Secondary School Appeal help please

[Thischarmlessgirl]

I'd really appreciate some advice. My son was allocated a school today that was not any of his choices. Its 15 miles away (first choice school is 1.6 miles) and would require two buses to take him there. Not one of his year class mates was allocated the same school (we are a few hundred meters out of catchment for first choice school and on waiting lists for all chosen schools, accepted reluctantly the allocated school offer)

He has a IEP but not a EHCP (he has a formal diagnosis from a ED Psych at the British Dyslexia Association and primary school and SENCO are supportive) part of his Dyslexia includes a lack of being able to organise himself and plan well. DS suffers with anxiety and low self esteem due to his learning difficulty and see's a therapist, being around a small supportive friendship group is important to him, therapist will back this up. School will support and so will Ed Psych. GP too potentially. There are two schools we would be happy for him to attend and as are very local, he could travel there independently hence building self esteem, being with one or two friends would also greatly alleviate anxiety.

Our second choice is a catholic school, we aren't catholic but COE, however our baptism was in Europe and we attend remotely to our family church in Europe where I grew up, however the Catholic school will only accept a UK church supplementary form.

I have twins in year 4 at our local school and could not get them both to school with driving DS to allocated school.

I'm sorry if I am waffling I just feel so upset and overwhelmed for him, I've tried to be positive and matter of fact with him but I am genuinely worried about what the impact will be. I am meeting with his Ed psych on Wednesday and was really hoping for some tips and advice for this more familiar with the process.

Thank you in advance

Your transport issues aren't grounds but the SEN may win you an appeal. You need detailed written evidence as to why the nearer school is the only suitable option so yes, get professional letters. Work out your arguments first so you can ask the professionals to focus on key areas.

No, transport issues won't win you an appeal but the social/medical issues might (although much depends on the strength (or not) of the school's case not to admit).

You will need written evidence from appropriate health care professionals of your son's needs and why your preferred school(s) can cater for those needs in a way that other schools can't. Also pinpoint anything else about the preferred school(s) - curriculum, extra-curricular activities, pastoral care or anything else - that make it a good fit. You need to show that the prejudice (disadvantage) to your son if he doesn't get a place outweighs the prejudice to the school in having to take an additional pupil. In particular, the LEA is likely to argue that dyslexia is not a rare condition and all schools can cater for it, so you need to show why that's not the case.

I agree with the PP. Dyslexia alone, especially with no ECHP would not help as 1:5 or 1:10 children have it and all schools would be able to cater for a child with dyslexia. 2 of my children have dyslexia and I know from experience state schools do not look favourably in private diagnoses of dyslexia.
A secondary age child would be expected to make their own way to school so your transport difficulties with younger siblings will not help.

Thank you both
Will the mental health issues stand with the right back up, some of that being distance and social?
Is 15 miles away deemed reasonable travel (if there's such a criteria) to clarify, there are many schools closer we live in a busy town.
What happens with transport if I can't get him there and he can't manage two buses independently? Do they arrange transport for him?
Am I right in thinking that I can appeal for more than one school and that each appeal has to have specific paperwork tailored to why that school is the best fit for him, having two appeals doesn't compromise either? Thanks again, I really appreciate the support, feeling extra wobbly tonight and my DS has been so upset :-(

@MuddyWalks thank you, the diagnosis was organised by the school but due to the waiting list was paid for privately but from a accredited organisation (British Dyslexia Association) he was diagnosed in year 4 and the school waiting list for the assessment was a further two years. With his IEP he manages but has lots of extra help, the moving around between class rooms in secondary school will be a real challenge for him. He has Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia too.
School say I can start the EHCP process but that won't help with allocations at the moment and its taking a year or more here even if he were successful.

How did he end up with one so far? Did you not fill in the form correctly?

He should be entitled to free school transport. That might be a free bus pass, or it could be a taxi service, so check that first.

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation - I filled it in correctly. Unfortunately choice 1 was over subscribed and we are just a few hundred meters out of catchment (his best friend lives less than 1 min down the road and got in) Everyone in the village where I live last year got in to this school, this year lots haven't as its now highly subscribed.

School 2 is a faith school but won't accept my supplementary form as the church my children were baptised in and attend is in my families native country (on Zoom since Covid) so didn't get in
School 3 is a faith school but already over-subscribed
School 4 is catchment but Grammar and he didn't pass 11+
School 5 is out of catchment but local (3 miles) didn't get in
school 6 is out of catchment but local (5 miles) didn't get in.

Oh gosh, I was wondering if you had grounds for appeal on the criteria being misapplied but it doesn't look like that.

Is there space at any of the two local ones you would take?

Yes, at that distance the LEA should be paying for transport. Often, that simply means a bus pass Have they explained why no closer school has a place - are you in a very rural location?

