Infant class size appeal

[KAM20]

Hi, we are just about to start the appeal process as our son didn’t get a place at our preferred school.
Please can anyone help me with the following.
The school capacity as per .gov website is 504 but the no of pupils overall is 474
The no’s in the school have increased year on year.
The pupil teacher ratio is 22
Will any of this bode in my favour?

You need a breakdown of class sizes throughout the school.

What’s the reason for appeal?

It is the number of places in reception that matters, and if they have offered all their places for YR (or if they combine year groups in yrs 1and 2, so that the capacity all through KS1) and those places mean there are 30 pupils per teacher, then they are full.

Being under numbers elsewhere in the school is not going to be relevant.

If the number of places offered is less that 30 per teacher (in YR oand including going forward through Y1 and 2 if they combine classes) then it wouid not be an ICS matter, and chances of a successful appeal are considerably better.

We’re appealing on social and medical need (although not medical). Our little one is a very quiet child and has bouts of social anxiety which has become a lot worse in our current lockdown situation. As we work full time we have wrap around care provided by a friend who our little one is comfortable and familiar with. If we can’t get him into this school we will have to change all of this which will affect him greatly. Also as our other child attends the school (is about to leave for secondary school) so our youngest has friends and other familiar faces already at the school.

So if their combined no’s for reception, y1 and 2 are less than 30 per class we have a chance?

I know the reception classes are full hence our rejection
Sorry what do you mean by ICS?

Normally having space in another year group doesn't affect an appeal. But if they is, for example, 2 YR classes of 21, then 27 in 3 Yr1/2 classes, they can legally take extra.

Unfortunately I don't think it will help. They can't have more than 30 in a class, so spaces in other years don't really matter. Do you know if they have combined classes? A school that size probably doesn't. If they did, they could possibly change the split e.g. 16 reception pupils, 14 year 1.

ICS is infant class size.

No they don’t have combined classes. They have 2 classes of 30 for each year group although some must be higher based on the total no of pupils. Each class has a dedicated teacher and a teaching assistant

"So if their combined no’s for reception, y1 and 2 are less than 30 per class we have a chance"

Not necessarily.

ICS are the Infant Class Size regulations. It is the law that there is a maximum of 30 pupils per teacher in YR, 1 and 2. So if it is, for example, two form entry and they have admitted 60 pupils, they are full, irrespective of numbers in any other year group.

But if thehad 3x 20 classes in YR, they cannot admit more (even though there would be spare capacity in Reception) if they then have 2 forms in each of Y1 and 2 and can therefore have a maximum of 60 (thus is called "future prejudice'. Actual vacancies in year groups other than the one you are applying for are not relevant. It is only a matter of whether YR is full, or if it looks less than full whetherfuture prejudice applies.

If it is an ICS appeal, the only ways to win are:
a) the admissions criteria breached the admissions code (eg not giving priority to a group they must, or giving priority to a group they must not).

b) the Admissions Authority made and mistake AND that mistake deprived your DC of a place they would have been offered if the error had not been made (eg putting your DC in the wrong admissions category, measuring the distance from your home wrongly)
c) the decision was so perverse that no one could reasonable have made it (the bar for this is very high - things like child protection issues)

If it is not an ICS appeal, the you can also use 'balance of prejudice' arguments, to show how the detriment to your DC from not attending outweighs the detriment to the school and the other pupils if they do join.

Did this school have an 'exceptional medical/social' need category in its admissions criteria? Did you originally apply in that category?

I'm afraid 'social' needs usually have quite specific parameters, and the ones you describe are quite vague. I understand completely why you want this place for your child, but unless you were able to obtain a statement from a professional working with your family when you applied for school places, your appeal would be no more likely to succeed than any other. That's not to say you won't get a place from the waiting list, however, or even that it's not worth appealing if you think an error might have occurred.

What was the reason for not getting a place there? Presumably sibling priority did not apply, are you living further away than others? Unless the anxiety is well documented and there is a social need category it is unlikely to sway an ICS appeal.

Yes it was distance. IF there are more than 30 children in each of yrs 1 and 2 classes. Would that help us?

No , class sizes are limited to 30 unless exceptions are made (ie. For Twins)

No it wouldn't help you. There are several reasons why a class could legitimately be over 30. If a child leaves, no further places can be offered until the class is below 30. So, for example, if a class is at 31 because there is a set of twins, 2 pupils would need to leave before another place could be offered.

Ok thanks everyone. I think our chances are slim to none but we must try!

As others have said, if it’s an infant class size appeal then you won’t win on those grounds. If you wanted to get him in on medical grounds you would have had to declare that at the point of application, supported by a report from a professional which would argue that your child needs to go to this school rather than another because of their medical need.