Appeal help for a Year 4 place

[tumbleweed99]

We are planning an appeal for a Year 4 place and any help would be greatly appreciated! We recently moved to London and needed a Year 4 and Year 2 place. We have been offered a Year 2 place at a local school but my older daughter has been offered another school nearly 2 miles away. We prefer the local school so have accepted the Year 2 place. Once she starts we will get sibling priority but we are thinking of appealing for a Year 4 place for our older daughter. Infant class sizes doesn't matter so much but the school is technically full. Any advice greatly received!

I did the same thing when we moved house. DD was offered a place in a school close to where we lived but DS2 was offered one further away. Once DD started, we appealed for DS to join her and were successful. Good luck.

Wow that is encouraging. What arguments did you use?

You need to argue that the prejudice to your daughter through not attending this school outweighs the prejudice to the school from having to cope with an additional pupil. Wanting your daughters to attend the same school won't be enough. Arguments about transport and childcare are also unlikely to be successful. You need to identify things the appeal school offers that are not available at the allocated school which are particularly relevant to your daughter. For example, if your daughter is musically talented and the appeal school offers lots of extracurricular musical activities that is worth bringing up as part of your case.

I am also looking for advice ( sorry to jump on your post). I have a reception place corny daughter and failed to get a year 3 place for my older daughter. Any advice would be welcome!
It's so stressful isn't it tumbleweed99

The advice I have given above applies in your case as well. You will need to post more information if you want more detailed advice.

Thanks for your advice prh47bridge and I'm sorry to hear you are in the same situation jojo19. I'd have to look at the websites to see if there was much difference in what the 2 schools offer...it seems a pretty weak argument for us though as I think both schools are good and my daughter doesn't have a particular talent yet. It's just the local school we can walk too and when we looked around both it was one we definitely preferred. To be honest having them at two different schools just goes against everything I believe in and would be so stressful for us as a family. The council can not find one school with two places though. With us moving to London from the North and the upheaval for my daughters being in the same school would be so beneficial for them....I guess we can't use that argument?

Thank you prh47bridge.
We moved house but kept my older daughter (current year 2) in her current school with her younger daughter at the preschoool (infant and junior school).

We applied for a reception place for my younger daughter at the local school which she got but my year 2 daughter did not get a junior year 3 place at the same linked school.

We also have a 1 year old in nursery and would be impossible to drop 3 children in 3 different places every day ( both working parents)
Was advised by head to appeal as the previous year they had 32 per class but this year they have gone back to 30.

Any advice on appealing would be very appreciated!!!

Many thanks

Thank you tumbleweed99b I will do that . Hope you don't mind me adding to your post!

tumbleweed99 - You can use that argument but it is up to the appeal panel how much weight they give it. If the school's case to refuse admission is weak you may not need any strong arguments.

jojo19 - I'm afraid transport difficulties are unlikely to win an appeal. However, the fact they had 32 per class last year suggests they can cope with more than 30 which is in your favour. But you need some arguments as to why your older daughter needs to go to this school rather than her current school. Simply wanting her to attend the same school as her sister is unlikely to be enough. You need to look for things this school offers that her current school doesn't that are particularly relevant to your daughter.

Thanks prh47bridge. I think I'm going to focus on how unsettling it will be for my daughter to be at a different school to her sister and that this prejudice is more than the school will be prejudice in taking another pupil. I know they have gone over 30 before so can cope with more students - although I'm not sure they would actually want too! Good luck jojo19.

There are definately more after school activities offered at the school that my daughter doesn't have access to at the current school but is this enough?

What other things would work in our favour?

Just having more activities doesn't help directly. You need to show that they are relevant for your daughter. So, for example, if she is musically talented and this school has lots of extracurricular musical activities that is the kind of thing that would help.

Thanks for the advice prh47bridge

Good luck tumbleweed99. I have been reading the Ben Rooney book "how to win your school appeal" . Found an old copy at the library which has some helpful advice if you can find a copy.