Help_ I need a strong appeal case

[azighandi]

My son wasn't given a place at any of my choices, instead the furthest school in my borough. It is impossible for me to take him there. I leave in Wanstead and the school is in fair lop, I work in chancery lane.
my husband works overseas and I have no family in London to help me with school run/child care, and I don't even drive so it means I need to allow 2 hrs every morning to take him on the underground and to school before I go to work.
English is not my first language so I need help in writing an impressive and strong appeal letter please.

Please help

Get him on waiting lists azighandi and you've nothing to lose by accepting the place for now.

Can't really advise on letter but hopefully PanelChair should be on in a bit.

Get him on waiting lists azighandi and you've nothing to lose by accepting the place for now.

Can't really advise on letter but hopefully PanelChair should be on in a bit.

Transport difficulties are really common and not usually seen as grounds for appeal. Wait for the appeals experts to post but in the meantime, can you start looking into childcare options, do you know any other local parents you can share with, if you learned to drive would that help?

Is the school more than two miles away? If so the LEA is supposed to help with transport.

Sorry, I should have written "grounds to WIN an appeal"

Thanks

Get on waiting lists! Are there any schools not necessarily in your borough which would be more convenient? Try getting him on those waiting lists too. Do not panic.
The appeal unless it isn't an Infant Size one, will be pretty much impossible.
Unfortunately logistics are never enough grounds.
Do accept the place - rejecting it will do no good.

You do not appeal against the school you do not like, you appeal for the one/s you want.

So firstly, do the appealed-for schools hav entrance numbers of 30 (or multiples) (or mixed classed, meaning sometimes 15 and multiples). If so the appeal will be under infant class size rules (ICS) because the law states the limit of 30 children per teacher.

Transport difficulties (unless the pupil, or sometimes but not everywhere the main carer, has documented mobility issues) will carry no weight at appeal. Sorry, you won't want to hear that, but they are simply not a factor.

As others have said, a lot will depend on whether this is an Infant Class Size appeal. Most schools in London admit in multiples of 30, so if the schools for which you applied of this, the appeal would be an ICS appeal. That means that you would win only if you could demonstrate that there had been an error in the admissions arrangements that had deprived your child of a place.

Do you think there has been an error? Or have you just missed out because the schools were oversubscribed and you did not live close enough to qualify for a place?

Difficulties with the school run are not normally the basis of a winning appeal, and certainly not in an ICS appeal. You need to join waiting lists for any school you would find acceptable - and perhaps even apply for new schools - and investigate whether you can (for example) find a childminder who would take your child to school.

I'm sorry I can't be more encouraging.