Primary school appeal Y5

[MincemeatMaestro]

A family of asylum seekers have recently been moved to my local area and I've got to know them through the church we both attend. They have 2 children, in Y3 and Y5, and were allocated spaces in a school in the next town. The family would like them to attend the C of E school a short walk from their accommodation (the accommodation is within the catchment area) so put them on the waiting list. The younger one has just been offered a place so I've said I will help with an appeal for the older child.

Having never done this before, I'm wondering what to mention in the appeal.

• How much emphasis should I place on their asylum seeker status, specifically that it's important for the children to be together after so much upheaval, and that being at a school a short walk away rather than a taxi ride will help the family to feel part of the community? They were moved to my town with a few hours' notice and have been placed in temporary accommodation so life feels very uncertain for them at present.

• Although the church linked to the school isn't the one we attend, lots of children from our church go there so they already know lots of families and children. There are already 4 Y5 children from the church at the school, for instance (PAN of 45).

• The Christian ethos of the school is important to the family but is that worth mentioning when the school they currently attend is Catholic? How much weight would an appeal panel attach to the differences between CE and RC compared to church/non-church schools?

• I know the school went over PAN to accommodate Ukranian children. Is this relevant to show that they can accommodate additional children, and is there data online to show this? My understanding is that most, if not all, classes are now back to 30 due to turnover.

• Is there anything else I can include?

Any help from the experts would be much appreciated!

Surely there is either room in the existing class for them to join or there isn't??? This isn't an application for a reception place this is an ask to join an already formed class - they can only go there is the class isn't at capacity

No.
Appeals consider detriment to school versus benefit to child. That's the point of appeals, to decide whether to go over PAN or not!

Is there room for the child to actually attend the school...

That's what the appeal determines.

Is there a risk the family could be moved again? It would be worth checking that they would be eligible for transport back to this school if so.

As @TeenDivided says, to win you need to show that the disadvantage to the child from not being admitted outweighs any issues the school will face from having to cope with an additional pupil.

How much emphasis should I place on their asylum seeker status

Difficult to say. This is one of those things that really depends on the panel you get. Some will think this is highly relevant, others less so. You should definitely include it.

Although the church linked to the school isn't the one we attend, lots of children from our church go there so they already know lots of families and children

I wouldn't regard this as a strong point on its own. It might carry more weight if linked to the asylum seeker argument, but don't spend too much time on this.

The Christian ethos of the school is important to the family but is that worth mentioning when the school they currently attend is Catholic

As the child is already at a Catholic school, this doesn't help. I would ignore this or, at most, mention it in passing.

I know the school went over PAN to accommodate Ukranian children

If they have been over PAN, that is definitely relevant. The school is required to answer any questions the parents ask to help prepare their appeal, so they can find out how far over PAN they went and when it happened.

Is there anything else I can include?

Look for things the appeal school offers that are not available at the child's current school and are relevant to the child. For example, if they are interested in music or have musical talent and the appeal school has more extra-curricular musical activities than the current school, you should bring that up.

Transport is besides the point. So is where they might end up. For now they want their neighbourhood school.

The question here is: is the school going to admit over PAN for y5. Basically they do not have to. Many schools do keep
to 30 for junior classes. There are no appeals that are successful.

As this school has already admitted refugee children and gone above PAN, I would argue on that point. They have set a present for going above pan in exactly the same circumstances. I would argue some refugees are not more deserving than others.

You can request current class sizes from the school. Data on other dc is possibly not on offer. I’m not sure but I don’t think they can or should share that.

By all means mention the other points but the school has to decide if, by admitting another dc, the education of the other dc is prejudiced. Or not. Classroom sizes and space should be taken into account. However hold onto the fact that they have gone over pan before but you might have to accept this is not winnable. Unless they uphold Christian values of course and don’t just pay lip service to them!

This post is thoroughly misinformed.

There are successful appeals. Around 16% of appeals for primary school places are successful. The success rate for years 3 and above will be significantly higher than this - most appeals are for Reception and the vast majority of these are infant class size cases which are very difficult to win.

The school does not have to decide if admitting another child prejudices the education of other children. They can argue that, but the decision is made by the independent appeal panel. And, even if the appeal panel accept that there will be prejudice to the education of other children, that is not fatal to the appeal. What matters is whether the prejudice to the appeal child outweighs any prejudice to the school or other children. If the appeal panel decide it does, the appeal will be successful. The school will then have no choice. They must admit the child.

I am not saying this family can win their appeal. We don't have enough information to even guess. But saying there are no successful appeals and that it is up to the school is entirely wrong.

I was a governor for many years at a junior school and NO appeals were successful. Schools had places nearby. It is not a given that schools are directed to admit. In some areas there is no need as other spaces are available. Obviously parents can appeal and try. But success might well depend on schools elsewhere and this child is at school, it’s whether they want to direct the school to accommodate a refugee child or not.

No successful appeals for a school is unusual but it does happen.

Schools nearby having places are not relevant for appeals. If the parent can show that their child will be disadvantaged by not being admitted to the appeal school, the fact that a school up the road has a place is irrelevant.

It absolutely is a given that the school must admit following a successful appeal.

