Primary school admission/Appeal

[Bridgewater7]

Hello,

Would like some advice on:
DS did not get into preferred school. Instead has been offered a place at a school which is approx 40 mins away by car.
The school is lovely. But DS would be the only ethnic minority in the school. This bothers us a lot. The short term and long term consequences are enormous.. The arguments (in our household) against this setting have outweighed the arguments for (namely learning how to “behave around white people” - I don’t even like that argument, but a friend who works in the City mentioned it)

Additionally we may not have a second car come September and DH requires his car for his commute.

What do I do?
And are these basis for an appeal?

Unlikely.

Most Reception appeals are infant class size cases. That means you can only win if a mistake has been made or the decision to refuse admission was so unreasonable as to be irrational.

If it is not an infant class size case you can win by showing that the disadvantage to your son through not attending the appeal school outweighs any problems the school will face through having to cope with an additional pupil.

The ethnic minority argument is unlikely to work in an infant class size case. Even if it isn't an infant class size case, I doubt it would work. You may be lucky and get an appeal panel that considers your son being the only ethnic minority pupil in the school as a significant disadvantage but I suspect most appeal panels would not see it as a major issue.

Arguments around transport rarely win appeals. As the school is within 45 minutes journey each way the journey is not classed as unreasonable. If it is 40 minutes by car I'm guessing it is probably more than 2 miles by the shortest safe walking route, in which case your son is entitled to free transport. Depending on your council, this may be a taxi, a school bus or a bus pass. If they go for a bus pass and the journey by public transport is more than 45 minutes each way that would give you an argument as that would be regarded as an unreasonable journey which could win your appeal even if it is an infant class size case.

You won't lose anything by appealing and may strike it lucky so I would give it a go. But you need to come up with better arguments around things your son would miss out on if not admitted to the appeal school. And, if it is an infant class size case, you need to be realistic about your chances of success.

Have you gone on other waiting lists? There must be other schools between the one you want and 40 minutes drive away?

We are on the waiting list for first preference school.
We are in the top 10, but the school is so highly sought after it is unlikely to lose that many pupils.

We know children already at the school who live on our road, but we are at the bottom of the road and further from the line measured.

I know the ethnic minority argument is difficult especially if we have a white panel. But surely from a child development perspective there must be an argument.

To be fair you don't actually know the ethnicity of the other children in the September class yet because they aren't yet admitted! Though I do understand your concerns.

Did you only apply for one school? you only mention being turned down for one of your preferences , so was the 40 minute away school one of your stated preference schools? if you put it on your list knowing the ethnic mix then now using the lack of an ethnic mix as grounds for appeal will seem odd. DId you have other schools on your list that are closer, more ethnically mixed that you could go,on the waiting list for.

But surely from a child development perspective there must be an argument

I'm not convinced. But even if there is, you would be arguing about the effect on ethnic minority children in general. The panel want to hear about things that are specific to your child.

A 40 minute drive! Wow that's mad. Do you live in a very rural area?

It is indeed an argument.

But you need to understand that in an ICS appeal, the only grounds on which an appeal can be granted are

• if a mistake has deprived your DC of a place (either impermissible criteria, or error in handling your application)
• a decision that is so unreasonable it cannot possibly be allowed to stand (the threshold for this being very high - significant child protection issues, or placing a child who uses a chair in the only insufficiently accessible school in the whole area)

(I think you may be thinking of 'balance of prejudice' appeals (all those not under ISC) where wider arguments can be persuasive (if relevant to why your DC needs the appealed-for school)).

Are there any other schools between the one you want and the one that's a 40 minute drive away? Are you on the waiting list for those? Did you apply for those or just the one school?

I applied for three schools. First preference and third DS was not awarded a place. Instead at second place. I did not visit 2nd or 3rd. All 3 heavily oversubscribed.
We are new to the area. And we only know our small world.
I visited 1st pref and was certain DS would get the place.
2nd and 3rd applied on basis of OFSTED report, all three outstanding.

It wasn’t until we received the offer and I started asking around that I found out the school is not diverse, not the school’s fault I get that.

We live in a developed area quite central. But this school is in the countryside.

Re ICS I don’t think we stand a chance, possibly in reception but not in Y1/2

I don’t know the ethnic makeup and will wait a week, before asking.
However, I doubt there will be a change.

I also knew of the distance, but had no idea of traffic during those times.

All schools in our area (and there are a few) are oversubscribed and only 1st pref is rated outstanding.

