Appeal - looking for advice to best present case!! prh47bridge Admissions Or anyone similar please help

[Trinity1234]

We have just moved to a new area 10 doors up from the local school and both children were refused places. I am due to attend the appeal in a few weeks and desperately need to present the best case. The school is a small village school but they have 6 teaching staff and have not hit the class size rule with the total number of pupils on the roll. The places were turned down as full but not marked as infant class size refusal. Any advice would be greatly appreciated to best boost my chance of winning this! Thank you so much in advance

Do they have 6 classes or 6 teachers? 6 teachers doesn't equal 6 classes (part time working, ppa cover, etc.)

What is their PAN

Are there restrictions on class size due to the size of the class rooms

It can be tricky with little schools. My dc attend a small school. You need to get historical information and see how many kids they have in each year group now and how many kids they have previously gone up to as there will be constraints on room sizes but if you can show that they have been up to a certain number before and your child won't go over that then you have a decent chance.

Total number of pupils on roll isn't going to be relevant.

It is how many are in each teaching group in the years you are seeking places. It doesn't matter if there are 10 vacancies in year 6 if you are seeking a year 1 place that is full with 30

So which years were you applying for - if it is R-2 then ICS (Infant Class Size) rules apply which mean 30 per teacher in those classes. What are the numbers in these year groups ?

You can win ICS appeals only if
a) a mistake has been made that deprived your DC of a place if there had been no error. This is very likely to be relevant to an in-year application that has been turned down because the school is already full
b) the decision is so perverse it can't be allowed t mstand (threshold for this very high - thinks like child safety, witness protection, allocating only school in 10mile radius that is not fully accessible to a child who uses a chair etc)

The school is a small village school but they have 6 teaching staff and have not hit the class size rule with the total number of pupils on the roll.

If it's an infant school, each class is limited to 30 pupils, bar a few exceptions, and new pupils can't be admitted until the class size is below 30. If year 2 has 25 pupils but year 1 has 30, they can't take a new year 1 pupil, even though there are 5 spare spaces in year 2.

The places were turned down as full but not marked as infant class size refusal.

This is interesting. What does their admissions policy set the PAN (Published Admission Number) as? If it isn't an ICS case, then it goes on prejudice and that is much easier to appeal.

The best appeals are objectively strong and child-centred. Don't say things like 'we like the school' or 'it's convenient'. Look at what makes this school best for your child.

Find out, first of all, what the PAN is in the class you applied for, and whether it is 30 (or 15 if it is a mixed-year class setup).

Six teaching staff suggests that at least some years are mixed as there are 7 years in primary school. It is vital to understand how classes are arranged. If any class that is mostly Reception, Y1 or Y2 has 30 pupils (or would have 30 if all years were full to PAN), this will be an infant class size case and you can only win if a mistake has been made, which is unlikely for an in-year admission. However, if this is not an infant class size case you have a much better chance of winning. You need to show what the appeal school offers that is specifically relevant to your children that is missing from the allocated school. For example, if one of your children is musical and the appeal school has more extracurricular musical activities than the allocated school, that would be worth bringing up. The fact the school is near your home is not relevant, I'm afraid. Concentrate on how your children will benefit from attending this school.

They have 6 year groups and some are mixed, also 7 teaching assistants although I’m not sure if that makes a difference? I will look at the extra curricular thank you!

Is there a way to find out exactly how many children are in the year groups? I looked at the PAN and can’t find one for just this school it was coming up with another school I think as it said 35?

The teaching assistants don't make any difference. The infant class size limit concerns the number of pupils in a class with a single teacher.

You can find out the information you need by asking them. They are required to answer any question you ask to help you prepare for your appeal.

OP, it might be best to send a private message which says exactly what school and LA it is. Some of us are usually able to work out on the web what the PAN and class organisation is which will at least give you a starting point to think through an appeal.

@Trinity1234

Is there a way to find out exactly how many children are in the year groups? I looked at the PAN and can’t find one for just this school it was coming up with another school I think as it said 35?

The PAN is always quoted in the admissions policy, which every school must publish on their website. You would need to look at the 2021/22 policy because the current year R was admitted in September 2021.

The PAN will be in the admissions documents from the LEA usually online, and should be on the school's website too.

You also need the actual number currently on roll in each year, and the school should tell you that. As PRH says, they must give you any relevant information you require to build your appeal.

Sorry how do I send a private message? I have not used this before! I called the school and asked for exact numbers in year groups but they wouldn’t tell me are they not allowed?

Look for a post from the person you want to PM and click on "Message poster" at the head of that post.

The other factor to bear in mind is if it’s a very small school then actual physical space in the school may be the limiting factor in which case other year groups are relevant.