Appeals Advice Needed!

[Cystaltipps]

Hi all,

Looking for advice for an appeal that I'm pre-empting. This may be a bit premature but it would be good to know what we're up against. Here's the situation...

We're moving back to the UK having spent just under a year overseas. We'd like our daughter to start back at her old school in Sep 2018 but the year group (year 3) is now full, so I'm anticipating our application being rejected. It's a Voluntary Aided Church of England school. The admission authority is the school's governing body.

We won't be back in the UK until August but the LEA has said we can apply to the school (in-year application) in May - not sure if that's correct? Guess we will have to appeal once we're actually in the UK in August.

I'm thinking of including these things in the appeal:
(1) The usual questioning of all the facts and figures that the school gives about capacity (I find this all quite confusing). Every year group except early years has 60 pupils (published admission number), early years has just 57 pupils.
(2) The effect to our daughter's mental health from the upheaval of having to start at yet another school (I'm aware this is our doing, not the school's ). She's had some anxiety, social and relationship issues since moving abroad and we hope to have a psychologist's report to include in the appeal.
(3)The fact that this is the closest faith school to our address and that our original application for reception year included a form signed by our vicar.
(4)The fact that our daughter is familiar with the pupils, staff, routines, buildings, ethos etc of the school, meaning that re-admission should be easy and would place less of a strain on teaching staff etc than a new pupil might.

I'm aware that points 3 and 4 are clutching at straws!

Any advice would be most gratefully received.

Thanks in advance

Different LAs and different schools (as it is a VA school, they are their own admission authority) work slightly differently with regard to what for you would be termed a in-year application. I am not convinced that the LA are correct in saying you can apply in may for a september admission. Firstly most admission authorities say that you have to take up a place offered within 6 weeks, so to me applying in mid June would appear better timing for a September start. The parameter that usually matters most however would be that you are back in the UK and have a UK address that you are moving into.
If you have a UK address and know that you will be back then I would say you should contact the school, as they are the admission authority, and ask them to confirm exactly how the in-year admission process works. Sometimes that is via the LA and sometimes it is via the school itself. You need to know from the school when they would consider an application for September admission to year 3 and do you have to be physically in the UK to do that. Having already been at the school you might find that the school are a bit more flexible over when you can apply.
Your issue may well be that you cannot apply till you are back in the UK in August, so with the school being shut for annual holidays no decision will be made over whether a place is available till early September and hence any appeal could and will not happen before the end of September. Even more reason for speaking to the school and finding out exactly what they will and will not accept in terms of an application time.
Having been in the school previously the other key issue for an admission appeal is what makes this school the only one suitable for your child. So do they do some clubs that your child has done in the past that might not be available elsewhere. Does the school offer anything else that is different from normal etc.

Thanks very much for your reply admissions, it's really kind of you to take the time to help people and I have noticed that your posts are always constructive and non-judgemental.

I will speak to the school about the timing and logistics of an in-year application etc.

I still have a few questions though!

Do VA schools not have to follow any LA in-year application guidelines? If they set their own rules and don't openly publish them in the same way that the LA does, how can parents be confident that the application (including time-frames) is handled correctly?

Years ago we got our older child into this same school through an in-year application and the school secretary seemed to be making the process up as she went along!

For example our application was given to the school when they had a vacancy and there was no waiting list, meaning we should have been given the place. However, the secretary said they'd had some interest (not yet an application) from a family who'd be providing a vicar's letter and she wanted to give them a chance to get their form in. I questioned this and the school relented and gave us the place. We had to take it up within 2 weeks, which, with hindsight perhaps should've been longer.

So I'm wary about the information the school supplies. To be fair to them though this was 6 years ago (and a different secretary!), I expect things are different now.

The LA says we can apply from overseas but we have to use our overseas address on the application. Again the school may say differently.

In terms of the actual appeal, I was planning to make my main argument that returning to this school would minimise the disruption to my daughter's life. She is an anxious child, who struggles with interpersonal relationships (we hope to get a doctor's letter to this effect) but she still has an established friendship group at this school. Any local school could provide her with a good education and access to clubs but what this one could offer is a lack of upheaval and to be frank, a safeguarding of her mental health.

In one of their guidance booklets the LA says: "The local authority firmly believes that continuity and stability in a child’s education is very important and that a change of school should only be made if it is deemed to be in your child’s best interests." They also say "Children need to feel happy at school and relationships with friends, and with teachers, are an important part of this. You should consider whether your child will be able to settle in and get to know new people quickly, so that their learning does not suffer"

This is exactly what I plan to put to them.

Thanks again admissions

Do VA schools not have to follow any LA in-year application guidelines

Not sure what you mean by the LA in-year application guidelines. However, the rules for all schools are the same. If you apply and there is a place available it must be offered. If there are more applications than places they must use the same admission criteria as for the normal admissions round to determine who gets a place.

For a VA school decisions on admissions should be made by the governors or a committee set up by the governors. It shouldn't be down to one person.

Some schools get this wrong. That is one of the reasons we have an appeals system.

Unless you have medical evidence to support your daughter's need to return to this school I doubt your suggested argument would work, notwithstanding the LA's guidance. Without medical evidence, arguing that she needs continuity is a very weak case.

Thanks prh47bridge,

What I mean about LA in-year guidelines is who sets the details like how log they'll hold a place for? The LA has said I can apply for a September place in May but I suspect (as does 'admission') that the school will not allow this. Also who determines whether I can actually apply at all while still overseas? The LA says yes, the school may say no. Does the school's rules override the LA's rules? It's confusing for a layman.

It's a sad day when a LA determines continuity for a child a weak case (especially given their own advice, above) but we will have to accept it if that's the result. However, I'll do all I can to get medical evidence to support our case.

