More secondary school appeals advice sought, please

[Feelingfighty]

I would be really grateful for some advice regarding the next stage of our secondary school appeal. We received the LA's response to our appeal statement on Friday and we have the group meeting next Thursday (individuals the following week).

The LA have responded with some statements that are not strictly accurate - regarding our child's year group members attending preferred/offered school and contradicting evidence I have submitted (as provided by our preferred school) as proof of particular extra curriculum activities upon which part of our appeal is based (hope that makes sense).

Can we - politely, of course - correct the LA, and if so, when do we do this?

BTW, I would like to thank all who have contributed to the various appeals threads, particularly the admissions/panel members, as you have certainly helped in this incredibly stressful time.

Of course you can correct the LA. On the extra curricular activities, as you have submitted proof from the preferred school it shouldn't be a problem to show that you are correct unless, of course, things have changed since your evidence.

I suspect these issues belong in your individual hearing but it won't do any harm to bring them up in the group hearing. The worst that will happen is you will be told to bring them up in your individual hearing.

Thank you prh47bridge. As I understand it, the most we parents can try to do is weaken the LA's case to allow more children in - by definition, the second stages will see if any deserve to/should be allowed in - is this right? How do we weaken their prejudice case - they have presented very strongly that the school is under considerable strain at present and so can't admit more?

That is correct. In the first stage you can also bring up any evidence that the admission arrangements were not administered correctly.

Ways to weaken the school's case:

Have they been over PAN previously? If so that indicates they can probably cope if they go over again.

If they talk about overcrowding in the corridors, have they had any reportable accidents attributable to overcrowding? The answer is almost certainly no.

Lack of equipment, not enough space for lunch, etc. - ask them how they have coped previously when they've gone over PAN. If they have done it before they can do it again.

Are they under capacity for the school as a whole? If so that is worth bringing up.

It is also worth getting the schools calculated capacity figures. These will give a range. The official net capacity of the school will be somewhere in this range. If it is set towards the bottom of the range and the total number on roll is below the top of the range that is in your favour.

Thank you - will take these questions with us.

How can we find out the school's capacity figures?

Ask them. They have to answer any question you ask within reason to help you prepare for your appeal.