appeals

[tamtam2]

hello has anyone got there appeal date yet?,i cant stand the waiting.

TamTam re statementing process, totally agree with bubblecoral start the statementing process NOW!

If you feel your child needs it dont let the school try to put you off, they will try as its so close to the end of your childs time at the school (i assume they are in yr 6?), I have spoken to a couple of secondary school SENCO's and they have both said it is nigh on impossible to get a statement once a child is in secondary school.

If your school wont do it start the process yourself.

Bubblecoral - my ds has aspergers but school have told me that academically he doesnt need a statement so will do nothing, my worry is for his social and communication side of life and the severe anxiety he suffers from as a result, I can only sit and wait to see if there are any effects from September :(

I know how you feel! Even though we have the school we want, it's still a worry.

Is your primary school going to have a meeting with the SENCO at the new school so that they have some knowledge of your son's needs? Ours is doing this, and I'm trying not to worry too much until that happens.

I'm hoping as well that the new school will be able to pick up where the old one left off in terms of catering well for ds's needs without a statement. There's no doubt that it's going to take him a long time to settle in, and at the moment I'm quite stuck as to know how best to prepare him.

bubble - yes both the school senco and class teacher are going to meet with senco from new school, they will be putting in a transition programme for ds, he will get extra visits, mentor and visual timetables etc. I just hope they come up with what is promised!!
As ds diagnose is quite recent I actually think that secondary school will look at his needs with new eyes iykwim as at the moment he is seen to be well behaved and a model student so no obvious problems!

Someone has pointed me to this link which is a toolkit for secondary school for children with austim www.autism.org.uk%2F~%2Fmedia%2FAET%2FAssets%2FGlobal%2FPDFs%2FTransition%2520Toolkit.ashx&ei=0QfdTeODHMywhAfS<span class="underline">fm0Dw&usg=AFQjCNHjxop4ij5GwN67BPUyAMr0B2f_Q

It might help you and DS?

Thankyou for that link *joe8, I will have a look.

It all sounds quite positive then, and like they will make the effort for your ds. All that is good stuff that will hopefully help your ds make the transition smoothy. I know you will still, like me, worry though!

I know exactly what you mean about model student thing! My ds is like that too, the school don't believe me when I tell them how he can terrorise his brother when he's having a bad day! That's one of the reasons I worried about him going to such a big school, because if children achieve academically they don't seem to get as much support, or even have their worries noticed.

Well as suspected we have just had the letter stating that we were unsuccessful with our appeal.

As with the School's original case submission, it just looks like a template letter that they've tried to personalise by cutting and pasting phrases from our appeal case letters. To be honest there would appear to be zero substance to it, but that doesn't really surprise me.

Would really appreciate advice from Admission or prh47bridge on how we take this forward to the LGO. What level of detail do we need to give and what timelines do we need to adhere to? It's difficult because I'll only be in the country for a few days over the next month and I don't want to miss the opportunity to have our case heard in an open and equitable way.

They say in their letter that they are satisfied with the evidence available that the published admission arrangements have been properly applied, but we still don't know where the score cut off was applied in our child's category. How can they tell if it was correctly applied without this key piece of info? Nothing was said or presented at the appeal and nothing is offered in this letter??

You'll gather from my earlier posts what actually happened at the appeal hearing (still don't believe it really) so I won't bore you again with why we feel aggrieved, I'd just like to understand the process from here.

I'm sorry if we come across like sore losers, but we really aren't. In fact my wife has lost an awful lot of faith in what the school stands for and is not particularly gunning for a positive outcome.

I just want a little bit of justice really!!

Many thanks....

A reference to the LGO is a paper exercise. There is no hearing for you to attend.

Ring them up and tell them you want to refer your case to them. Be warned that the people who answer the phone are very junior and have been known to tell people they don't think the LGO will take the case. Don't be put off. You will then be given a reference number and a few days later you will get a letter giving the name of the person who will be your contact. Send them a letter setting out what happened in the hearing and also your point about missing information. When you've done that you can sit back and wait for their decision. Make sure they have a telephone number which they can use to contact you whilst you are away.

By the way, I think I've already said this but just to emphasise, the most likely outcome if the LGO agrees that the appeal was not handled correctly is that you will be awarded a new appeal with a fresh panel.