Thanks again.

Playing devils advocate, would a continuity argument work when the OP presumably chose to take her out of school for a year knowing full well that getting her back into the same school would be difficult?

it's not the LA's fault that she might not have continuity of schooling.

The school is its own admissions authority so its rules apply. You should find something about admission arrangements on the school's website which should set out all the relevant rules.

It is not the LA determining that continuity is a weak case. That is how admission appeals panels view it. In the absence of medical evidence, most would take the view that your daughter has been away from this school for a year and therefore has had one discontinuity already so another won't hurt. They would also, like Hersetta427, take the view that the discontinuity is due to you taking your daughter abroad, not the school refusing to admit and therefore it does not justify admitting her.

The LA's statement is almost certainly an attempt to discourage parents from transferring between schools. It wouldn't surprise me to find that they insist on the existing school signing the forms before they will consider a transfer. A number of LAs do even though it is a clear breach of the Admissions Code. It is certainly not in any way a commitment to allow a child who has left the area to return to the same school they were attending previously.

Am I missing something. I don’t know a lot about the process but surely if they’re full they’re full and you need to just wait on the waiting list. I thought the primary appeals were only if they’d made a mistake in the admissions process? As much as I wish every child could get the space they want surely they have to draw a line?

Yes, you are missing something.

If this was an infant class size case it would only be possible to win based on a mistake in the admissions process. As the OP's daughter is in Y3 it is definitely not an infant class size case - that only applies to Reception, Y1 and Y2. It is therefore possible for the OP to appeal on the basis that the disadvantage to her daughter through not being admitted outweighs the problems the school would face through having to cope with an additional child.

Yes, they have to draw the line somewhere but the fact they are full up to PAN does not necessarily mean they can't cope with any more children. That is for the appeal panel to decide.

"The school is its own admissions authority so its rules apply"

If they don't publish their rules (which this school doesn't) including how long they will hold a place for or whether applicants have to be in the UK to apply, how can parents be confident that the school has followed their own rules? That seems quite 'catch 22'.

"They would also, like Hersetta427, take the view that the discontinuity is due to you taking your daughter abroad, not the school refusing to admit and therefore it does not justify admitting her."

Previous discontinuity was due to our choices (if you can call wanting to keep your job a choice) but future discontinuity can be prevented if she is allowed to return to her old school. I am pretty sure the appeals board's focus is on the future welfare of the child, not in judging whether the parents' past choices were right or wrong.

The reason I quote the LA's advice about transferring between schools is to highlight how damaging it can be. Once again, I know the initial decision to leave was our 'choice'.

I found this previous netmums post which is a very similar situation to ours, albeit with my daughter's anxiety manifesting itself in different ways. This case didn't even need to go to appeal as the school appreciated the damage of discontinuity:

"We were returning from overseas and were hoping to get her back into her old school. She had suffered a lot of anxiety just before we left the UK (most worryingly pulling hair out) and this had continued whilst we were away whenever there was any form of change. I felt it was vital she did not have another emotional upset and went to her old school where her old friends were. I had doctor letters, school letters (from abroad) and a letter from an educational consultant. The LEA granted exceptional circumstances and went over numbers for her to get her back into her old school. Through our educational consultant we were very aware we would win if it went to appeal and the LEA decided not to upset an already anxious child anymore and agreed to go over 30 (in year 3)."

Editing previous post

I said: "I am pretty sure the appeals board's focus is on the future welfare of the child, not in judging whether the parents' past choices were right or wrong."

I should've said: "I am pretty sure the appeals board's focus is on the future welfare of the child as well as the future welfare of all current pupils of the school, not in judging whether the parents' past choices were right or wrong"

If they don't publish their rules (which this school doesn't) including how long they will hold a place for or whether applicants have to be in the UK to apply, how can parents be confident that the school has followed their own rules

The school is required to publish its admission arrangements on its website. If it has not done so it is in breach of the Admissions Code. However, most will not say how long they will hold a place. The pupil registration regulations say that a pupil can be removed from the register if they have failed to attend for 20 school days. On this basis, most admission authorities will only hold a place for around 6 weeks.

I am pretty sure the appeals board's focus is on the future welfare of the child, not in judging whether the parents' past choices were right or wrong

It is but you will find it very hard to convince an appeal panel that the damage to your daughter's welfare through sending her to another school after being away for a year is significant. You may get an appeal panel that is receptive to this argument but most panels will not be.

Me again! This time I have a question about a yr7 secondary appeal, specifically about PAN.

The school is an academy. There have been a lot of local news stories circulating (and an article on the LA's website) about a new school building which is on track to be ready for use in June 2018 and will increase the school's capacity by 60 pupils.

However, the school's PAN has not been increased for September. It has remained at the same number for several years. The school has previously been consistently undersubscribed and the annual reports show that this is has been a serious concern to the board.

This year, for the first time they are oversubscribed so we have not been successful in getting a place (our overseas residency issues are explained above).

I am guessing that an academy is permitted to set its own PAN regardless of building capacity etc and therefore we have no argument.

However, I do wonder if the PAN was not increased in line with the school's physical capacity as it was expecting to be undersubscribed again and did not want this undersubscription to be even more sizeable. There is a lot of worry in the annual reports about public perception locally.

Am I clutching at straws?!

If the school has been enlarged but there has been no change to PAN it raises the possibility that the school can cope with more pupils. The fact they set their own PAN is irrelevant. I would certainly ask some questions during the hearing about the new building and its effect on the school's capacity. However, an appeal panel may be nervous about taking that into account before the building is actually complete. It is still possible that there will be delays that mean the building isn't available in September. But I would still include it.