Secondary Appeal - Help!

[FanFckingTastic]

My DS missed out on the secondary school that we wanted for him - I know that we are not alone in this predicament but he does have a set of quite specific circumstances so we have decided to appeal, with help and support from his primary school.

My DS has severe ADHD and GAD. He's a suspected dyslexic and we are anticipating that he will probably receive a formal tourettes diagnosis at some point in the near future. His primary school are amazing with him and he's really flourished despite his difficulties. He doesn't have an EHCP however as academically he is coping. We are continuing to push this but as you probably know these things take forever.

We are lucky to have some good secondary schools in our area and had chosen the school that is literally a stone's through from his current primary. It's actually not the 'best' school from an academic point of view but would suit him for a number of reasons. They have a great SEN team with facilities that will help him (a support dog for example, who they have already used for him to help with his anxiety when he sat their banding test) they have a very individualistic approach and they are local which means that his transition will be less stressful for him (new areas and situations etc are a problem and trigger panic attacks) As this secondary is so close to the primary school there is some cross over, so we use the facilities there for some school events, and this really helps my son to feel comfortable. Also, I can take him and pick him up - this sounds really silly but his ADHD makes him so impulsive that he just can't be trusted to cross the road safely by himself. The school is also mixed sex, which is important for us, but I know may not be relevant for the appeal.

The school that we have been given is a great school, good ofsted and very accademic.... but it's a single sex, alpha male school some distance away. It's great, but just not great for my vulnerable boy.

With regards to catchment, we were clearly just a little short of where we needed to be. It's difficult to know exactly because the school runs a banding system and takes a certain number of kids from each band. I don't think that we were out by much however. We are obviously on the waiting list. I have started looking at PAN, in comparison to numbers taken - actually the school that we want is significantly less over their PAN than other local schools but I'm not sure whether this is relevant for the appeal.

My question is what do we do next? We have a 'counsel of war' meeting with the primary school head, DS's class teacher and our SEN support next week. We have a similar meeting with the CAMHS team too. Both are very happy to support and agree that the school that we want is best placed to meet the needs of my DS. What kind of things can they provide that are generally useful and considered well by appeal panels? Are there any specific areas of data that I should be requesting from our preferred school etc etc. Any help or advice would be absolutely brilliant as I'm feeling a little lost at the moment. Tagging the following people as they are clearly the experts in this field!

@admission
@prh47bridge

If you read the other secondary school appeals threads, you’ll know that essentially what you’re trying to demonstrate is that the prejudice (ie disadvantage) to your son in not getting a place outweighs the prejudice to the school in having to admit an extra pupil. What you need from CAMHS, the SENCO and any other health care professionals working with your son is confirmation of his various needs and confirmation that in their professional opinion he needs to attend the appeal school for those needs to be met.

You can also add to your arguments by mentioning other things - such as the support dog but also curriculum, clubs, pastoral care and so on - which are available at the school and not elsewhere which would benefit your son. The school/LEA are likely to argue that all schools can cater for a range of needs so you need to highlight why this school is especially suitable.

Information about PAN and the numbers actually in each year group is potentially very useful, because if you can show that the school has gone beyond PAN that supports your argument that the school would not suffer any great detriment in admitting your son as an additional pupil.

One last question for now. Does the school have a social/medical need category for admissions and did you apply under that heading? If there is such a category and you didn’t apply under it, then - separately from the appeal - it’s worth speaking to the admissions authority (school or LEA) about what evidence they would need to see now. If they agree that your son does have a social/medical need for a place then (assuming they have the typical oversubscription criteria) that should at least move him up the waiting list.

@Ejima95 you need to look at the wording for your council. Ours states sibling priority only applies to those living at the same address.

Ejima95 - that needs to be a separate discussion and it would make things simpler and clearer if you could start your own thread. When you do, please provide more information about why the boys have different addresses. Do they have different living arrangements?

@Ejima you may want to start your own thread as your question seems to be quite different from mine I think. Good luck!

Thanks @PanelChair. I don't believe that there is a social/medical need category for admissions - certainly we didn't apply on that basis. I will check with the LA however if there is an option to consider this.

I've been getting the PAN information from the Ofsted reports. Presumably I can request this from the school under FOI? Is there any other data that is helpful in this way? I was thinking asking if any planning applications or expansion plans are proposed. I was also thinking of asking if there have been any reported incidents due to overcrowding in corridors etc ( in case that's one of the arguments that they use)

What you do next is submit your appeal and get your evidence together. You don't need your evidence or your final written case when you submit your appeal - you can submit those later. No harm in putting them in now if you have them in time but you don't have to wait for them. The important thing is to get your appeal in before the deadline.

Fundamentally, what you need from the professionals is letters saying that, in their professional opinion, the appeal school is the best school for your son and setting out their reasons. That is the kind of evidence that should be given a lot of weight by the appeal panel.

Ask the preferred school if they have been over PAN in Y7 in recent years. If they have, that will help your case.

It shouldn’t have to be a FOI request - schools are supposed to meet any reasonable request for information to help with an appeal. It’s up to you whether you ask the question now or at an appeal hearing, but “have there been any accidents attributable to overcrowding” is exactly the sort of question you can ask if the school makes vague statements about the ill effects of taking additional pupils. Usually the answer to the question is no, which then casts doubt on the school’s claims.

Thanks @prh47bridge

We've already told the school that we are appealing and have been given an Appeal Application Form to complete - it's not due back until April 20th so we have a little bit of time. The form does say that we need to include all supporting evidence though so I'm presuming that we need to have all of our ducks in a row by then, even though the appeals are not heard until June.

I would expect the clerk to contact you after you've submitted your form with a later deadline for submission of additional evidence. However, if you do have everything available in time you might as well submit it.