I need appeal proceedure advice please

[VivaLeBeaver]

DD didn't get into the Grammar school she wanted to go to - they allocate places on distance and although kids from this village normally get in this year they haven't. Am gutted for her.

Do we have any groundsfor appeal. I'm sure they've fulfilled the admission criteria correctly so what can I do if anything?

School is a language specialist school but then so is the one she has been offered a place at. No medical conditions or special needs, etc.

Accepting the offered place will make no difference to your chance of being offered a place for one of your preferred schools in the next round, nor will it make any difference to your chances of winning an appeal. I would always recommend accepting the offered place. You may not like the school but at least you know you have a place for your daughter whatever happens. If you reject the place you may end up with nothing.

PrettyJen, I'm so sorry for you. I thought we had it bad only getting DD's 2nd choice. It sounds awful.

If its any comfort to you due to the rural location where I live an hour's bus journey is standard for kids round here. Our first choice which we're appealing for is 12 miles away and an hour on the bus. Its where I went to school and to me i=that jorney seems normal.

You must accept that place while you appeal for others. I've accepted our offer while we appeal. Otherwise if you don't win any of hte appeals then you could be left with nothing, or the next school they offer you might be 7 or 8 miles away. If you turn down that place then its gone and could be given to someone else and may not be re-offered.

Really hope you win an appeal.

My DD missed out on her Grammar school place and has a place at a Comp 10 miles from our house. We were really concerned, but she is now half way through Year 8 and doing really well at her school. Apart from her early mornings, to catch the bus, we are very happy.

Oh ... and for your appeal ... just make sure you include all arguments about why this is the only school that can meet your child's needs and how detrimental it would be for her to go anywhere else.

Morning.. Sorry I didn't get a chance to come back sooner. You've had some great advice already though Viva and sounds like you're on the right track for your appeal.
You are absolutely right about quoting the schools outstanding status for SN. We made a big thing of our schools pastoral care, as ds1 is extremely shy / selectively mute.
You can also say why the school you have been allocated is not suitable for your dd as long as you don't criticise. Again in our case, the allocated school used a system called total curriculum, where large groups work freely together, kind of like hot desking. Wouldn't work for our son, see above and we said so.
Take you time with your appeal though... If you return the letter back now, just write, I wish to appeal for ..... on behalf of child's name... Further information to follow. Then collect all your evidence.
On submission, ours was a folder with a covering letter saying who / what we were appealing for, with an appendix and numbers of pages, then our appeal, supporting evidence, letter etc, reports.
When you send it, make sure you send recorded and phone to check receipt or include a SAE incase they send a receipt.
I know you feel sick constantly, I felt exactly the same but you have to try and keep calm because this will go on for weeks yet! Our appeal was not heard until the last week in June!!! Also, remember if you find any other evidence even after you've submitted the appeal letter, you can send it to the LEA or take it along to the appeal. Just make sure you have made copies for all the panel members.
Once you get to appeal, you will be asked to present your case. and you can read your previously submitted appeal letter, however you can also read a new statement. Make it passionate! I sobbed my way through our appeal and it didn't seem to make any difference, infact it may have helped
You may also be asked to sum up your case in 2 or 3 points, so prepare yourself for that.
And finally, Ask around, talk to other parents who've been through an appeal for this school. They can give you valuable info. I was told that one of our panel members was a lovely lady who was really into Rugby, and they were right! :)

Another thing Viva
we were in the same position as you, oversub with kids from village normally getting in. Our panel asked how ds was going to get to school, we could make a point of the dedicated school coach that stopped in the village and all the other children getting on. Also be prepared for questions about how dd will get home if she is involved in clubs/ sport after school etc.

Thanks ingles, good advice. So far I've written a three page letter which dd's primary head has read and she says it's excellent. It doesn't have to be in till end of march so will add some more to it and get it in by then. Good to know I can always add to it if I have to.

No problem.. Feel free to ask anything or pm me

Just thought of something else.
Have a look at the 6th form admission policy. The school might admit whoever wants to come into 6th form with enough points/ gcses.
Ours did and when the Lea argued PAN and lack of space for lunch /corridors etc, nice panel lady argued this point on our behalf saying 6th admissions contradicted what she was saying.

