2nd Appeal granted Secondary Year 7

[Hayl3e]

Hi everyone,

I have been granted a 2nd appeal in this academic year due to a house move. The appeal is for the same school I lost my 1st appeal to.

This is for year 7 and I have just moved closer by about 2 miles, making us now in catchment priority 1 for the school. The school is oversubscribed overall and currently is at full capacity for year 7, so if I was to be awarded a place on appeal, my daughter would be added as an extra making the appeal harder to win.

This has me thinking that I need to base my appeal on more than just a house move but I'm struggling to know what points to raise.

The school is a SEN school meaning they take more than average SEN registered children so I have that to contend with too. My daughter doesn't have any extra needs or medical reasons I can present.

My daughter is currently 1st on the waiting list for the school and has been for a few months. I have recently been told that the LA have requested that the school admit another child. I understand that this child will have priority over my daughter, and I'm not entitled to know otherwise due to GDPR. It's still frustrating all the same and I feel I'm 'clutching at straws' to get her in. I don't want to make a bad impression and be negative in the appeal.

My daughter is currently home educated and has been since September. The LA take the view that this is acceptable so basically places my daughter at the bottom of the list of priorities. I get less than no help from the LA -although they claim to offer help and advice, I find I get brushed off as she is receiving an education.

Can anyone offer any help and advice as to what I can present in my appeal? I understand I need to convince the panel that my daughter will be more disadvantaged by not being in the school, and that outweighs the problems the school will face, but how do I do that? I'm stuck for what to say other than I've moved and she lives closer.

Thanks

@admission thank you. This is something that has not occurred to me so thanks for the suggestions. I understand that by home schooling, I have probably made it harder for myself. I focused heavily on the travel to school situation for my 1st appeal and it go me nowhere so I'm hoping to bring a better argument this time.

I just wanted to say I'm so grateful for everyone's replies of advice. Even if I'm unsuccessful, at least I can say I tried. Thanks guys.

Don't put any reasons why you do not want any school.
Put only positive reasons for the desired school
Don 't spend time explaining your last appeal.
Transport is outside the panels remit generally.
Bullet point your argument in a concise manner.
Think outside the box and refer to the schools vision, strengths and development areas. Look at newsletters to see what plans are in place. Are they becoming a School of Sanctuary? Look at their links and who those links are linked to. Look at the work of the School Council/ Spiritual Council.Look at their work around British Values and Cultural capital.Look how they support PP via their spending statement. See if admissions have a copy of their public health data profile. What do they promote and how this benefits your child. There is tons of data to use to weave a fact based narrative.