Appeal help for son with aspergers

[Helpmyhair2019]

Hi applied for two small secondary schools
Close by and our third choice was one that was a bit larger further away as there may have been a possibility at the time of application of getting my son there. Things have changed and now we don’t but that’s the only school he’s been offered. There is absolutely no way I can get him there.

Also he has an aspergers diagnosis and a letter from our consultant saying he needs to go to a small secondary school. I am going to appeal but what are my chances? If he doesn’t go to this school we are facing school refusal again and I’m utterly heart broken that he has a constant battle in schools trying to get to the one with the best support for him.

Part of his anxiety is new things. No one has ever not got into our first choice from our village before! So he had his heart set on it and now is in meltdown mode so I’m unlikely to be able to physically get him in anywhere else.

Will I have any chance in an appeal?

Does he have an EHCP and can you name your preferred school on it?

Collect as much solid evidence as you can in writing and make sure you submit it all before the appeal date. A panel can refuse to consider evidence brought in on the day, as they are given the evidence in advance and will study it beforehand.
Expect to be asked in detail about your problems with travel to the offered school.
Don't embellish or tell fibs, the panel will see straight through that.
An EHCP would be your golden ticket if your child has one.

You can give it a go. We appealed and won based on dc's HF autism.
Can you get evidence of his previous school refusals? And why he refused.
Good strong letters from consultants with some points about your preferred school carry some weight.
The appeals deadline will be on the LA website but you should have a few weeks.
Make sure you are on the waiting lists too.

That sounds like good advice. I went through the appeals process this time last year and I know how stressful it can be. What I didn't know then, is that you can get specialist help in preparing your case. I googled everything and ended up doing it myself, but I wish I'd known about the specialist legal advice available. If you'd like to know more please feel free to DM me.
Best of luck.

Avoid the specialist advice like the plague. Most of it is useless, some is worse than useless. I've dealt with a number of cases where parents with very winnable appeals have listened to paid advice that was completely wrong and, as a result, presented a case that stood no chance of succeeding. You will get much better advice on here and it won't cost you a penny.

The letter from your consultant will carry a lot of weight at appeal. The only negative is that it refers to small secondary schools in general rather than this specific school. If you can show that this is the only small secondary school within a reasonable distance from home that will help firm up your case. It will also help if you can identify other ways your preferred school will support your son that wouldn't be available at the allocated school. This doesn't have to be related to his condition. It could be, for example, that he loves astronomy and the preferred school has an astronomy club.

Thank you everyone for your advice. My next problem is I’ve just found out I have to appeal direct to the school as they are an academy rather than to the lea itself. I spoke to the admissions lady and she said she would send me an appeals package for appeal in June but they don’t take medical cases into consideration. Can they say that? He doesn’t have an ecg unfortunately as I’ve had a constant battle with the school who always say he’s not as bad as others!

I have evidence that we can’t get him to the third choice as we were relying on my father and he has recently had major heart surgery with many complications and will now no longer be in a position to help.

I have evidence of school refusal as well.

No, they cannot say that. They don't have to take medical conditions into account in their admission criteria but appeals are different. The appeal panel (which is independent) looks at the disadvantage to your son from not attending this school and weighs that against the problems the school will face through not admitting him. The appeal panel cannot refuse to consider your medical evidence.

Problems getting to your third choice won't help your appeal, I'm afraid. Transport issues are generally irrelevant for appeal unless the child has mobility issues. You can mention the problem but don't spend too much time on it. However, you should certainly bring up your concerns around school refusal.

I had advice mostly from tiggy who I think has left MN but you won't go far wrong if you listen to prh above. We relied entirely on ourselves and MN.
We had exactly the same problem with the EHCP. After a battle over assessment we now have one.
With all these things you need to read the rules, seek advice and keep trying.

Simply to echo what prh47bridge has said - even if there is no social/medical category in the admissions criteria, you can still argue an appeal on those grounds.

You can submit a far wider set of evidence at appeal than in the admissions round. We had a letter from the primary school considered at appeal for example.

That sounds positive. Evidence all round is what I can provide without a problem and I know his current school will write a letter echoing everything I’ve said so far. Is there anything else I can look for evidence wise? So far I’ve got the medical diagnosis, letter from consultant re small schools, evidence there are no other schools of this size near by. He is claustrophobic (this school is on a field with open surroundings), he is bright and this school is quite achieving (though this really isn’t our reason for wanting him there and don’t want to sound pushy), he will thrive with some of the opportunities they offer, we live in the village near and the bus leaves from our door and he is confident with the route and has become familiar with the school as every child pretty much in our village already goes there (apart from this bulge year!), i Have evidence of school nurse involvement due to school refusal (would I get in touch with the hospital to get copies of this) and he repeatedly refused school until we moved him to a smaller one in year 4) which is mentioned in the ofsted report. He has been happy for two years (with the odd niggle!) but as soon as he found out he hadn’t been offered a place this morning all the old melt downs and school anxiety resurfaced in a matter of moments. I’m just wondering if there’s anything else I can add

Sorry not ofsted report -
Consultant report!!!

