Transfer appeal help please

[MrsNM188]

We are moving house all being well, possibly end of summer hols. Anyway, i appled for school transfer for my daughter whos in year 1, we got refused for all 3 schools, first preference was catchment area school. I am planning to appeal but I’m so scared of the whole process. My reasons I’ve noted down so far , which btw are the actual reasons i need this school are as follows:

• Its the catchment area school so we can easily just walk to and from school everyday
• the school is close to work also, so i can easily get to her on time at home time or if there was an emergency i could be there within minutes
• we are pakistani asians, and they have a reasonable number of ethnic minorities so she can mix well with all pupils
• she can maintain her school friendships out of school also if shes in the area school
• she attends mosque 3 times a week, previously wasnt able to take part in many extra ciricular activities as distance meant not enough time to relax and rest before mosque, but walking distance school means she can do things after school too

Thats my reasons so far, i can also add that she isnt a disruptive child, they can see her latest report or even if needed i could provide a character reference letter from her teacher , shes very well behaved.

I spoke to a lady at the admissions council office, she said i could appeal to all 3 schools,is that a good idea? I’m thinking i should too so i give her a chance of getting into a school that area. Other 2 schools are not walking distance, 0.8 miles away and 0.9 miles, not too far but with work i couldnt walk her there.

What can i expect to happen at the hearing?I only got the email this week and want to appeal soon but want to be sure i get the facts first before i post anything.

Im gutted though, i really thought we’d get the catchment school at least.
I’ve called other schools in the area but pretty much all are full, one that seems possible is awful, the ofsted report said there were 26 languages at the school so the school had aclot to take on, I can imagine that would slow other pupils down too in class.

Also ,there was a member here called prh47bridge, was reading old post about appeal and he seemed very knowledgable in this area, is he still around here? If yes hopefully he sees my post.

This would be an ICS appeal, and they are very hard to win. To the best of my knowledge your reasons would not win an appeal. You need to say why your child would be at more of a disadvantage not going to the school, over the school being disadvantage by taking an extra pupil. I have copied in some of the Knowledgable posters on here, who all sit or have sat on appeals, I hope they don’t mind me copying them in.

@NoBaggyPants
@PatriciaHolm
@admission
@prh47bridge

This isn't guaranteed to be an ICS appeal. Some schools run classes with less than 30 pupils in Y1. However, it is likely that this will be an ICS appeal which means you can only win if the admission authority has made a mistake or has acted unreasonably in refusing to admit. I'm afraid nothing you have said indicates that you have a case.

Even if this is not an ICS case, none of your arguments is likely to convince the appeal panel I'm afraid. The panel would be looking for points that show your daughter will be disadvantaged if she doesn't go to this school. Looking at each point in turn:

Its the catchment area school so we can easily just walk to and from school everyday

The panel will take the view that this is about being convenient for you. It doesn't show any disadvantage to your daughter from not being admitted. Transport issues don't win appeals unless the child has mobility issues or the offered school is an unreasonable distance away. At this age, that means more than 45 minutes journey each way.

the school is close to work also, so i can easily get to her on time at home time or if there was an emergency i could be there within minutes

Again, this is about the school being convenient for you. It doesn't show any disadvantage to your daughter.

we are pakistani asians, and they have a reasonable number of ethnic minorities so she can mix well with all pupils

This again does not show any disadvantage to your daughter from not being admitted to this school.

she can maintain her school friendships out of school also if shes in the area school

Friendship groups are only significant for appeal if there is evidence from professionals to support the child's need. This argument won't fly at all, I'm afraid.

she attends mosque 3 times a week, previously wasnt able to take part in many extra ciricular activities as distance meant not enough time to relax and rest before mosque, but walking distance school means she can do things after school too

There is a possible point here. If you can show that there are specific after school activities at the appeal school that she would want to take part in but won't be able to at the allocated school, either because the allocated school doesn't offer the activity or due to time constraints, that shows some disadvantage. However, rather than the general point you have made, it needs to be around specific activities that she needs to access.

Don't bother with a character reference from your daughter's teacher. Your daughter's behaviour is not relevant.

You should appeal for all three schools. You won't lose anything by doing so and you may strike it lucky with one of them. But don't build up your hopes. If these are infant class size cases you are unlikely to win. If they are not infant class size you stand a better chance but you will need stronger arguments.

Is staying at her current school an option? You won't lose the place there just because you move and will be entitled to free school transport if it is over 2 miles from your new home and the council cannot come up with a place at a nearer school. If not, the council must come up with a place for you somewhere but they may not do so until you have moved.

Is staying at her current school an option? You won't lose the place there just because you move and will be entitled to free school transport if it is over 2 miles from your new home and the council cannot come up with a place at a nearer school. If not, the council must come up with a place for you somewhere but they may not do so until you have moved.

The reasons we are moving home are because we need to be closer to work, we are self employed(dh and I in our business), and the nature of our work often requires that I be present there too for security reasons.
If she stayed at her current school she will be about 10 miles away from our soon to be new address, it wouldnt solve the mosque And after school activities issue, she’d have longer to go back home.

We also decided to move because her current school she is the only asian girl in the whole school, she said to me a few months ago why she was the only one there and that she didn’t like being the only one, she can’t share her customs and celebrations with them much as no one even knows about muslims much there. I trued not to make it an issue and said things like its okay you can tell them wyat you do for eid etc. The fact she said this though really made me think the impact this could have on her confidence as she grows.
Is that a factor we could use to our advantage in the appeal in your opinion?

The activities you mentioned at the schools, I can’t give specific names because schoos don’t really tell you in advance whats happening in the year.

Correction, only asian child in the whole school

Do you know whether it would be infant class size, or not? TBH that is the first thing to determine, as it makes a big difference to any arguments you can make and your chances of success. For example, if one school is not ICS then your appeal there would stand a much higher chance of success.

In terms of clubs and activities, schools should be able to tell you what they run now (a quick look at the websites may tell you) and that should give you an indication of what they are likely to offer.

prh has said it all, really. If it's an ICS appeal, you have to show either a mistake in processing your application which means you didn't get a place that you would have got had the mistake not been made (in other words, a mistake on its own is not enough, it has to have cost you a place at the school), or the decision was so unreasonable that any reasonable admitting authority would have admitted the child.

It's nice to be near to your school, but it's not essential. It's nice to have local friends, but it's not essential. It's nice to be near your mosque, but being able to relax before going there is not essential.

Your work circumstances are not relevant to the appeal - it's your DD's appeal, not yours. The only exception to that would be if your work circumstances put your DD in danger because of the school she attends.

Sorry to not be more positive. If there are less than 30 in the class, then it might be a prejudice appeal, which is more hopeful.

Update: our house sale has been delayed as its back on market, the people couldn't get their mortgage approval . I then deffered the appeal as this made my case weak and i didnt want to go into the appeal and loose. I had also applied to 3 other school meanwhile and also prepared for the too, got refused for those also. Yesterday however, I received a call from admissions saying that a place has become available at my first choice school that i was appealing for😵😵😵 I couldn’t believe my ears, they will hold the place till end of term, i accepted it over the phone anyway and on Monday will ask them what i need to do next. I’m not risking losing the place if i wait to have moved first, so i will just commute for a few months, I don’t mind, im just so happy she got a place and I didn’t have to go through the gruelling appeals process, which i was so dreading.
Just shows that even though a school might be full , things can change at any time, so never give up trying if thats what you really want.
Hugh sigh of relief.😊