The 6th form is open admission, ie you don't have to have passed the 11plus to get in. Just done well enough on GCSEs. However I'm assuming the numbers they admit at 6th form are limited.

Are you saying that they can/should prioritise an extra Year 7 over a new/incoming 6th former?

And how can I find out about corridor space/canteen space. Do I ask the school what their Net capacity is?

Ok, what I'm saying is that, it's slightly contradictory for the LEA to argue PAN and over capacity if they have open admission in the 6th form.
This is not something you should put in your appeal letter imo, that should be why this school and only this school is right for your dd
But it is something that you can bring to the panels attention during the appeal.
Once you've submitted you appeal documentation, the LEA will send you back a letter with the time / date of your appeal, who is on the panel etc. They will also send you a copy of the LEA's argument as to why they can't admit your dd. This will probably say we are full to capacity, we're up to PAN, we have limited space in hall etc.
During the appeal, the LEA will put their case and then you will be asked if you have any questions of the LEA. This is your chance to ask leading questions like... What is the 6th form admission policy? How many successful appeals in previous years?
The answers being... you take as many 6th formers as possible, then you have plenty of space for dd
oh you've admitted 5 at appeal last year, then you can cope with my dd
(you don't say all of this btw, you lead the panel to it, if that makes sense)

A secondary school gets more funding per sixth former than it does for pupils in other years. They therefore prefer to admit as many sixth formers as possible. If they are doing that an appeal panel may well feel there is room for some more pupils in other years.

The net capacity should be included in the LA's case. If the school is close to or over the official capacity I would ask them about the calculated capacity figures. That should be two figures calculated from the number and size of rooms at the school. The lower figure should be 90% of the higher figure. If they have set the capacity at or near the bottom of the range that can help you.

VivaLeBeaver,
Do not assume anything about sixth form entry. Though the funding for 6th formers is coming down it is still going to be considerably more than for a mere mortal in year 7. It is quite common to find that the school is admitting more and more 6th formers because it is financially attractive. If that is the case unless the school has dedicated 6th form facilities they are on the one hand saying no more space for year 7 but welcoming with open arms 6th formers. There is then a justifiable argument at appeal that the school is not really full and they can accommodate over the admission number limit if they can keep accepting 6th formers.
I would not be too bothered about corridor space and canteen space, every appeal I have ever sat on has that in the school's case, it is just one of those standard items. The question to ask for anything to do with corridor space and overcrowding is how many accidents have there been in the last twelve months that can be directly attributed to overcrowding. In most schools that is nil. Canteen space there is never, ever going to be enough space for all the school population at one sitting, it is simply not something that will exist in any school, schools cope with staggered lunch breaks etc.
Net capacity is a measure of the school's capacity to take pupils and assumes a set amount of space per pupil, but not all areas of the school are counted. There are in fact two measures for net capacity, a minimum and a maximum. One is the actual figure calculated as to how many pupils the school can take as a maximum. The other the minimum is 90% of the maximum figure. The school is allowed to set an agreed net capacity at any point between these two figures. The net capacity is for all the school including the 6th form facilities, so allowance has to be made for the sixth form. If the school is a grammar school you might expect practically all pupils to continue into the sixth form, if it is a comprehensive school then somewhere around 70 - 80% is average. So the agreed net capacity might be 1260, which in a grammar school says 7 year groups of 180, which would then have a published admission number to year 7 of 180. But if the agreed net capacity of 1260 is the minimum net capacity figure, then the real maximum net capacity of the school is actually 1260 divided by 0.9 = 1400. Or put another way, the school could accommodate an extra 140 pupils in the school ( an extra 20 in year 7). This is always worth checking out and many panel will as a matter of course ask the question.

That's what I meant! (see prh's post)
Thankyou Prh if you could just interpret my waffle and put it succinctly, that would be brill!

Infact, just ignore me,
and listen to admission and Prhsomethingwithnumbers (new name )

Thank you all so much for your advice and empathy. It really makes all the difference.