Infant class size appeal

[Summer1310]

Hi ,
im looking for some advice on a infant class size appeal which I'm waiting to hear a date for , for Sept 2022 reception place I've read some expert advice on here and wondered if anyone could share some specific to my situation ?
my older son I sent to an out of catchment village school 2 years ago , he has a diagnosis of Autism and SPD ( now has an EHCP but didn't when I applied) I looked at many schools local to me but this was the only school that actually wanted to have him and agreed they could meet his needs and he's doing brilliant even though he has very complicated needs and getting him in and out of school is a problem as he often refuses I'm so happy for him and he loves it there. So naturally I only applied for my daughter to go here as the school is amazing , but due to a high birth year in village they havent offered her a place which I'm now having to appeal as there's been no movement in places ( am currently on waiting list position 1) however the school have a pan of 18 but have already offered 21 places ( last child offered a place was a set of twins out of cat ment sibling )I feel it's unlikely 2 children will leave for her then to get that space , and also someone could move to the area making us lower down list.
another interesting thing I noticed was on the school admission category every category clearly stated how they would prioritise that category except the "siblings out of catchment " category which was the category my daughter was placed in and that of the last child admitted to the school. I know they live 0.07 closer according to distance but as stated it doesn't state they will prioritise by distance ...
so I've referred to this in my appeal letter , the fact that moving my son isn't an option (the school head agreed with this) and also my daughter has epilepsy which I've managed to get a supporting letter from her specialist nurse supporting me stating how the longer travel times between schools ,earlier mornings , later days will negatively impact her seizure control etc
im struggling to sleep worrying about this appeal I know it's so strict on what they allow and have done a lot of research but could just do with some advice personal to my situation any help will be greatly appreciated.

@LargeLegoHaul no Ive never heard of one of those ? I just have to make sure his door is locked and minimise as much as possible time he spends in car ( only use car if essential) he will self harm if he can not escape such as banging his head against window , biting lip etc.
He's EHCP was in place before he started , it was in process when I applied and was offered a place. I explained to school about this and he was know to the pre school forum (don't know if they have these in all areas ) I carefully explained his need to head and was very clear on the situation .

Here is the crelling harness website.

DS1 self harms by headbanging too, he always has bruises.

Thankyou for that will have a read tonight when my son is winding down for bed later ( usually takes about 4 hours so should have plenty of time)
My worry is with transport it's going to put him in a negative mind frame for the rest of the day , he can become so worked up both angry and upset it can take hours for him to level back down, resulting in regression of the development he's made at school over the past two years , I never dreamed he would come on in the way that he has !! He struggles with both change and transition ( from home to school and school to home) I'm just devastated by this whole situation, I feel like I have to pick a child to prioritise!
I hate this word preferred school , the school in question I never considered for my eldest daughter due to the distance and not knowing anyone / no support network, to be honest I still don't know anyone now I have 2 mums who I speak to that's all it's a very clicky school the other day at sports day I sat by myself all afternoon ,the school is rated good but not outstanding I'm not one of these parents just being picky and awkward for the sake of it I wish there was a school closer that could have met his needs, but the head , and teaching Staff have been amazing to my son he wouldn't be where he is without them !!

you said that they do in your earlier post:

1- looked after
2- siblings in catchment (<strong>*<span class="italic">prioritised siblings</span></strong>*, staff children, distance)
3-catchment ( distance closest to school if oversubscribed) [...]

I do realise that you placed the child there but there may be some scope to argue that you should have been given the priority.

Reception appeals are practically impossible to win.

Arguing distances is hard they will measure to a specific point in your property to a specific point in the school - it will be right - but you can ask for the grid preferences they used jut to double check. I have only once ever known a distance be challenged correctly and that is because there was a strange blip that placed a park ground keepers cottage in the middle of the park and was 700m out. That one didn't make it to appeal as the mistake was rectified before the appeal.

As far as I can see you have two things in your favour with this appeal that give you a slither of a chance.

