Need advice on appeal for school in new area year 2

[Somanychanges]

We have recently moved out of London with our two children to a village in Surrey. Our daughter already has a school place in the school we chose for her. However, for our son we had chosen the second closest school in the village as he has SN and this school just seemed perfect for him.

Before moving we visited all the schools in the area and this particular school stood out, not only us but also our son. It was lovely to see him so happy and relaxed there. The other schools we looked at were not suitable. The school in question has a special needs centre DS would not need to be in this centre as he is mainstream but they said he could benefit from using the facilities such as a sensory room etc.

We found out last week that he is 7th on the waiting list and that there are no spaces in any of the surrounding schools. When I talked to admissions yesterday it looks like he has been allocated a place at a school in another village which is a VA school so they are waiting on hearing back conformation from the school that they will take him, then we will receive a letter.

We are about to put in an application for appeal. My argument is that this school we have chosen meets our sons needs and that the surrounding schools don't and are not suitable (even though he has not been offered a place at any surrounding schools as they are full also) I have not been to see the school they are likely going to offer him as it was not one we considered as it is so far. But from the website it looks lovely but a very small village infant school and although I think these schools are lovely from experience they are usually too small to be equipped with dealing with SN as well as bigger schools.

So what I am trying to say is can I make a case that my son needs a local school and the only local school that is suitable is school we have chosen? The other two schools: 1 is by a busy junction and my son has a history of running away from school, so there is no way he can go there. 2 is open plan and my son could not possibly concentrate with being able to see many other classes going on around him, he has difficulty already when just in a closed room with his own class. Because of his sensory needs he was never taken to assembly's for example or neither did he ever line up at the beginning of the day as all the children in the playground and the chaos was a sensory overload for him. Therefore being in an open plan school would be his worst nightmare.

I have no experience of appeals and therefore have no idea what are acceptable arguments and what is likely to be accepted as a strong enough case. What I do know is my son has had a traumatic school life so far and this move was partly to ensure we make sure he has the right school and we are definitely not going to put him through the traumas he has experienced in the past of being in a school which just wasn't right for him. He is such a bright boy and can't wait to go to a new school but we have to make sure it will meet his needs. We are scared of putting him in a school which will not cope with his needs and therefore lead to him being distressed. There is nothing worse than being called to a school on numerous occasions because your 5 year old has escaped and run away because he is so unhappy there.

Please anyone with experience of appeals please can you give me some advice before my DH and I submit the appeal form as we are completely out of our depth. Thank you in advance and sorry I have mumbled on and probably not made much sense.

If it is a year 2 place, it may well fall under Infant class size regulations, which mean that by law they cannot have more than 30 in a class except for very limited circumstances.

Do you know the class size?

Can you get professional support for your appeal - doctor or specialist who can outline why only this school will do

Is he school action plus or statemented?

7th on waiting list I year 2 does not sound hopeful

I wouldn't necessarily rule out the tiny village Infant school. I know one near me (in Surrey) which coped very well with a girl with very complex SN, she then went on to a primary which was bigger and did have more resources which also helped her a lot. She is now in a specialist secondary (although another girl similarly disabled went to a local mainstream comprehensive).
Winning an appeal in KS1 is very very difficult. If he had a statement things might be different.

The big question, as lougle indicates, is whether or not this is an infant class size appeal. If they have 30 in each Y2 class it is an ICS appeal. In order to win you would need to show that the LA has made a mistake which has denied your son a place (unlikely) or that the decision to refuse admission was unreasonable. It is very difficult to persuade an appeal panel that a decision is unreasonable although it might be worth a try. You can also put forward the points in your post - you might be lucky and get a sympathetic appeal panel who will be prepared to bend the rules to admit your son.

The other option would be to get a statement of SEN for your son. You would be able to choose the school named on the statement and in most circumstances the LA would have to accept your choice. The school named on the statement must admit your son by law. That, of course, depends on the LA agreeing that your son's needs are sufficient to justify a statement.

Hi, thanks for the replies so far. To answer your questions:

The classes are only made up of 25 in order to allow the children from the SN centre to be able to be integrated at times to these classes. It is a 3 form entry school so quite large for a village school but made up of separate infant and junior and has masses of space so does not feel big. I know that the current what is going to be year 2 has already had some successful appeals in the past so they are actually over the 25 pupil number in that particular year group.

We definitely will consider the school offered to us and will go and have a look but as it is not even in this village and I will already be driving to another location in this village to drop my daughter to school bus it probably is not going to work having a school so far away.

He was on school action plus (although I have never heard this term used) I think and has always had an IEP. We were going down the statementing route at his old school but the first application was turned down as he is working at an above average level in most things academically. However he has always needed full time one to one support which the previous school provided without a statement. We now have to start the application again for a statement in this borough. Obviously a statement would help his case a lot as he would jump to the top of the waiting list. But these things take ages and I cannot see that being anytime soon.

I suppose I could speak to his consultant in London to see if he could write a letter on his behalf but to be honest we have been referred over now from his care and will be waiting to see a specialist in this borough. Plus he never was very helpful when I asked him for such letters in the past to help with statement he just said to include his diagnosis reports.

If Surrey is only offering you a place at this other school then they should provide you with school transport (assuming it is more than 2 miles away). This is usually via a minibus with CRB'd driver, but could be a specialist Taxi, depending on special needs.

On the map it says the other school is 4.3 miles away.

So what kind of evidence is enough? I never asked for school records before we left so don't have logs of all his running away instances and the extra care he needed at school etc. but I do have report of diagnosis from his Consultant, reports from educational psychologist from school and report of his sensory needs from the Occupational Therapist.

Apart from that it will be myself and my husband declaring his needs etc

I think maybe the 25 or just over in a class should stand us in good stead if we can win the appeal.

Are the initials of the school EW? Is there a junior school on the same site? I think I know the school, and if I'm right I think you will succeed at appeal. Lots have recently.

Yes that's the school hairy

Ok, I think you will be fine, emphasis the school specialisms, as in the unit and access to oT, SALT etc in your appeal. However be aware that the classrooms were built for 22 and are feeling very small now that most classes are at least 26! All current Y2 classes are at least that. I'm out now hence brief response, PM me if you want!

In terms of the SEN Unit, the ICS regs say that:

"11. A child who is normally educated in a unit which forms part of the school and is specially organised to provide education for pupils with special educational needs, but spends a minority of their time in the infant class."

Is an excepted pupil.

However, you do have to consider the impact of a class of 25 children in a room built for 22, plus other children from the SEN Unit on top.

I would be interested to know how many of those children in the unit are in the same year and how many would be likely to come into the year 2 classroom, as well as how frequently. I'd also want to know if there would be extra adult presence at those times and how much adult presence. Every 'body' in a class reduces the space.

Lougle - I do know the specific answers for those questions but putting the, up will out me in a big way! If you, or the OP, want to know I can PM.

Somanychanges, HairyMaclary seems to have some useful info for you

Thank you everyone, has been a busy weekend so just getting a chance to come back on MN now.

HairyMaclary I have sent you a PM