Secondary School Appeal

[Michaela1205]

Hi, I was wondering if there is anyone out there, that experienced Secondary School Admission appeal hearing and could give me some pointers... Our hearing is in couple of weeks time and as date is getting closer I am losing faith we can win this... We weren't offered a place in the school of our 1st choice, because we live 300m out of catchment area (every year the catchment distance is different) and I have a feeling they are going to fight the case with the fact that the places have been already allocated and classes are full and admitting 1 extra child would affect learning of those that got their place in there first... Is there anything I could say that could help me to change panels decission...?

Please help if you can... Mx

There are loads of really knowledgeable people on mnet who will give you lots of really useful info. Do you know where you are on the waiting list as this can move very quickly.

Our appeal is next week. Same reasons.

The schools have a good case saying they're full. So you need to make your individual case stronger about why that school is the best school for your child. Look at stuff that school offers that others don't and why your child needs those things. Good luck.

Yes, that is basically what they are going to say but that doesn't mean you can't win. The panel will look at the strength of the case to refuse admission. Just because the places have all been allocated does not mean the school can't handle any more. For example, if any previous years have gone over the admission number that indicates that the school can handle more pupils without problems, which weakens the case to refuse admission. You will receive the case to refuse admission before the hearing. If you post a summary of it here you will get advice on the weaknesses in the case and how to attack it.

As VivaLeBeaver says, the main thing you need to do is have as good a case as you can to show why this is the right school for your child and that he/she will be disadvantaged if they are not admitted. Again, if you can tell us what arguments you intend to use you will get advice as to how strong it is and how you might improve it.

The thing with secondary appeals is that you do not have any of the problems of regulations like the infant class size regs which limit class sizes to 30.
You should receive what the school is saying as to why they do not want to admit and I think I could probably write down most of their case, as they all tend to be very similar. So it will be up to PAN, it will have crowded corridors, school halls and playing fields. There is never enough computers or science labs, DT rooms or general classrooms and their special needs levels are higher than average.
Don't be put off by this it is what all school appeal hearings say. At stage 1 of the hearing the school has to prove to the appeal panel that they cannot admit all those that are appealing. It is not one that is appealing it is all that are appealing, so for many secondaries this is a sizable number of people and it is reasonable that the school cannot take all the pupils. So it is then about what personal reasons have you got for admission, which you will discuss in part2 of the appeal.
However there are things that you need to ask in part 1 of the appeal as the more that you can break down the school's case not to admit, the lower the level of prejudice that there is to the school in admitting a pupil at stage 2, that is the less convincing the personal reasons may need to be.
So I would definitely ask about the net capacity of the school. There is an agreed net capacity, which can be anywhere between the calculated maximum net capacity and 90% of that figure. Obviously if the agreed net capacity has been set at the 90% there is considerable room for arguing that a few more pupils in the school will make no difference. Schools also tend to quote that they have 6 forms of entry, giving 180 places - this implies 30 per class. It is quite usual for the school to actually operate 7 or 8 teaching groups for 180 pupils, which says the average is lower than 30. Also the numbers in each teaching group tend to vary, low numbers in the lower attaining group, higher numbers (32-34 typically) in the higher attaining groups. So again an argument that one of two extra might be OK.
When you get the schools case not to admit, if you pm the information to me I might be able to give you more specific questions to ask at the appeal.

Thank you to everyone that responded to my message. Some of you wanted more information about my case. Well, my daughter is currently 12th on the waiting list, she has moved up from 22, so I am worried that it will it... therefore lots depends on this appeal hearing we have mid May... We didn't get the school because this year we are out of the catchment simple as that... however previous years we would have been in... We have been given reasons if they would admit my daughter what effect it would have on other girls already there, talking about overcrowded corridors, not enough IT resources, not enough space in the classes... There are 6 classes in a year with 25 in each class...
Also not sure if I should mention in the hearing that the school we have been offered is an Academy and the style of learning is completely different from what we are used to at the moment and I don't feel thats right for my daughter. There is also frienship group I have mentioned and safety walking to Academy. She would have to walk through the subway and alongside busy dual carriageway which we are very uncomfortable with...
Also regarding specialisation the school is a science college and thats what my daughter is interested in while the other school is digital technology and sports... hmmm
I just dont know what I should say to fight their argument overcrowding classes and not enough one to one time... Any ideas out there.. Please help!

6 classes of 25! Most secondary school teachers would die happy if they had classes of 25, that is not a big class.
I would ask how many general teaching rooms they have and the size of them. Under the old scheme 48 sq metres was considered appropriate for 30 pupils, whereas now the new standard is 56 sq metres. Unless many of the class rooms are sized smaller than 48, then they are being very generous on space. One to one time is something every appeal document will say. I would simply ignore it and concentrate on your personal circumstances and anything that you can attack in terms of the school not being full.