1. you have an older sibling with an EHCP - you may be able justify that him being in that school is no longer your decision as it is named in the EHCP so you cannot move him to be in the same school as your daughter easily. If you are able to get the EHCP amended, the impact moving him will have on you, your family etc. You would also need to show how you cannot get two children to two different schools. why can't the other parent take them, why can't you use breakfast/after school club or a childminder etc
2. admitting you may not breach infant class size legislation because of the class set up (which is how your son got in as 21st child).

Simply arguing that you really want it etc is hard as all the other people who named it really wanted it too - what makes you so special?

I say this as a presenting officer for a Local Authority. I have never lost a Reception appeal and only lost about 2 Secondary over the 10 years I have been doing this - local authorities

@downtonupton
Thankyou for you advice greatly appreciated!
I think how I've typed it's come out wrong , the only over subscription criteria in the whole admission policy is for in catchment children which states the priority will be given in catchment in the order of , siblings, staff, distance. My daughter was placed in the out of catchment sibling category where some children were admitted but it doesn't state how priority will be given do you think I could argue that due to her sibling having an EHCP she should have been given priority? My daughter was the cut of point I don't know how many children where admitted in this category but at least 1 (2 due to multiple birth clause) the only think I know was that the things were 0.07 milked closer to school than me , the school is an academy so in theory their own admissions authority. The whole policy is unclear it misses out key phrases like priority will be given in this order etc ( I've read multiple school admission policy's which are very clear and every category clear states how they will prioritise)
Even if I could get grid Co-ordinates would I need access to the software what determines the distance ? I've checked my distance and it seems fairly close to the distance given however I don't know if the last child admitted distance is correct?

Sorry I ment to put twins not things were 0.07 miles closer

You can find grid reference finder online that will measure the distance between co-ordinates.

In most cases the admissions criteria will say something like (pure example):

1. Looked After
2. siblings in catchment
3. distance in catchment
4. siblings outside catchment
5. distance outside catchment

then you find something somewhere that says something like

Within each criterion, priority will be given to children living closest to the school measured in a direct line.

If you want to argue that you were mislead by the criteria, you would need to be able to explain why this might have cost you a place, what you would have done differently if you had understood it etc. You can also refer it to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator if it is wrong and they will tell the school to change them.

@schooladmission
Yes that is practically the admissions policy however the bit at the bottom about priority is not included , do you think I could argue something along the lines of , as the category my child was placed in had no clear guidance on how priority would be given (against school admission code 1.8 oversubscribed schools) my daughter should have been given priority due to her sibling having an EHCP naming the school so potentially moving him would be out of my hands and if he was to be moved it would have catastrophic consequences for him?? Or do you think this will have little effect given it's an ICS appeal , I don't no possibly what I could have done differently it was the only school that wanted help him all others either said they was full (waiting on people to except offers) tried to advise me about different smaller schools, or told me they was in a deficit budget and couldn't afford his level of support ?
I think I will definitely refer to school adjudicator as I've read so many clear admission policy's that'll and hope it would potentially save someone from being in this situation.

@schooladmission and also argue that by not giving her this priority it has cost her a place as there was children admitted from this category??

And moving him would not be in his best interests it would be purely to support my daughter.

again back to feeling like I've got to pick a child to prioritise!!

I think to go over PAN, it has to be exceptional circumstances and the school agrees it with the LA. My daughter starts in September and the PAN is usually 60, but this year it is 61. Unless you have an EHCP then you have very little chance of winning an appeal.

They have already gone over PAN just admitting children , if they hadn't I would still be appealing but it wouldn't be ICS appeal

I wonder if this could be used on appeal?

Literally: You chose to go over PAN. If you hadn't and I appealed I'd have had a very good chance as it wouldn't have been ICS. So you haven't applied the admissions process correctly (by just choosing to admit 19 & 20 (&21)) which means that my child, who needs this school is now being impacted.

This is completely wrong.

A school which is its own admission authority (as is the case here) can admit beyond PAN at any time for any reason. There is no need for exceptional circumstances and the LA does not need to agree.

If the OP had an EHCP for her daughter there would be no need for an appeal. Her daughter would be admitted automatically.

An infant class size appeal can be won in three ways:

• by showing that the admission arrangements were contrary to the law or the Admissions Code and this has cost the child a place
• by showing that the admission arrangements have not been administered correctly and this has cost the child a place
• by showing that the decision to refuse admission was unreasonable, the bar for which is very high

There is also a fourth way, which is to strike it lucky and get a sympathetic appeal panel that is willing to break the rules for you.