As another aside, they will give you some guidance as to how long it will take to get a decision. In my experience they are usually much quicker than they say they will be with admissions cases.

Thanks prh47bridge. Is it correct that they will not actually review the original decision and how it was taken? That being the case the onus would appear to be entirely on us to state our case (as to why we think it was maladministered) as fully as possible in the letter to the LGO, is that how it works?

Again we don't expect anything other than a fresh appeal at best.

Thanks again for your help.

It is a little more complex than that.

If you raise concerns about how the decision was taken they will look at that to ensure the panel did not ignore matters they should have considered or consider matters they should have ignored. They will also check that the panel followed the correct process in arriving at the decision and look at any evidence that the panel is not acting truly independently.

The LGO will look at the panel's decision if it is clearly at odds with the facts. So, for example, in a Reception appeal if the panel decide that infant class size rules apply when they clearly don't the LGO would step in. What they won't do is act as a second appeal. They will not second guess the judgement of the panel. If the panel think the prejudice to the school outweighs the prejudice to the child the LGO won't get involved in that provided everything has been done correctly.

They do a thorough job and sometimes spot things which the parents have missed completely. I have known the LGO recommend a further appeal on completely different grounds to those submitted by the parents.

Having said all of that, I would agree that you should set out as thoroughly as possible why you think the appeal was not handled correctly. Point out what was said about the panel not asking questions. Point out that the school did not organise this as grouped individual appeals despite the fact there were clearly a significant number. Point out the behaviour of the head and the panel's failure to even attempt to get him to behave. Point out the head telling the panel to disregard aspects of your case because he didn't agree with them or thought they were irrelevant. And point out their failure to answer your questions about the cut off point in the entrance exam.

I haven't seen your case but I think you said it was about mistakes in the way admissions were administered. I would bring that up as well. If the LGO believes there is only one possible outcome from a correctly administered appeal they may recommend that your child is admitted, but don't get your hopes up for that. Assume that a fresh appeal is the best outcome you are likely to get.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Thanks prh47bridge that's a really helpful post. Apologies for not replying sooner but I've been away for the past week. I will of course let you know how we get on!!

still waiting:(

hi just got the letter we didnt win,i cant stop crying,:( :( :(

I'm sorry to hear that. I know you and your daughter are having a rough time at the moment. I hope things start improving for you soon.

omg,just got a call from the school to say dd has a place,im soooooo happy:) :) :) :),cant wait till dd comes home from school to tell her .

What a roller coaster! Down in the dumps one day and over the moon the next! Really pleased for you and your daughter.

Pleased you had good news in the end - did you get a place from the waiting list after all?

no i wrote a letter to the head teacher .And the addmissions officer that i have been calling every week since march spoke to him and he said she could have a place ,

Not sure that is exactly how it is supposed to happen but it is a hell of a lot easier than getting a statement!
Have you got it in writing from the admissions team? As soon as you do accept it in writing and have a party.

It might be a little bit late now that most high school appeals are over, but I found this school appeal website really helpful in the run-up to my hearing last week. It's basically a free advice service, but their advisers seemed really knowledgeable and really pointed me in the right direction - might be worth a shot for some.

I'm still waiting for the outcome of my appeal (apparently letters have been sent out today), so good luck to anyone still waiting. I had quite a nice panel, although one of them looked really bored.

Oh, one thing I wanted to check... if I do not win my appeal? Can I appeal again after september? Or do they mean I am only allowed one appeal FOR every academic year? The admissions team seemed unsure :s

Paragraph 4.1 of the Appeals Code says, "Appellants do not have a right to a second appeal in respect of the same school for the same academic year". You can, however, appeal again if there is a significant change in the circumstances of the school, your child or yourself.

Having said that, if the admissions team are unsure you can always take advantage of that and have another go!

WELL DONE TAM TAM :o
Soz it took so long to reply........I've been on my Golly's for two weeks. Sunning it in Tenerife........I needed it after these past few months!!!!!!!
I'm also sorry to hear about you guy's who have lost your appeals. I can't imagine what you must be going through. :(
We only want the best for our Kid's.
That's what we pay our Taxes.

thanks sallysadface,so glad its all over :)