KS2 appeal

[hibbledibble]

I'm posting here for advice.

My eldest will shortly be in KS2, so an appeal would no longer be an infant class size one.

We applied for our local community school, and didn't get a place (by literally meters). No space at local religious schools either as we didn't meet their faith criteria.

We had no choice but to enroll in a school which is undersubscribed and a reasonable distance away. It is an excellent school, but I have struggled with the school run/location.

This is for many reasons:

1. I have difficulty with mobility. I experience variable levels of pain when walking due to a medical condition. At times it can be excruciating and I can struggle to get out of bed. There is no public transport route to school.

2. Also related to distance, there are no other parents I can share the school run with. My eldest will have 3 younger siblings soon, so this will make it difficult, combined with 1) and the difficulty with a pushchair, sling, and mobility difficulties. With the local school I could share the school run with neighbours.

3. Childcare. There is no local nursery to my eldest's school. There are also no childminders that collect. This is making it pretty much impossible to work. Local school has plenty of options.

4. Other. My eldest has some behavioural, social and psychological difficulties. So far no diagnosis, but I believe may get one later. Has had camhs input. Local school may help with this. (In case it is relevant, she is doing very well academically despite her difficulties, but I believe could do better.)

Would any of this be a potential for a successful KS2 appeal? We have been on the waiting list for years with no joy, due to more movement into the area than out.

Of relevance as well, there is another near school with vacancies, but my children couldn't go there due to safety issues (long story).

There is no reason not to appeal but it is difficult to know what chance you have of success without knowing the strength of the school's case not to admit because a year 3 appeal will be around who has the stronger case, the school not to admit or you as the parent to admit.
The first thing to say is that you do need to be saying in your appeal that there is another local school that you cannot go to for safety reasons - you need to be a bit more specific, just so the panel understands the context of the comment.

By far the strongest argument for admission is your medical condition but it needs to be backed up with a clear but explicit letter from your consultant. It needs to say what the issue is and that in their opinion the distance to the current school is excessive and extending the medical issues for you and it would therefore be of real help for your child to go to a school which is nearer and better for your medical condition. If the letter says Mrs X tells me, then appeal panels have been told to discount the document as having little weight in the appeal as it is not the consultant making the statement.

Whilst the other two around no childcare at current school and lack of help to get to school are worth putting in the appeal, they will carry no weight with the appeal panel.

You are allowed one appeal an academic year but it would be preferential to get the appeal in now for year 3 on the basis that any appeal will be about a September start. I say this as others may have the same idea and be appealing and you need to get in there ASAP, so that you get consideration in the first set of appeals for year 3.

Without the letter from the consultant, I would suggest that your chances of success are low.

Thank you both.

Admission does this have to be a letter from a consultant specifically? I'm just asking as a letter from a gp would be quicker to obtain.

I don't know what the school's case is for not admitting. We are on the waiting list but the school is full. How would I find out their case for not admitting prior to the appeal?

It is normally assumed that a letter from a consultant assuming it says the right things will have more clout at the appeal than a letter from a GP. However if that is what you can get (accepting that getting to a consultant is no mean feat) then a GP's letter is still valid. It is about someone, who is a professional making a statement that is based on their expertise and experience.
About 7 days before the appeal you will get sent a copy of the schools case not to admit. The panel members will also get all the written information from both you and the school at the same time, so that they have ample time to read carefully through the information.

Remember your GPs letter has to say "in my opinion..." or words to that effect. If it essentially says "hibbledibble tells me...." it won't have any weight.