An appeal for admission to Reception is always a long shot as most are heard under infant class size rules, but around 10%-12% of such appeals succeed.

@TeenPlusCat yes i have considered this if they had stuck to 18 there would be 2 spaces , how would I show this in an appeal that the admission process hasn't been followed correctly or would the numbers speak for themselves ??

Admitting over PAN is not a failure to follow the process correctly. The school can admit over PAN if it wishes provided it doesn't breach infant class size regulations and provided the correct children are admitted, i.e. those that are highest priority on the oversubscription criteria.

@prh47bridge yes that makes sense and thought that would be the case as frustrating as it is for me this time it did go in my favour when I applied for my son . I've sent you a PM

@panelchair do you have any views or advice on my situation??

@PanelChair

Should I be focussing my appeal on the grounds that the admission arrangements have broken the school admission code as the criteria is unclear no priority given to my daughters category ( argue she should have had priority with in this category due to sibling having an EHCP )
Or the grounds it was unreasonable as my son has an EHCP naming the school so therefore I do not have the choice to move him to my daughters school , and then the negative impact this will have on my daughter due to her epilepsy
I know either way I only have a tiny chance but which is more likely to be successful??

At the risk of sounding very grumpy, please, if you’re summoning people to your thread, say please or thank you. Some posters have been quite rude this week and it gets tiring.

Anyway. Moving swiftly on. You’ve had lots of good advice already and I can’t dissent from anything prh47bridge has said.

Your current situation is not unusual and is (for many parents) the risk they run when they put their older child in an out of catchment school. Your best approach at appeal (in my view) is to argue that the preferred school was your only option for your older child because it was the only one that could meet his needs (and is now named on his ECHP), moving him to another school is not an option and so refusing a place for his sibling is so unreasonable that the appeal should be allowed. You should emphasise that what distinguishes you from other parents in this situation is that you have no room for manoeuvre, as you can’t move your older child.

I can’t predict whether the panel will think that’s enough to pass the high bar for ‘unreasonable’ - they may take the view that the admissions arrangements are common in many schools and this is what happens when admissions criteria distinguish between in- and out of catchment siblings.

Prh has seen the admissions criteria, I haven’t, but I wouldn’t pursue this idea that the admissions criteria are unlawful because they don’t spell out how priority will be given within the out of catchment siblings category. That question only really becomes relevant if you suspect an error has been made. The ‘unreasonableness ’ argument is the only one that I think stands any chance of flying.

Assuming daughter currently goes to same nursery as younger brother, does the school have breakfast club she could attend whilst you drop off younger sibling and then drop brother at the other school (assuming you do 2 drop offs now).

A panel would consider it fair that any possible extra places were offered in normal priority, than roulette of appeals. There may be others with equally strong cases as it sounds a very supportive school.

When does younger brother transfer, could you face same issue? Do you think your daughter might be more accepted at her allocated school, if the one you are appealing for is clicky, might she struggle with friendship groups, if the parents are not open - might not be noticable to your son, but if no play date invites because not from the village, could that be a disadvantage for her? (Apart from how supportive the school have been to your son, you don't sell the school as welcoming to people from outside)

I wasn’t sure what you meant but daughter losing an hour a day so a whole day a week- do you mean you’d drop her an hour late for school each day? Obviously that won’t be allowed and will be raised v quickly as an issue (sorry if I’ve misinterpreted).
How many years would this juggle be for? Realistically you may be better off getting your younger DD into a local school- easier for having local friends, school run when DS is at secondary and you know your youngest will get in too. Do you have a partner who can help with drop offs etc?

@PanelChair I'm ever so sorry it came across in that way and was not my intention, I'm new to musnet and still finding my feet on how things work etc I only set up yesterday to get some advice on this situation I'm ever so great full for people taking time out of their day to offer me advise about a subject I have no clue on.
Thankyou for your advise , and Thankyou to everyone who has gave me feedback and shared their expect knowledge it is greatly appreciated and as soon as I get my date I will be turning all of this in to notes to say during actual appeal