only appeal once each academic year and am wondering if I would give my younger child a better chance if I appeal for her AFTER appealing - and hopefully succeeding - in getting my older child in? Will the younger one then be able to cite 'sibling at the school' as a grounds for appeal under infant class size rules? The LGO Fact sheet say "If the admissions authority has made a mistake in applying the admissions criteria which means you have been wrongly denied a place, then the panel will uphold the appeal. Such mistakes might be not taking account of a sibling at the school...." ?The Admissions Authority- when making the decision to refuse her a place on infant class size limits in August - were not in a position to know she would have an older sibling there a month or two later, but once the older sib gets in, and I inform the Admissions Authority of this change of event, does anyone with experience of appeals think I could then effectively re-apply and/or appeal for the younger one on these grounds? Would really appreciate the views of anyone out there that may have experience of this sort of thing. Thank you.

Hello and thank you for taking the time to reply. I had thought it rather far fetched, but as many a parent does in the middle of the night...you hit on thoughts that just may 'swing it' in favour of your child. It takes an outsider, with a cool, level head, no emotional attachment, to give some perspective. It's really good of you to do that, thank you again. My Yr 2 child is currently top of the waiting list, but it is one of those schools where people rent closer and closer to the school to get in so even though we are 2 streets away, you can constantly get bumped down the list. Now to focus on getting my Year 4 child in on appeal, as that's her only hope - yr 4 is at 32 possibly 33 and there are 2 people ahead of her on the waiting list based on distance to the school. I've read through some stuff on Mumsnet and have begun drafting her case but it doesn't feel particularly strong to me- not sure if that's just how I'm presenting it or if it's because it's not a very strong case fullstop. It sounds like you have experience in the field and I wondered if it would be asking too much for you to take a look at it and give me some pointers?

Thank you for the pointers and yes, will focus on the yr 4 appeal. Our reasons are mainly to do with local community and also the fact that the girls lost first their father (through divorce) and then their grandmother - who lived with us for much of the time - a few months later. Our closest friends/surrogate grandmother lives near the school and therefore being part of that area/community, not another part of the town, is what is important from an emotional stability point of view. "Surrogate" grandma has said she would happily be involved in the girls' afterschool life (eg. collecting them from school and doing homework with them etc) but due to mobility problems (70 yrs old) can only do that if she can walk to the school...and this is the only school within walking distance. Our whole reason for moving is to get into a smaller closer knit community with people nearby that know and love the girls. If this is valid, it is my strongest argument for that school - it's location and the community within which it resides.

In terms of what the school offers (apart from its location, outstanding education and, according to Osted," outstanding levels of personal development and well-being of the children"), I would need to research further to get a feel for the after school clubs and set up/resources at the school. There are things my daughter is interested in that the school clubs may offer (piano,cooking, gymnastics) She's not especially talented at any of them, but does enjoy them very much! How do I find out about whether the school is set up to do these types of things better than the school she has been offered, is it simply a matter of reviewing ofsted reports? Also if the school she has been allocated also offers these things is it still worth citing them as part of the rationale?

Great advice.... will use Ofsted references just where relevant and I certainly didn't know I had the right to information when preparing an appeal. I read somewhere that if the school has run classes at 30+ successfully, then that is good for the appeal case...shows they can operate under the extra strain without dire consequences. I will be hitting them with questions on that first day back at school as well as the extra curricular stuff. You've been incredibly helpful to me, thank you...not the most fun way to spend a Saturday night i know?!