Sometimes the schools case is weak or even out of date. Often schools are very thorough with their case but occasionally they are sloppy or complacent.
When the paperwork for their case arrives, look over it carefully for the whole school picture and also the cohort picture.
The cohort may have lots of multidisadvantaged children, behaviour and medical needs etc which mean they already face a difficult task. But they may have an easier cohort where another child could be accepted. Read the paperwork, question the numbers in each year group, the percentages of FSM, SEND, EAL and ask for the comparative L.A. Percentages. Verify if any support is in place at the present school including any pastoral needs. So the panel gets a full picture of the child's needs. If there are needs ensure the parents have had a conversation with the required school about what they can offer. Realistically until you know the school case it is difficult to assess your chances. I would be hoping the school has not updated their paperwork or that it is broad with little detail and no cohort specific data.

All schools have cohort specific data and Heads share it with governors at meetings. If they really do not want another child they will be up to speed on defending their position with plenty of data. Appeal panels do have to listen to the school. In our case, appeals were not a regular occurrence and no refugees. However all dc in the area had schools allocated and the head prepared a strong case for the school not admitting over PAN and won on every occasion. If we had a space, of course dc were admitted by the head. The Head was determined to hold the line and did so in order to ensure the dc in the school could have the best education we could give them in smallish classrooms for 30.

Sometimes the school's case is so strong that no appeal will succeed, no matter how much the appellant's child really needs this school.

Sometimes the school's case is so weak that almost any appeal will succeed.

Most cases are somewhere in between. If the appellant makes a good enough case, they will win.

Most appeals for primary schools are for Reception. Appeals for Reception, Y1 and Y2 are very difficult to win as they are heard under infant class size rules - in essence, you need to show that a mistake was made that has cost your child a place. Once you get to Y3 onwards, appeals are easier to win as infant class size rules no longer apply. Whilst the government does not publish any specific statistics for these years, I suspect that the success rate is similar to that for secondary school appeals - around 21%.

How far is the home (current temporary accommodation) to school distance in each case - the proposed school and the existing school? What, if anything, have the family been told about the likely length of time in the temporary accommodation? Clearly less disruption in terms of changing schools would be preferable if they are likely to move again soon especially given the older child will be leaving primary school in 18 months. Are the two schools situated within the same local authority area, I.e. will there be a cost saving to the LA if they are no longer paying for home to school transport. If there are two parents, do either work - I.e. if they move one child, is there a parent available for each school run.

Something to consider, the nature of the accommodation offer was different, at least initially, under Homes for Ukraine - people were not accommodated in hotels / temporary accommodation but in people’s homes so hosts may have suggested certain schools, perhaps the same ones as their own children attend / attended. Also the children may have been out of school when they applied, whereas these children do have a school place.

For clarity, distance is not relevant for appeal, and the panel won't be interested in any cost savings for the LA. Transport issues are also not relevant.

What matters re Homes for Ukraine is that the school went over PAN, which suggests they can cope. The reasons they went over PAN are less relevant.

@prh47bridge If the school had previously only gone over PAN because the children came via the Fair Access Panel, for example because they had been out of school for a long period, would you consider that relevant?

Yes. It doesn't matter why the school has gone over PAN. The fact they have suggests they can cope. Having said that, it makes a stronger case if the school has voluntarily gone over PAN in the past.

Thank you all so much for your advice and expertise. I'll discuss with my friend and see what she would like to do. Before Christmas her child was 5th on the waiting list for Y5 but once the Y3 child is enrolled, the Y5 should move up the waiting list and it may be that my friend is content to wait to see if a space comes up. But if she'd like to try an appeal, I now have a better idea of how to go about it, so thank you.

@MincemeatMaestro I am attaching info from my LA about why appeals fail. 86% overall here but 75% for primary in year. Do note point 3. I know another poster said it wasn’t relevant, but when you look at 3 and 5 together, any appeal must focus on point 2 for n year appeal.

This appears to have been written by someone who doesn't fully understand how appeals work.

Points 1 is correct for schools where infant class size rules apply. It is not correct for any school where infant class size rules do not apply.

Point 2 is completely wrong. Whether you live in catchment is irrelevant for appeal.

Points 3 and 4 are, at best, highly misleading. Your appeal case will be stronger if you have not been allocated a school within a reasonable distance from home and/or you have evidence of strong medical or social reasons, but it is completely wrong to say that an appeal is likely to fail if you don't have these things. There are many other ways in which parents can show that their child will be prejudiced if not admitted.

Point 5 is correct.

It is debatable whether the LA should be saying this given that it is of questionable accuracy. The Admissions Code says that they must not limit the grounds on which an appeal can be made. The Schools Adjudicator may take the view that this is an attempt to do so if the matter was referred to them.

Well it’s on my LA website and it’s been like that for quite a while. The advice is general. Not all about in year admissions. It’s basically saying some elements of an appeal are weak. There is also advice on what makes appeal success more likely.

Yes, some arguments are weak, but what it says is misleading. However, I've seen worse from some LAs. If they made me Schools Adjudicator, the first thing I would do is summon the heads of admissions at every LA, set out the ways in which far too many LAs break the Admissions Code or the Appeals Code and make it clear that this would no longer be tolerated.

Remember the admissions officer or school representative and the panel will have their questions to ask to the parents when it is the parents time to present their case. It isn't just about the written submission..

@prh47bridge can you get rid of that box that says "reasons for choice" on the application please too ;-)

One minor point I would add in response to a comment above - the school must answer any reasonable questions to allow you to prepare your appeal, which would include current class sizes throughout the school.