Secondary appeal

[SWStressed]

Child not offered school on CAF but former girls school turning mixed in sept with no track record with boys. Bright and very sporty child. Know you are not meant to critisise the school you were allocated but in this instance think could raise very valid criticisms, any advice from you panel members?

They are not, of course, exempt from any part of the Admissions Code or the Admission Appeals Code beyond the fact that they can use faith as part of their oversubscription criteria.

I only put down two choices, not because I didn't like any other schools but because ds really wants to cycle to school so we very naively and regrettably listed the two schools we found that had very safe journeys in order for him to cycle to, (he's colour blind and confuses traffic signal colours) . The 1st choice was a faith school which based on the past few years home-school distance criteria he would have gained a place no problem. This years distance was the lowest ever and he missed out by 5ft! We were confident he'd get a place, all his friends who live a stones throw away got places. He is top of waiting list but LA confirmed all places accepted and none declined. There does have to be a cut-off point but now have to go through the appeals process. We couldn't have listed any more than two choices if we wanted to support our ds's wishes to cycle as these two schools were the only ones which had routes without traffic signals. There are also other factors why these schools were most suitable, in hindsight we should have filled our 6 choices as have now been allocated worst performing school in the area, having said that, there will be loads of lovely kids there that want to do well and diversity is good. Must stay positive as doubt we will win appeals.

Just wondering if panel take into considerstion ability banding during appeal?
My son was banded to Band A - above average and i will be appealing for his academic needs as well as other factors.Would Band A help us during appeal or it has no affect at all.

Thank you

It would not have any effect. It tells the panel he is bright but that does not give them a reason to admit him. Remember that they cannot take into account the academic performance of the school.

Ph47
What evidence would a panel expect to see to establish that a child is at grammar school level? Would reading/ spelling ages assessed by school count or would an ed psych report be better?

cronsilksilt - Can you clarify your situation please? Did your child fail the selection test for a grammar school?

cronsilksilt, I am not sure what an ed psych report would give in such an appeal, because to get to a grammar school you need to have met the required standard. If you did not reach the appropriate standard in the tests, then the only way that an appeal panel will deem your child of grammar school standard is if you can demonstrate that they are much better than the test result obtained. Being realistic this is not reading / spelling ages but is teacher assessment in english and maths which is at least 5C and preferably 5A.
Even if you can demonstrate that your child is of grammar school standard that still does not mean that you will be given a place unless you have very good reasons for admission - meeting the required standard is not enough.