Anybody else watching the letterbox, waiting for appeal result letter?

[LucasNorthCanSpookMeAnytime]

It's been a week and still nothing :( It's driving me crazy, I can't seem to do anything except watch for the postman all day!

[LucasNorthCanSpookMeAnytime]

Congrats, Charlie!! And Girl, so sorry :( Fingers crossed for the next one.

[woodlands01]

Bumping this GirlInASwirl. Still thinking of you.

[appealtakingovermylife]

Our decision letter is now in the hands of royal mail and will be here tomorrow, I feel physically sick:(

[woodlands01]

Seconding good luck to appealtakingovermylife and girlinaswirl.

[LucasNorthCanSpookMeAnytime]

Thanks, Tiggy - couldn't have done it without your and the other experts' help!

Good luck for today, appealtakingovermylife

[appealtakingovermylife]

It was a big fat no for us, I'm heartbroken:((

[appealtakingovermylife]

Thanks tiggy, the clerk only sent my decision letter, he ran out of time and only sent full letters to 45/64 parents so I rang him and he emailed it.
Basically it shows I made 25 points as to why it's the most suitable school then says at balancing stage they said that my ds needing a mixed sex school does not outweigh the prejudices to the school, that was not even my main reason!! I will be receiving it through the post tomorrow.
What's upset me is the way the panel were with me, saying how brilliant my appeal statement was and that I had done my son proud, gave me a lot of false hope:( my asc son is not capable of getting 2 buses each way on his own to a school that's so far away:( I'm gutted xx

[appealtakingovermylife]

8 were successful

[LucasNorthCanSpookMeAnytime]

Oh, appeal, I'm so sorry :(

I'm not an expert at appeals at all but someone wirth proper knowldedge will be able to confirm - I seem to remember reading that if you are given any indication of success during the hearing that's a breach of the code and could be grounds for complaint? Although they just said you did well and didn't say you would get in...

There is still the waiting list - any chance of getting in that way or are you quite far down?

[appealtakingovermylife]

Thanks Lucas:) there isn't a waiting list as it's random allocation to get in and nobody turned down a place.
I had so much medical evidence and it looks like it hasn't really been considered.
Am dreading seeing my little boy in an hour, he's going to be so upset, this is the second time I will be telling him no. The day we got the original e-mail in March was his 11th birthday and that was hard but to do it twice, awful.
Would be grated for any advice from anybody, thanks xx

[IdespairIreallydo]

appealtakingovermylife so sorry, I feel your pain as we have lost 2 appeals. We have 'bigged up' the allocated school and gone through all the positives that we can (not many), just reassured him that he will make friends, etc. I think with us we are way more gutted than our son, although some school friends have not helped by slating his allocated school - not fair. Keep smiling somehow, for your son's sake. Think about lodging a complaint with the LGO, or EFA as appropriate.

[HPparent]

appealtakingovermylife so sorry, I don't blame you for being gutted. I think the panel giving you false hope is utterly unethical. In any case they are not supposed to make a decision until all the appeals are heard.

I would tell the clerk that you are complaining to the Local Govt Ombudsman (assume it is an LEA school) because the panel did not take account of your son's transport difficulties and also bring up the comments made to you. Then start the LGO procedure. It also sounds to me like the clerk did not take proper notes.

[prh47bridge]

A panel giving false hope is wrong. Being encouraging is fine but they shouldn't be leading you to believe you have won.

If they haven't considered your medical evidence properly you definitely have grounds to refer the matter to the LGO or EFA (depending on the type of school). That will not get you a place but it may get you a fresh appeal with a different panel.

[appealtakingovermylife]

Hi again HP! It's an academy so will be efa. Apparently all that stuff will come tomorrow or Saturday with the rest of my letter. The clerk emailed but my kindle wouldn't accept it so my dad accessed it from his computer and looks like a lot of things have been overlooked and there was no mention of the travelling concerns.
I feel very let down and just told my son, he put on a brave face bless him x

[mumofthemonsters808]

No advice, but just wanted to say I'm sorry things have not worked out for you

[woodlands01]

So sorry............... am I aloud to swear??? its just so heartbreaking.

[Matlow]

Very sorry to hear your bad news x

[woodlands01]

Whoops allowed

[appealtakingovermylife]

Thank you all for your kind words, I want to see the proper paperwork before I can make a judgement but if it's as I think, I will be pursuing it with the EFA.
Yesterday I was very upset but took the letter to my brothers house to show him and the first thing he picked up on was that the letter was not addressed to me, did not have my son's name on, was just a very poor quality photocopy that had NOT ALLOWED typed like this so was just one of the 17 families that didn't have the full papers ready and basically they shoved generic letter in an envelope obviously then addressed to each parent, I think it's a disgrace.
Will update once I've read and received the full paperwork....

[HPparent]

I actually wonder if the clerk has messed up and not recorded the decisions properly. It all seems very odd. Our clerks take notes at the time and at the end we go through each case and state to the clerk the reasons why the appeal is or is not allowed with the reasons.

I wonder if your child has been mixed up with someone else?

[appealtakingovermylife]

Hi everyone, just after My last post on Friday morning I received a call to say my uncle had passed away in the night, he was only 52:( so everything else went out of the window, it's been a horrible few days.
So I received the official paper work yesterday from the clerk and am disgusted with the way it has been written.
First page- decision, second page-how the original places were allocated the schools prejudice arguments. Third and fourth pages-evidence on behalf of the parent, 25 separate issues/reasons. Fifth page-questions I asked the school representative. Sixth and final page-reason for decision.
So it starts with explaining the two stage decision and at the very bottom of that page it says this, " the panel took account of your reasons for appeal. The panel noted that X needs a co-educational school as a single sex school would not be right for him and that you were concerned that he would be ridiculed and bullied. The panel however felt that on balance this was not sufficient to outweigh the prejudice that would occur by your child's admission to the college and for this reason agreed not to allow the appeal"
So 5 lines at the bottom of a six page letter, that's it.
As I understand this, they haven't taken the fundamental reasons I stressed into account ie Catholic education, excellent pastoral care, travelling issues etc and have focused on the mixed sex element, I don't get it.
Another pair of eyes may see it differently, I'm so upset, I feel like it's not me who's let my son down, it's the panel.
Please any advice on this, my son is heartbroken and is refusing to go to the allocated school as its too far and he doesn't feel safe.

[appealtakingovermylife]

Just to add, the letter from ds senco and headteacher I assume don't hold much weight but I had a very strong letter from the principal ed psych and 2 letters from his asc specialist doctor at Alder hey and these were all collectively referred to as "you provided various letters of support in relation to X's condition and ability "
Also some of the wording has changed in relation to what I asked the deputy head, I know exactly what I said, and as part of my evidence it states that my son is involved in rugby and wants to continue this at the school, first I've heard!
I'm so angry!!!