Help appealing secondary school place

[Mumofboys2411]

My son did not receive our first choice secondary school place. He has recently been diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome which really affect his social skills and making friends. All his peers are going to the school he didn't get into and he is the only one from his school going to the school he has been given. I have approached his doctor, Neurologists and current school for a letter which they will be sending me. My son will also be writing his own letter about his struggles with living with Tourette's.
Does anyone have any other advise to help with our appeal?

The letters will carry a lot more weight if the professionals writing state that it is their opinion that your DS would benefit from remaining with friends for support/attending a particular school. They’ll carry less weight if they simply state that ‘Mumofboys tells me she feels DS would benefit…’.

It would generally be expected that any school is equipped to deal with Tourette’s and that all children will be anxious about transition, so you need to demonstrate that your DS has a specific need to stay with friends.

Others will likely to be able to advise better, but a letter from your DS is unlikely to add anything, and may come across as trying to guilt trip the panel.

It is also worth looking at the other usual aspects of appeals - are there extra-curriculars the preferred school has that others don’t that you can demonstrate an interest in, or subjects offered etc. Is there anything you can point to at the preferred school (that the other school lacks) that would support your DS (nurture groups, Y6 summer schools)?

It is also worth asking the questions around numbers in each year group so that you can see if any previous years have gone over PAN. This will help because you can demonstrate that they have coped with additional pupils in previous years.

EduCated is correct in saying that a letter from son may have the opposite effect with the panel that you want it to have. Certainly producing a photo of son at the appeal and talking about the fact that the panel needs to realise that they are discussing a real person usually tends to have a negative effect on the panel. A letter fits some way below the photo being shoved under the panel's noses but would still be a bit of a risk. Strong letters of support from doctor and neurologist are a better way forward in my opinion. Strong letters need to be saying similar to "having been a patient of mine for X time it is my professional opinion that X school is the correct school for son to attend because....." Panels will always then take that seriously into consideration in making decisions.