Appeal advice please

[wendycj]

We're appealing for our first choice school (got our fourth) on the basis of my son's speech and language problems, for which he's had an initial assessment and referral since we originally applied.

Today (11 June) we got an invitation to an appeal hearing (letter dated 10 June - unusually efficient post!) on 23 June. Everything I've read, including on the local authority's own website, says you should have 10 school days notice of an appeal. However you calculate it, this doesn't add up to 10 school days - 7 at best. At first I thought it was good to get it over asap but I actually think we do need a bit more time to ensure we've got all our information together. The council says they will send a set of papers, including an outline of the school's case to follow. So first of all I guess we should definitely ask for a later date.

The school has a PAN of 28, which is in our favour as it's not an infant class size appeal. It also has a very good reputation for being an inclusive school, has a partnership with a school for disabilities, Ofsted praises it on all those elements, all of which we used in our appeal statement. And we have the speech and language report and also results from a hearing test which showed he did have some hearing loss. Is there anything else we need to specifically show/think about? I want to find out why their class size is 28 - presumably size of classrooms etc and whether any of the other infant classes have admitted more than 28.

We are currently fourth on the waiting list and only 0.29 miles away (it's an inner London borough) so am hoping we might get in through this before we have to go through with the appeal. But any advice/encouragement/assessment of our prospects from anyone in the know would be more than welcome. Has anyone ever won an appeal on similar grounds, as successful appeals seem extremely thin on the ground?

Thanks all

You can ask for a later date on the basis that you are not willing to waive your right to 10 school days notice. Personally I would try to stick with the date they've given unless it really isn't possible to be ready but it is entirely up to you.

With a PAN of 28 you have a decent chance of success. The main thing you need to worry about is making the best possible case as to why your son needs a place. There is a reasonable chance the appeal panel will think they can admit two more pupils unless the classrooms are really small, so you need to make sure your child is one of them.

My main worry with your case as described is that you seem to be saying that your child has speech and language problems, and this school is in partnership with a school for disabilities. As that stands it seems a fairly weak case. You need to show why your son's problems mean he needs a place at this school. What is it this school will give him that the allocated school won't. Being in partnership with a school for disabilities suggests they may have things in place that will help your son but you need to identify what they are.

As Prh says it's important to state why this school is the one you need for your son. Does the ofsted say anything specific? In our appeal we used info from the ofsted which stated how the foundation stage was excellent at dealing with children with speech difficulties. We also had a letter from his speech therapist stating that he needed to be in a familiar environment around people he knew (as he had a sibling there and went to attached preschool) and so not having a place at the school may be detrimental to his progress. Good luck.