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?

"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!"

I think that this is wrong advice. You can ask to go on the waiting list for any school, which is what you have done for the school that you had as first preference. If you find another school that suits you then you can ask for a place at that school. If there are places you get one, if the school is full, which is most likely then you can then ask to go on the waiting list for that school as well as your first preference school. What you cannot have is two offers. I am not sure whether you have accepted the offer made, even though you do not want it, or not. If you have then if an offer of another school is made then you have to relinquish the one you have accepted.

Helpmyhair I rang our LA today to ask about the reapplying and she said I don't have to put the required but refused school down. But there was a very long pause before she answered and it's made me wobble. We were told we have to put down our offered school though if we don't want to lose the place. It's as clear as mud to me.

So, do we reapply stating

1.wanted already refused school
2.new school
3.offered school

Or

1.new school
2.offered school

It makes me twitchy not seeing the one we really want on there though! We will be appealing and in the process of gathering info.

There are 67 on the waiting list for our wanted school. No idea where we are but we will be far down for sure.

I know! That’s what I don’t understand! One person said if I make a second round application to another school I would automatically lose the wanted place waiting list space and the other said I wouldn’t.

What I can work out is will people making a second round application jump ahead of me (my son!) on the waiting list of they meet the criteria more even though they’ve applied late? It doesn’t seem right?!

Yes, they might. Those are the rules. The waiting list must be ordered using the admission criteria only. They cannot put someone last on the list just because they applied late. So if someone who applies who lives closer to the school than you or is in a higher admissions category they will go ahead of you on the waiting list.

Ah I see. Thank you! That’s fine if that’s the rules I just couldn’t work it out from the conflicting information I got from county hall!

So our plan is to just wait and see what happens over the next few weeks and then prepare our appeal if we don’t get anywhere! We moved house to be closer to this school when my son was school refusing from his old primary school. That is genuinely a reason why we moved as close as we could as we knew this school was the only one that would cater for his needs. Can I use that in the appeal or does the old ‘we moved house to be closer’ look arrogant? Or school refusal timeline/consultant letter and house move all match up

Sorry to hear you've had problems.

The advice I'd give from personal experience is beware of appealing to a school who are saying things like "we don't take medical cases".

Especially an academy.

Some schools/academies (wrongly obviously!) put their budgets and image above other things and they won't be as supportive as they should and this will cause as many of not more issues than attending a larger/further away school.

Have a look at other options too. Like if the school they've offered is over 3 miles away they have to provide transport.
Meet the senco's in all local schools with his Sen plan and ask them how they meet need. La have a duty to provide a school that can meet need.

You could also ask for a EHC needs assessment yourself by writing to the Local Authority using this template Be prepared to appeal if you have to but if your son has already been struggling in primary and has had a spell of school refusal then secondary school could very well prove to be a nightmare.

Bridge, when we do the re application, it wouldn't hurt to put on the school we've already been refused though will it?