All of those things are good. Can you get Google views of the school or lift photos from the school website to illustrate its open aspect? Is his claustrophobia mentioned by the consultant?
Are there any inclusion clubs he might specifically benefit from that the offered school don't have?
The panel won't necessarily know either school so you will need to explain and evidence things. Same goes for his diagnosis. Make it clear how it affects him and how the school will help that.

Also, although I stayed away from criticism of the offered school, I did compare them and in the appeal I did ask if I could tell them a couple of things that made the offered school completely unsuitable.

I would keep away from the "he is bright and the school is quite achieving" point. It can easily come across as "my child is clever so needs a good school" which can't win your case and could put the panel's backs up.

Whilst you shouldn't criticise the offered school, it is absolutely fine to point out ways in which it is unsuitable due to his condition. So, "it is an awful school and no-one in their right minds wants to send their child there" is not a good argument but, "the corridors are very narrow and are likely to set off his claustrophobia" is fine (provided, of course, that is truthful).

Hi helpmyhair! We chatted briefly via inbox as my son also has been refused and has autism.

Hope you don't mind me following your thread!

Definitely collect together as much evidence as possible. We are going to make an appointment with his GP and see what she says. Our difficulty is we moved 300 miles away 2.5 years ago. Our current area is absolutely atrocious for any help whereas where we were before he had a paediatrician. Obviously we have tons of paperwork from said paediatrician but not sure how valid because of time difference?

Not that he has recovered from his autism of course! The only up to date report we have is a report from our communication and interaction team that came to see him in school, albeit it is an excellent report that clearly lists his issues connected to his autism and several other things that I feel would be beneficial at an appeal.

We are also in the same boat no ehcp. Always been told he isn't bad enough.

We have one failed school place already where he was out of school for the whole of year 3, left old primary at the end of year 2. We then moved and he went back into school in the January of year 4.

After initial upset he has settled beyond our wildest dreams but still always teetering on the edge. He is a bright boy but needs constant encouragement and pastoral care to succeed. By his own admittance he has said if he can get away with doing nothing then he will. He told us at the open evening of the offered school (that we went to with a totally open mind by the way, dh is a teacher and I was a ta before I had my son) that he felt it was a school where he could easily get away with doing nothing

School we want is run by a female head (who is ex army!) and it has super clear boundaries and expectations - realise I've probably made that sound extreme but I knew as soon as we went there it would make him feel safe.

@AornisHades, can you please check your mail . Have just PM you . Thank you .

@AAA20 I've replied now

Hello again
Just wanted to say thank you so much for your help so far and see if anyone has any answers to my next questions!

I’ve just found out he’s number one on the 75 long waiting list which is obviously amazing. A child apparently dropped out this morning meaning today he has a place. However this cannot be confirmed until March 22nd. March 9th is the cut off date for second round applications. Am I right in thinking any one who lives closer or meets the criteria that applies for a second round date will bump my son further down the list?

Also, I am going to apply for another school in the second application round (9th March deadline). If we get offered a place here does that take us off the waiting list at our number one current waiting list (I think it doesn’t?). If I accepted the second application school (if they even have a place), can I still stay on the waiting list at the first?

Blimey this is all a huge wake up call! I thought primary was tricky!

Who has told you that there is a space and you are top of the waiting list and more importantly is it in writing ?
There is always a 2 to 3 week period where the LA sorts out what acceptances and what rejections there have been before they reset the admission criteria waiting list. Normally the schools and LA would not give you the advice that you seem to have got as they know that there is always the potential for somebody else to request a place and have greater priority than the current number 1. What normally happens is that the new admission criteria order is created on 22nd March and then they allocate to places based on this list
If you have something verbal then I would go back to whoever it was by email and "say it is my understanding from our conversation that a place has become available and that as top of the waiting list the place has been offered to me. When can you confirm this is writing."
If it is already in writing that is even better.
The reason I say do this is that it creates an expectation that you have been made an offer, even if it was not in writing. Most appeal panels if they got an email saying what you have said was indicated would say that the expectation had been made and therefore should be given a place. I suppose what I am doing is trying to counter a position where on the 22nd March you are not top of the waiting list and therefore miss out on this available place.

It was the admissions lady at the school. She did say that we were top of the list at the moment but explained that someone else could come in on a second application before 22nd March and move us down the list so they did make that clear. I’ve since found out if I make a second round of applications to a new set of schools then that would superceed my original application (the one where we are ‘top’ of the waiting list for our first choice) so it’s not a good idea to do!

She did say more places come up as some independent school places are released this week

I don’t see how making a second round application could affect your waiting list position, because the waiting list is held in accordance to the criteria, and your situation (distance etc) presumably hasn’t changed?

Unless they mean you will then be treated as a late applicant and therefore be admitted after everyone else, but then should you not be given the place now if that is the case? And you would still end up in the same position on the waiting list?

Sorry, I genuinely don’t know the answer to those! Musing rather than trying to suggest something!

I’ve had a long day, so I may be having a logic failure somewhere!

THanks Edcated! I’m getting very confused myself as the lea have given me two conflicting pieces of advice today already!

I don’t see how making a second round application could affect your waiting list position, because the waiting list is held in accordance to the criteria, and your situation (distance etc) presumably hasn’t changed

I suspect that what they mean is that if the OP makes a second round application that doesn't name this school her child will be removed from the waiting list for this school.