Secondary School Appeal

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My ds has been refused a place at our preferred secondary school. It's not historically the catchment school for our primary school but every child who has applied in the last 35 years has been accepted. We have not once in the last 7 years been told by any other school or the council that our children would not transition to the secondary school. Our primary school has been heavily involved with activities at the secondary school. My son has attended master classes whilst in year 5 and 3 transition days in year 6. We have been invited to concerts and open evenings at the secondary school throughout my sons time at primary school. Several teachers have been invited to teach years 3-6 at the primary school (sports skills and maths). We have never had any contact from any other secondary school. Our primary headteacher and the secondary school headteacher were unaware that there would be an issue with places. All children with siblings were taken leaving 14 without places. This has been such a huge shock for these children who have been led to believe that they would all receive a place. The secondary school head teacher has stated he is prepared to take all children refused a place (38 in all as this includes children from other primary schools). The council have refused and we are appealing. Has anyone come across a similar situation? I have no idea what information I should be using in my appeal. Any support and information would be greatly appreciated. I'm sorry if this post has been long and rambling!

Catchment areas can be very odd as can position of feeder schools.
I know one primary with secondary 10 min walk away and yet catchment school half hour walk away. Why?!
Makes no sense to me...

Catchment areas can be very odd as can position of feeder schools. I know one primary with secondary 10 min walk away and yet catchment school half hour walk away. Why?

I believe that in some areas the catchment is set up to include as wide a section of society as possible. So a mixture of wealthy, disadvantaged and those in the middle. Sometimes theres a disproportionate number of wealthy in what looks like an ideal catchment area so it may be adjusted to take less wealthy and more disadvantaged from what looks like a weird add on location.

I can see how that can work.
In our area not seemed to work that way.
Actually, would be fun to shake up catchments/ feeder schools so it did mix demographics a bit round our way!

In our area there is no such thing as a catchment school. Who can quality for what school changes every year. After siblings and LAC etc the distance for the comprehensives can vary and some of the schools that do banding it isn’t even as clear as a single distance.

If a school takes on a bulge class like it sounds like the OP’s preferred school is likely to be doing then a couple of years later it often has a major impact for distance places as the number of sibling places shoots up but unless that new intake year is also a bulge class then the siblings numbers can cause havoc for others.

It sometimes feels like you need a PhD in school admissions to make sense of it. We are so fortunate to have the likes of tiggytape, admissions and prhbridge who are so knowledgeable in this area and help out Parents with the minefield that is school admissions.

If a community needs a new school, yet there is literally no where available to build it, then the school might not even be in its own catchment area. And then the schools it is built nearby kick up a fuss to ensure it does not let in 'local' children and negatively affect their numbers.

Its a delicate balancing act and you end up with some very odd admission areas.

But ultimately necessary to make sure every community has access to a school (unless you threw the whole system up in the air and started from scratch).

It sometimes feels like you need a PhD in school admissions to make sense of it. We are so fortunate to have the likes of tiggytape, admissions and prhbridge who are so knowledgeable in this area and help out Parents with the minefield that is school admissions

I completely agree! Thank you all for your help.

Looking for more advice please. We have received the appeals pack from the LA and they are arguing against the headteacher in regards to the schools capacity to admit more pupils. They are stating there would be prejudice to existing pupils. They have also refused the headteachers request to arrend the appeal. It appears to be a forgone conclusion that we will lose our appeal.

Sorry I meant attend not arrend

If they are contesting the Head Teacher's statement, the panel won't be happy if they can't question the Head Teacher as to the basis for their claim. Or at least, I wouldn't have been when I was on the panel. How can they decide which claim is to be relied on?

You have the head's statement that he can accommodate the additional pupils in writing. You can include that in your evidence. As Lougle says, the panel won't be happy if the LA contradict the head and don't make him available for questioning. I think there is a decent chance the panel would conclude that the head is closer to the situation and has a better understanding of what the school can handle. Indeed, they may think that the LA has become too focussed on winning appeals at all costs and so is trying to stop the head giving evidence that is unhelpful to their case.

This is not a foregone conclusion. Go for it. You can win.

Thank you both for your responses. It is very much appreciated. We do have written confirmation from the headteacher that he can admit all the children that have been refused a place. He would also be happy to attend the appeal although has been told by the LA that he cannot. The LA appeals pack is somewhat intimidating. It contains written and pictorial evidence to suggest the school can not admit any extra pupils. It has looked at all individual classrooms and breaks down the pupils in each class. It states that many of the class rooms cannot adequately cater for the pupils it has at the overall PAN of 210 let alone more pupils. Do we ask the head to provide similar evidence showing he can accommodate the children as he cannot attend the appeal?

It's a terrible situation.
Parents don't really have a choice, as such, in their child's school. You have to apply for the schools you think you have the best chance of getting in (not those you'd like to get into) without knowing what your chance of getting in is!!! No one - not parents, not the school, nor the LEA- can predict who and how many will apply to any school, so you don't know what your chances are. It's like pissing in the dark.
I'd focus on your individual appeal not the overall situation or promises from the Head that aren't within his/her authority to make. Focus on what the school can provide that the other can't. The areas where the desired school is strong.
I agree that you have been led to assume a good chance of getting in but they have 'Taster Days' at schools before applying. They are only Transition Days once you have secured a place.
Good luck with your appeal.

The head isn't supposed to support your case. He shouldn't provide you with evidence. Even if he does, the panel may decide it can't consider it. I would concentrate on the head's statement and point out that the head, unfortunately, isn't available to justify his statement as the LA have told him he cannot attend the hearing.

I agree with prh. What you must remember is that this is Mumsnet, so you are getting advice on how to win an appeal. This isn't admission appeals 101 for professionals, in which case the advice would be that the Head Teacher should never, ever say or even indicate that admission to a school is possible, probable or likely.

Thank you all so much for your advice. Our appeals start next week so I'm hopeful we'll have the outcome by the end of that week.

Sadly we lost the first stage. Individual appeals to follow. Just wanted to say thank you for all your help.

Given the head's statement that is disappointing. Hope it goes better at stage 2.