Yet another schools appeal advice!

[Penelopepitstop999]

Apologies in advance if I am in the wrong thread or asking what has already been asked. I’ve never used a thread before and I’m sure my messages are going to show that lol. I have been reading through the many appeals threads on here but none quite fit my needs for advice.

I am being premature in my appeal as I have not even applied for secondary school places yet. I shall be doing this in October of this year for a start in September 2019.

I have been following my local secondary schools and in touch with the LEA each year for distances reached and the school my daughter would’ve been allocated since 2014. Every year we get the same school as we are always short around 40-200 metres of all of our nearest schools and never get any of the 6 proffered schools we would’ve have tried for. (All within 2 miles of us according to the local authorities distances measuring tool of the straight line). Each year instead we get offered a school nearly 3 miles away which is a faith school. Their criteria is 50% admissions to people who can prove worship first and then the standard Oversubscription policy applies. Anyway..... to the point. I have contacted several education consultants and education specialists but as we are yet to have a refusal of place letter there is as of yet no legal grounds for appeal therefore they cannot advise. Hence turning to mumsnet.

I already know I am going to have to appeal our preferred school but I’m getting conflicting opinions and advice on grounds for appeal. I am making an assumption that at the time of my appeal i will not be able to appeal stage one on grounds the admission was unfair, incorrect etc but likely to go to stage 2 of why my daughter needs the said school and the prejudice being more harmful to her not getting a space than the predujice of allocating over PAN. This is where I’m not sure if my grounds even hold any relevance.

1. my first concern and that of my daughters is travelling. I know this usually isn’t taken in to account so I am unsure if I have any hope in this area. My daughter has been diagnosed by her GP 2 years ago with anxiety (general, separation and school based). She worked with the school counsellor for months before being referred on to our local children’s well-being service for a more specialised therapist. Since then her therapist has referred her on to a clinical community peadtrician and Camhs as she feels my daughter is not developing she she should and shows signs of possible adhd and asd. Due to the separation anxiety and school based anxiety mysel and my daughter has concerns with travelling alone.
   On top of this she is likely yo be the only person travelling to the said school and not have any peers to journey with or in the future as the school is miles away.

2. my daughters insomnia means she is getting around 4-5 hrs sleep a night. She suffers from constant fatigue, headaches, stomach pains. She is on the record of concern at school with the SEN team but not quiet meeting the numbers for an actual plan. Instead she is in many intervention classes. This is because she is academically behind and school say she suffers from fatigue and has been known to fall asleep at her desk. Therefore another concern is her falling asleep on the journey to and from school. My nearest school would take her total journey time from door to school 16 minutes, however the school offered the past 5 years is a 65 minute journey time and includes 2 lengthy walks and 2 bus changes. I feel concerned about this as she can’t tell time, has no sense of danger when it comes to road safety and one of her main issues for school is she doesn’t retain information so I worry she will get lost. I have expressed my concerns to the LEA to enquire about a service to take her to school, chaperone etc but have been told if she’s not on a plan she would be expected to travel alone.

My daughter has point blank refused to go to school if she has to go on her own or without someone she knows, I could drive her to our local school as I have to pass it to take her and her siblings to the primary school they attend but I don’t think this will hold up enough at an appeal.

3. my daughter is a pupil premium student classed as disadvantaged. The school in question has an excellent rate for bridging the gap between pupil premium and non pupil premium students and I really do feel our nearest school would benefit her the most. It has proven results the pupil premium students who started below expected in English and maths were at expected level by year 8. All of the attainment scores prove the outstanding care and attention they give to pupil premium students. I Have compared the policies, aims, results, how the funding is spent to the school likely to be offered and to the other local schools and the pupil premium objectives don’t even come close.

4. my daughter school have school have advise do my daughters suffers terribly with confidence and self esteem which in turn heightens her anxiety and self harm (pulling hair out, chews skin, sticks fist in her throat). I’m concerned if she doesn’t get the school she wants it’s going to lead to further self harm, school refusal and an education welfare officer at my door.

5. my daughter has experienced social problems amongst her group of friends, she has regular social intervention groups as she’s has a tendency to either alienate her peers or withdraw. She has expressed a dependency on her peers group even though they have have been mean to her in the past but by know means bullying. Our local school is also a mixed school and mom daughter has expressed she does not want to be with girls alone as she’s not had good experience of girls and offence plays with the boys when times are bad for her girl group.

6. our nearest and preferred school also offer students amazing emotional and well-being support alongside fantastic pastoral care. There are pages and pages on it compared to the other local schools. The mental health services my daughter access in primary are within the said schools grounds and only that school in the borough. This is of great comfort to her as she already knows the service and the way it works and the fact she can access it anytime. No other school has this service only their own employed counsellors. The school offers a specific psychological support session something other schools in the area don’t.

7. my daughter is behind academically and has never been able to stick to a after school or lunch time club. Her teachers often had to attend the club with her as she’s would get into such a state at the thought of not tempering by her moves, not know anyone or like her, scared to be without the teacher etc. The only club she has stuck to is art club as it relaxes/calms her and she wants to be a fashion designer. The art facilities at our preferred school is outstanding compared with the others and I’m hoping this will encourage my daughter to pursue what she enjoys.