You need to visit all your local schools regardless of Ofsted rating (schools can have outstanding because they know how to pass not because they are good schools!) and put your DS down on other waiting lists.

You need to read ofsted reports and visit not rely on their rating which could be 3 years old anyway!

He would not have got a place at 3rd preference because he qualified for your 2nd placed school! You can go on waiting list for 3rd too if you have since changed your mind or prefer it after a visit.

I am hazarding a guess that you didn't quite understand the process, as you said you didn't get a place at your 1st or 3rd choice, just the 2nd. That is how it works, you may well have been high enough on the oversubscription criteria for school 3 as well but you had school 2 down as well.

Are you on the waiting list as well for school 3?

X posted

No advice on an appeal, but I’d get on the waiting list for other suitable schools in the area. A 40 minute drive is insane.

So you did choose the one with the 40 minute drive? Not sure if you would get transport then if there were closer schools with places.

Definitely go on the waiting list for your 3rd choice, and also find any closer schools with spaces or go on waiting lists.

There's also no harm in appealing, even though you are unlikely to succeed.

I’d look at your other local schools even if they’re not rated outstanding. Get on the waiting list for any you like the look of, as well as the waiting list for your 3rd choice.
Incidentally, there’s some schools rated as outstanding near me that haven’t had an Ofsted inspection in a decade.

My LA’s transport policy says that they’ll only pay for transport to school if the child is attending the nearest suitable school (generally the nearest one with spaces).

You don't win appeals by criticising the school given - most especially not if it was actually on your form as 2nd choice. Having been given your second choice you will be seen as having been successfully matched to a place you asked for. You do not appeal against a place you don't want, you appeal for an additional place to be created at the first choice school, asking the appeal panel to force the school to break the maximum class size rule to accommodate your child, to the disadvantage of the other children.

You can go on the waiting list for every school with less than a 40 minute commute which you would consider a better option. One of these is likely to produce a place by September. People move.

Your appeal needs to either demonstrate a mistake was made by the LA during the administration of the applications process. OR it needs to demonstrate that the particular unique aspects of the preferred school are such that the harm your child would suffer by not going there actually outweighs the harm done to the other 30 children by being in an overcrowded class.

"OR it needs to demonstrate that the particular unique aspects of the preferred school are such that the harm your child would suffer by not going there actually outweighs the harm done to the other 30 children by being in an overcrowded class."

Only if it is not an ICS appeal.

What you describe is 'balance of prejudice' and it is explicitly excluded from appeals under Infant class size rules. (And nearly all appeals for reception are under ICS rules, which mean no more than 30 pupils per teacher anywhere in Yrs R, 1 and 2)

But surely from a child development perspective there must be an argument

There's really not. What if a parent moved from overseas and their child was the only one from that country in their class? There are plenty of options outside of the school for interacting with your culture (language classes, etc) and I can't imagine any appeal panel using that as a basis for winning an appeal, especially since you actually chose this school as your second preference.

Transport won't be provided or funded if there were nearer schools available.

Additionally we may not have a second car come September and DH requires his car for his commute.

So why on earth did you put a school 40 min away as your second choice? If you can’t find a closer school with spaces you will have to keep the second car.

There are plenty of options outside of the school for interacting with your culture (language classes, etc)

Not necessarily. And being the only , or one of very few visible ethnic minority children in the class can have an effect on self esteem and drive children to work very hard on fitting in.

Unfortunately teachers working in un-diverse schools can be unprepared for dealing with the subtle forms that ‘othering’ can take (oooh, can I touch your hair, wow, it’s so big and fuzzy).op, I don’t mean to make you more concerned, just validating what you have expressed.

Really, it sounds like you have not put enough research into the admissions process. You will now have to work quite hard to research all schools within a reasonable distance, so you can try and get the best option now possible.

Good luck, and remember, schools ‘requiring improvements ‘ have external oversight and extra resources put in to help them, so don’t dismiss them. Go and visit.

It was your 2nd choice school? I dont think "you have given me a school I chose but I no longer want it because people have told me it is full of white kids" is really going tonal cut it at an appeal. Have you visited the school since you were awarded the place? Have you seen for yourself there is not an single ethnic minority child in the school?

You really need to visit the offered school, it does seem unusual though that a school that is apparently rated outstanding can admit a child 20/30 miles away.

You chose this school and now you're going to argue it's too far away and not ethnically diverse enough. Good luck with that. What you're really saying is that you prefer your first choice (no surprises there) so appeal for that. But if it'san ICS appeal you don't standa chance.