Secondary school Appeals.

[BeingGrateful]

Hi all

Please I need advice on how to appeal for secondary school place. We have recently moved and LA allocated our child who is in year 8 a school place but the allocated school is in special measures and it is not the closest to where we live.

According to the Ofsted report the school requries improvement since 2014 and in 2019 Ofsted report "special measures"

There is a good school which is literally 2 minutes walk from our house however the year group class is full.

If we appeal, do you think we have a chance?

What would you include in the appeal letter? Thank you in advance.

You will have to go on the waiting list for the school you want and hope one becomes available. In the meantime accept the offer or home school. If the school is full there’s no grounds for appeal as it’s full.

Ask the LA what the appeals procedure is.

If the school is full there’s no grounds for appeal as it’s full.

Appeals exist precisely to enable children to get places at full schools, that's the point!

OP, you need to find things that the desired school offers that means it is the right school for your son; you need to show the detriment to the school of admitting another pupil is smaller than the detriment to him of not attending.

Focusing on the ofsted report and school results won't do it - you need to show specific things this school offer that make it the one for your son. Subjects they offer, specialisms, sports strengths etc that match your child's needs.

@PatriciaHolm

Not when moving from year 7-8.

Firstly - accept the given place. It won't look bad or make you less likely to win.

Then find things that the appeal school offers that the assigned one doesn't which will benefit your child. Chess club, orchestra for a musical child, support for a child which dyslexia etc.

And check they have allocated you correctly. It seems slightly odd that you are so close but haven't been offered a space, if you applied there.

@PatriciaHolm

Sorry I meant moving when already in year 8!!

[quote OverTheRainbow88]@PatriciaHolm

Sorry I meant moving when already in year 8!![/quote]
Appeals are relevant to all years.

You can’t appeal on the grounds that the allocated school is too far away and is in special measures. You have to appeal for the school that you do want and have good reasons for it, otherwise you’re just appealing against a school that you don’t want and that won’t work because someone’s children have to go there.

I would be tempted to employ and expert (solicitor) to appeal on your behalf. They often know exactly how to go about it and have high success rates

@NailsNeedDoing

You can’t appeal on the grounds that the allocated school is too far away and is in special measures. You have to appeal for the school that you do want and have good reasons for it, otherwise you’re just appealing against a school that you don’t want and that won’t work because someone’s children have to go there.

100% this ! Do not criticise anything about the school that has been offered but give concrete reasons as to why your child should go to the school you are appealing for. Good luck ...appeals are so stressful 💐

@fruitypancake

I would be tempted to employ and expert (solicitor) to appeal on your behalf. They often know exactly how to go about it and have high success rates

As an Appeals Panelist, I would strongly disagree!

You really don't need one, and in my experience they rarely help. It is not a court of law and solicitors often can't help but treat is as one, with their advice being focused on hammering in trivial points of "law" as they see it and not the personal case.

What position on the waiting list are you for the school you want?

[quote OverTheRainbow88]@PatriciaHolm

Sorry I meant moving when already in year 8!![/quote]
PatriciaHolm is right. It doesn't matter what year you are appealing for. If the school is not full it must offer your child a place. If the school is full you can still get a place through appeal. It is precisely because the school is full that the OP is appealing. The fact it is full does not prevent her appeal being successful.

@fruitypancake

I would be tempted to employ and expert (solicitor) to appeal on your behalf. They often know exactly how to go about it and have high success rates

I'm with PatriciaHolm on this. I have seen far too many cases where alleged experts or solicitors have lost perfectly winnable cases through failing to understand how appeals work. Much better to represent yourself.

Scrutinise very carefully the school's background statement. Probe what detrimental effect that an extra pupil will have. Ask for figures of the Planned Admission Number and the actual numbers on roll for each year.

Thank you all for the rapid responses.

Unfortunately the school does not hold a waiting list however the LA does so I have applied for him to be added to the LA waiting list.

Thinking about the home education option although I am not 100% sure.

Once again thank you all for your assistance much appreciated x

Make sure you accept the place unless you are 100% certain that you can home educate indefinitely or go private. You can always decline it later, and accepting will not have any negative impact on appealing or waiting lists. Declining may leave you without a place at all and the LA are not obliged to find you another.

Not an expert by any means but I did go through an appeal (y9) for a year group that was at capacity. Infact 3 families attended panel that day and all 3 won their appeal.
The thing I was told to concentrate on was why the school was the most appropriate school for my dc, and the offer school wasn't appropriate.
I included things like size of school, distance, health needs, support school could give, how the school allocated couldn't meet dcs needs, activities the school could provide, issues dc had had at previous school which I thought would be addressed better at the new school but not at allocated school. Also everything I said I backed up with evidence in our case that included a specialist nurse, dietitian, previous teacher and evidence of a house move out of our control. It was very gruelling and every response I gave they pulled apart with an alternative reasoning and I came away (in tears) thinking we'd lost but in actual fact the panel were unanimous in my support.
Good luck preparation is the key, keep it factual and try keeping the emotions out of it (harder said than done).

Fully understand that any admission appeal is an emotional situation and therefore for many parents it is a difficult and potentially soul destroying meeting, however Maybemay most panels in my opinion treat the parents with respect. It is regrettable that in your appeal the panel did not treat you with the respect that you deserved, even though they obviously felt that you had a strong case for admission.
Please all parents go to appeal hearings having done your prep work and present the best possible case, knowing that the panel will treat you with dignity and respect.