8. my daughter in the past year has gone through her parents separation and I’ve had to stop work as 2 months after my marriage breaking down my dad (who was my children’s after school carer, picking my children up from school and had them all as babies after my maternity leaves ended) was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer that spread. I am an only child and my dads care falls on me most of the time and the relationship between him and my daughter is therapeutic for each of them. I want her in a school close by if anything happens to my dad I can get to her quickly. I just feel she’s been through so much and is still going through it, that this will be the thing that sends her over the edge.

I’m trying to stay positive for my daughter when she talks about going off to secondary school and make her aware of the fact she may not get the said school she wants, encouraging her to not feel scared about the long travelling alone etc. I am realistic and know the above is probably not grounds for an appeal but any support advice would be great. Even how to help her with the fact she is likely to have to go to the school allocated and help ease her transition without upsetting her. I’m still awaiting her further assessments with the mental health and well-being services for developmental issues also.

Thanks for reading

I'm not an expert at all but I don't think any of your grounds would win you an appeal.

Can you possibly get a plan for her and a named school?

I think you are jumping the gun though and your anxiety about the school allocations might be rubbing off on your DD. You haven't even applied yet!

She has an assessment in 8 weeks for possible adhd and autism or any possible developmental delays. However until then the SEN team at her school say she doesn’t meet the requirements as she is only coming in at 14 months behind and sen plans require 24 months behind. Obviously I don’t want to push for a plan she doesn’t require just to get her into a school but if she is diagnosed with a relevant mental health delay then I will ask for her to have the relevant support.

I agree my grounds aren’t likely to win an appeal I am just genuinely concerned she will get lost or fall asleep and the LEA are adamant she won’t qualify for support in this area without a plan.

I try not to show my concerns to my daughter as I know this will only heighten her anxiety, when she does worry about secondary school I’m always trying to convince her that the other schools are just as good as her preferred school and that she will be fine etc. It’s hard not to think about this now as it’s all my daughter thinks about at the moment as it’s all the year above her are talking about as they’ve just had their schools allocated to them. Her counsellor has said she is concerned the impact its having in her at the moment so I am trying to work on this with my daughter.

I just re-read my post and the spelling and grammar is atrocious, where I was rushing, I’m surprised you understood any of it lol. Thanks for your reply.

As another non expert, but someone who follows these threads out of general interest, I disagree with MissWimpy.

I think a number of the points seem quite good as she has well documented issues and you are not just claiming them after failing to get a place. 1&2, 6 and 7 all seem like good appeal points to me.

Hopefully the admissions people will be along in a while and might be able to advise you what if anything you can do prior to or with your application to either strengthen moving up categories or strengthen any eventual appeal.

Not an expert, but wish you luck in navigating these tricky times.

Your daughter's mental and physical well-being must come first and I think this will form your strongest grounds for appeal. If it were me, I would be spending this time (obviously, as I'm sure you are) giving her all the support and love in the world, and (as a precaution) making sure you have documented evidence that, in the opinion of medical professionals, travelling to an unfamiliar school alone, where there is no familiar support for her psychological issues, is likely to negatively impact her mental health, whereas attending the school at which her counselling/mental health services are based (as per your point 6) is likely to have a positive impact on her mental health. I would try to collate signed, written evidence to this effect from her GP, CAMHS, Counsellor, current teachers/Headteacher and anyone else willing to help.

I am not sure I agree that an EHC plan needs your daughter to be behind by 24 months rather than 14 months. That isn't the statutory test. My view is that if the school is that much of an issue you should look at making a parental application for an EHC assessment first - they LA have 6 weeks to make the decision about whether to assess or not. Thereafter if it is agreed, great you will then be hopefully looking at the process to get a plan. You can appeal refusal to grant an EHC assessment. If I were you I would look at www.ipsea.org.uk/what-you-need-to-know/ehc-needs-assessments/asking-for-an-ehc-needs-assessment and get some advice on that aspect. I know you say you don't want to go for a plan for the sake of getting a school, but if the need for a particular school and particular support is so great then I do think this may be your best option. It is also something you can start and put in motion now, before you make the school applications. Good luck!

Thank you so much everyone for your helpful words and advice.

I am certainly now going to look into requesting to have my daughter assessed for an EHC or SEN plan as at least then I’ve tried to get my daughter the relevant support she needs. I don’t find the SENCO worker very helpful at our school unfortunately and I feel as though my daughter is slipping through their fingers.

Wouldn’t you submit this with your initial school request and hope it is considered at the beginning of the process and not wait for the appeal?

tiggytape you are correct, my LEA does not allow social and medical needs or special information forms to be submitted and taken into consideration for secondary school admissions only primary school places.

the way you have framed my concerns is fantastic thank you so much as I was struggling how to word it but you have done it so effortlessly. You are right in the points surrounding pastoral care pupil premium support that the local school provides include 30 mins a day counselling, academic tutoring 1-1, family engagement services and support 1-1, social skills intervention just to name a few. The support pp students receive is outstanding. My daughters counsellors, gp, teacher etc are all happy to write support documents.

I don’t actually mind a school further afield but my lea will not provide transport and the travelling is my main concern, if she fell asleep on a bus or took the wrong one, she could end up towards central London. It’s also frustrating the school has the right to admit pp students as part of their admission criteria but choose not to add this in their over subscription, especially when they can show how well they support such students.

Again everyone thank you - I am starting to get my head around this all a little more and your feedback has been amazing.