Primary Appeal - a few questions...

[Lilyminnie]

I've just put in a last minute appeal to a Catholic VA school outside of the regular LA appeal schedule for that area. We are appealing for a reception place and are currently 2nd on the waiting list for the school who have a PAN of 25 and have just admitted a 26th child during the previous round of appeals.

I'm a bit unsure of what happens now.....the appeal paperwork was sent directly to the school. Do they have to process my appeal and go through the process (even if it meant the appeal happening in Sept/Oct) or could the governors just reject my appeal from the outset? Do the governors make the decision on if they will admit one more or does it go to an independent appeal panel? As I was told to send the paperwork direct to the school do the LA have any involvement now?

I realise the school will finish for the summer holiday next week so I'm just unsure of what is going to happen and would appreciate any advice from those in the know 👍

The governors cannot simply reject your appeal. It is not their decision whether or not to admit your child. There will be a hearing with an independent appeal panel who will decide your case.

The school is responsible for arranging your appeal. They may get the LA to provide a clerk and an appeal panel or they may arrange the whole thing themselves. Even if the school arranges its own appeal panel they must be independent.

Thanks for your reply prh47bridge. Do you have any idea of timescales and the time it would take to arrange an appeal etc? My daughter will inevitably start her allocated school in September as I'm guessing the 6week holiday will put a holt to proceedings. I'm just trying to gauge how long she would be there IF we were successful at appeal!

The appeal should be heard within 30 school days of being lodged. With the summer holidays starting in less than 2 weeks that gives them until September. Depending on when you submitted your appeal and the term dates it may even give them until the first week of October. It is possible the hearing will be during the summer holidays but I agree that you will probably have to wait until the start of term. You should hear the outcome of the appeal within 5 school days of the hearing.

Is it still possible to appeal for a reception place even though the appeals have already taken place?I didn't appeal when my son didn't get into our first choice of school(it's our nearest school but we're outside the catchment) thinking we didn't stand a chance.Our only argument would be the distance (0.25miles).We got our 2choice 1.5 miles away with no direct bus route.2 children we know have been offered a place(one in the second round of offers and one after an appeal) Both children live further away from the school then us and are also outside the catchment,they don't have any special needs or medical issues,making me wonder how is it possible.We were 9th on the waiting list and have dropped to 10th after the 2nd round of offers and appeals!I'm now considering to appeal as it seems very unfair.

You can apply for a place at a school at any time. If the school then say they are full and cannot admit, then you have the legal right to appeal for a place. Clearly at Key Stage 1 level the infant class size regulations are going to hamper many in reducing the possibility of being offered a place but that should not stop you from applying and appealing

Yes, it is still possible to appeal. The deadline is for administrative convenience. However, you are unlikely to win if your only argument is about distance. That isn't relevant for appeals. If your case would be an infant class size case you would only win if you can show that a mistake was made which cost your child a place or the decision to refuse admission was unreasonable. If it is not infant class size you stand a better chance. You would need to show that the disadvantage to your child through not being admitted outweighed the problems the school would face through having to cope with an additional pupil.

So who would you contact for updates on the progress of the appeal, the school or the LA?

prh47bridge when you say 30 days from the appeal being logged does that mean 30 days from the school receiving it? I emailed our appeal form direct to the school on Tuesday morning.

Thanks for your replies and help xx

The clerk to the appeal will contact you to let you know the date, time and location of the hearing. They will also send you a copy of the school's case to refuse admission. After the hearing the panel will make their decision and the clerk will contact you to let you know the outcome. I don't know what updates you are expecting but nothing else of note will happen. There will not be any progress to report. However, if you want to check you would contact the school.

Yes, it is 30 school days from the school receiving your appeal. So the clock started ticking on Tuesday. However, weekends don't count and nor do school holidays.

Thanks, I was just wanting some acknowledgment that they had received it and that it had been processed. When I've appealed in the past all correspondence and paperwork has been via the LA regarding acknowledgement of our appeal and the date and time but wasn't sure how it worked with a VA school

Thanks x

We've just been through an appeal to a VA primary school, and our experience was exactly as prh said - I posted a query yesterday as we hadn't heard the decision but our letter came today.

Definitely take the advice about the infant class size legislation - honestly, if that legislation stands then there is no chance unless you can prove that the places were given illegally or that your child wasn't measured against the criteria properly. Distance from the school is not a valid reason.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but the appeals process is awful and very 'factual' to the point where you feel like no one gives a damn about your little one. I know it has to be that way, and moreso if they're an ICS school, but the school we've appealed to has gone down massively in my estimation because of the way they've handled the appeal. And it's probably not even their fault.

Just had confirmation that the school we are appealing to (as mentioned in the original post) will be submitting the appeal paperwork to our LA who will then write to us to confirm the appeal date/time. If the LA are organising it rather than the school (assuming work continues as normal for LA staff) is there a possibility our appeal could be heard at the end of the 6wk holidays rather than the end of Sept/beginning of Oct?

Very unlikely I would think - the school itself will still have to supply someone to makes its case, probably a governor or possibly the Head, and the school need to be available in case any more in depth questions need to be answered. My LEA doesn't arrange appeals in school holidays.

Ah ok I see, thank you xx