Appeal for as many schools as you'd be willing to accept but you will need to tailor your arguments for each one. Try to find aspects of each that would make them a good match for your son.

What jumps out at me about the supplementary form for the faith school is that most faith schools expect several years' church attendance. Where did you attend before Covid?

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation - no space at the moment though I am now on the waiting list for the first three but won't find out how far down until 16th March. I honestly didn't see this one coming. He's a lovely boy but gets very anxious, we were even considering moving house earlier :-( My twin's are at his current school so I am also worried now about where they will end up!

@PanelChair Thank you - no its not particularly rural (Buckinghamshire) unfortunately the selective grammars are our nearest schools and he didn't pass the 11+ there are lots of new housing estates growing rapidly here which has pushed the numbers up at the other local schools, our house is on the outskirts of our village and we seem almost between catchments for two schools and barely missed the first choice by a few hundred meters.
Before Covid we spent a weekend a month in Europe at our family home there and went to church with our extended family who live there. We have a home out there which we haven't been able to go to since Covid and now its on the red list (Portugal) so would have to hotel quarantine on return.

So it doesn't sound like you have a catchment school at all? Or did you not list that one?

You mention the catchment grammar but refer to all others as out of catchment?

Faith school is catchment but those with UK church sign off and closer catchment meant it was full before it came to us. Honestly I’m shocked I’m
in this position! Hoping waiting lists may change things but will try the appeal too

You've already had some good advice on this thread. However, if you'd like to tell me the name of the faith school I will take a look at their admission criteria and see if there is an argument that they have not administered them correctly due to their failure to take your church attendance into account. Feel free to PM me.

I'm sure you have already, but you need to look carefully at the faith school's oversubscription criteria and what they say about church attendance. If your form meets their criteria, they were wrong to reject it and you can insist they rectify the error (although it's more usual for faith schools to expect attendance at a local church for a number of years, and more often than once a month. They'd probably question why you didn't attend a local church on the weekends you were at home).

@PanelChair
@prh47bridge
Thank you for your advice. I will take a detailed look at the over subscription policy. If you wouldn’t mind looking at the school that would be much appreciated, I’ll message you. Thank you for all of your support I feel slightly less daunted by all this morning though still very worried

You might well find there is movement on school 1, especially if there are private options locally. In my daughter's year, none of the kids from our village without older siblings got into the school in the next village on the first round, but once the kids going private had turned down their places, they all got offered places.

@lanthanum Thank you that sounds really encouraging and would be our absolute best case scenario at the moment

You clearly don't qualify for one of the categories for Catholic children as you are not Catholic. Baptism is therefore irrelevant. However, there is a category for children of other Christian denominations with the written support of their minister. They do not state any attendance requirement, nor is there anything limiting this category to support from UK-based ministers. As the policy is written, you could get your SIF signed by a minister you've never met from a country you have never visited and they would have to accept this as evidence to put your child in this category.

If you submitted a Supplementary Information Form signed by a minister your child should have been in this category. If they put him in a different category they have made a mistake, which gives you a good appeal case.

If you did not submit an SIF because the school told you they would not accept one signed by a non-UK minister that would also give you a case that your son has missed out due to incorrect advice from the school. If you can prove that the school said this it would be a strong appeal case.

However, if you did not submit an SIF because you thought they only considered UK-based ministers, I'm afraid that won't help you.

@prh47bridge - This part of the admissions policy is where they say UK only

For other Christian Faiths and other faiths, a signed Supplementary Information Form is required to demonstrate that that that child (not the parents) is a member of that faith and that they practice their faith. It is important to note that the Church you attend must be part of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, in order for us to recognise it as a Church for admissions at this criterial level.

Apologies. That should really be in the oversubscription criteria, not hidden away in another part of the policy. I've also now seen a definition in the appendix. For some reason I didn't get the appendix the first time I downloaded their policy - strange.

It seems a bit ridiculous that they can't recognise churches which are part of the Anglican Communion or the worldwide Catholic church. The CTBI recognises some smaller denominations at a worldwide level, because they do not have separate branches in each country. Interestingly, the CTBI also opposes use of their list in school admissions policies!

I thought, too, that SIFs were supposed to be about the parents' faith/practice, not the child's.

No, most SIFs (in my experience) are about the child’s faith, which is why it’s usually not acceptable (for SIF purposes) for the parents to attend church without the child. Many oversubscription criteria (again in my experience) refer to churches who are members of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. That means that smaller churches aren’t squeezed out altogether but it’s never going to cater for situations like we’re discussing here.

SIFs are about the family (ie usually parents) attendance at primary level - a 4yo doesn't really get much say in it!

But for secondary, then the it is the prospective pupil's attendance that counts