Infant class size appeal

[Fanon]

Hi, I am considering appealing for our second choice school and would be grateful if someone knows the answer to my question. Our appeal would be on the basis that the measurement used disregarded a small section of our road that is pedestrianised, increasing the journey time by a minute or two.
The school has a larger intake this year and would not normally take children from our road I don't think. On a basic online mapping tool we are about 40m too far the long way round and about 50m closer that the last child offered a place the quicker way.
Someone is very kindly going to find the exact distance door to door for me, but I wonder if its possible to get the route that was used to determine distance? I'm not sure if it's the school or LA who actually do the measurements? Thanks

I'm assuming you have already checked that it is done on walking route and note as the crow flies?

Is it definitely "shortest walking route" not "as the crow flies"?

If your road is re measured, there may be many children, not just you, who now qualify and then the appeal panel will have to judge between them.

Hi, thanks for answering. It's shortest walking route.
I think my measurement would be unlikely to change position of anyone else as there are only a few houses going that way.
It's in London, and just paved over for traffic safety I think, it really is the only way anyone would walk.

I just wish they would send you a little map with their route (asking a bit much, I know )

If you appeal they will include a map with their route in the appeal documentation. If you ask them they may be able to supply the map immediately (or at least give you a verbal description of the route used).

Oh great, that's just what I wanted to know. Thanks

If it is walking route though, your own measurements may differ according to how the council defines walking route. Some choose to use only 'proper' roads with pavements and lighting and won't include some footpaths for example. This may seem unfair but as long as they apply the same rule to everyone, this is acceptable.

Not sure that that's right. We have a path near us which is regularly used, well lit and accessible which cuts quite a lot off the route to a nearby school. A neighbour found that the council wasn't taking the path into account because they only use 'proper' routes, challenged them on it and won. The appeal panel found that "nearest safe walking route" means exactly that. The rest of us have benefited from that finding.

You do need to ask the right questions because some LAs seem to only favour roads and routes that a car can go down.
I did an appeal last year where the literally direct route from house to school was down one road but because it was a rat run for cars had been blocked up at two places. When I say blocked up that was for cars and in both places there was a lit pathed footpath in place. The distance measured was three sides round the rectangle whereas the walking route was the fourth side of the rectangle. As a panel given the appellant presented compelling pictorial evidence of the available route, we decided that the LA had made a mistake in not using that route and awarded a place. But it has to be said that each case has to be taken on their individual merits, you can not make assumptions.

Thank you Icimoi and admission, both your posts are very reassuring.
It sounds almost exactly like the situation you described admission.

Could anyone explain to me the second stage of an ICS appeal. I have looked at the Admissions code, but am a little confused regarding what I would need to prove to succeed?

You need to prove that a mistake has been made regarding distance from school. That should be enough to win your appeal unless a lot of children were affected and the school can't take them all. In that case the appeal panel will have to decide which children to admit. You therefore also need to make a case as to why your child needs this particular school.

Thank you prh47bridge, that's good to know.
I'm going to go ahead and appeal. It's a four form entry school and the route I believe they should of used would only affect a handful of houses, so I'm hopeful.
Also hoping that as the school is so big there will be plenty of movement and we may get a place from the waiting list and not need to appeal.
Thanks again for the advice, it's really helped!

Just adding a link to this new thread where the OP happily announces a successful result, in case anyone on this thread doesn't spot it.

Thank you again Fishwithabicycle, very kind!