Appeals advice

[ohmiohmi]

DC was turned down for our first choice and I'm hoping to appeal however feel out of my depth.
It's a multi Faith school so the admissions criteria is different.
We were hoping for this school for DC as it suits our ethos but also it's our closest school. DC has a food allergy and while the school allow the allergen as do all the local secondary schools this school was the most impressive when we asked how it would be dealt with.
Crucially this school offer an hour lunch break and its only five minutes walk away meaning if needed DC could come home at lunchtime if there were any issues. This has been an option through primary though never needed as they are nut free.
The school he's been offered is 25 mins walk away and lunch is only 30 minutes.
I cannot drive so picking him up isn't an option either.
DC is pretty anxious about the whole thing and has been attending a group at primary for children with anxiety.
I'm not sure if this is a good enough reason for appeal, so hoping for advice. TIA

I think you are going to need a lot more than that I'm afraid.

The position is that all schools should be able to deal with allergies, and reactions, even if they didn't manage to communicate that well to you. Especially pretty common ones like nuts.

I'm not sure I get the relevance of the walk - if he has a reaction, the length of lunch is surely irrelevant. Does he have an epipen? Why would he need to walk home? (and then back again?)

A successful appeal hinges on you showing that the detriment to your child of not attending is greater than the detriment to the school of taking another child. Things like subjects offered, school specialisms, unusual clubs/opportunities, or strong personal circumstances that make the school best situated to meet important needs.

Thanks for the reply.
The walk is relevant as it's been discussed with the allergy clinic that him coming home for lunch might be an option for secondary school as they don't typically ban allergens. If a child was in the canteen eating nuts, while it doesn't cause a reaction as such it causes enough of one that he can feel it, it makes him uncomfortable. So it's not about him coming home if he has a reaction but if lunchtimes prove difficult because people are eating nuts and peanuts then he could start coming home for lunch.
This is the only local school where this would work.
Hope that is a bit clearer.

It is clearer and you can put it forward, but it is unlikely to fly at appeal. It would be better if you had evidence from a medical professional, but I would still expect the appeal panel to take the view that the allocated school should be able to cope, especially since we are only talking about him feeling uncomfortable rather than an allergic reaction. As PatriciaHolm says, you need to focus on things the appeal school offers that are missing from the allocated school and that are particularly relevant to your son.

Is it not worth me appealing then at all in your opinions?
The only person I know who has been successful at appeal at this school used the reason that she (the mother) had recently become disabled and the child had had a stressful year.
Other parents who've appealed using things like a having a sibling already at the school or on religious grounds have not been successful.

If you don’t appeal to definitely won’t get it, so it’s worth a shot!

Could you get the allergy clinic and whoever runs the anxiety group to provide evidence he needs to be close to home?

Should say if you don’t appeal you definitely won’t get it

An appeal is a one-way bet. You won't lose anything by appealing (apart from some time) and you might get a place for your son. Even a weak case can win if the school's case is very weak. So, although it is unlikely you would win on the grounds you've set out here, it is not impossible. However, if you can find things this school offers that are missing from the allocated school and are relevant to your child, you may be able to build a stronger case that will give you a better chance of winning.

Just to be clear also he does have more serious reactions if he eats or touches allergens, he carries epipens and has asthma. He's high risk of anaphylactic shock.
The feeling uncomfortable is just if he is in the vicinity of allergens. A child in his primary class last year ate some peanut butter cups at lunch and DS was sent home as he was so uncomfortable.

Thanks, I'm worried about looking like a time waster if my case is weak.
The schools are virtually identical on paper aside from religious affiliation so I don't know if there could possibly be anything else. DS is really passionate about science and drama. One school gets better results in those but I thought that wasn't grounds for appeal.

What are the packed lunch arrangements? Usually in secondary they can eat their packed lunch outside (weather permitting) or in various spaces inside - he would easily be able to move away from anyone eating anything nutty. Coming home at lunchtime isn't going to avoid the issue at breaktime.

better results aren't grounds for appeal, but more opportunities would be.
So if your preferred school run a y7-9 drama club and the offered doesn't that could help for example. Ditto science (especially as science doesn't tend to be available outside of school).

You can give as many reasons as you like. I would definitely mention the science and drama. Back up with evidence wherever you can e.g. letter from teacher on his ability, any noteworthy prizes, letter from extra curricular leader if he does any relevant clubs.

Our primary head wrote a letter which was incredibly supportive.

We also included examples of DSs work in the areas that the wanted school specialises in.

We looked at every extra curricular activity and every subject offered. We compared all the stats available.

The ethos of the school suiting you is probably something that everyone mentions in appeal but stand out, be specific and give evidence wherever you can.

The being close to home thing seems to be huge - that's my interpretation, and it also ties in with his anxiety.

Go in and fight with everything you have. Nothing to lose. If you are unsuccessful, you can get on the waiting list or even apply again in year 8 when the odds are better.

Don't lose hope. I think you have a very strong case. Sell it for all you are worth.

I too am doubtful of your chances of winning an appeal. You have several strands to your argument but they all seem quite weak. You will be battling the presumption that nut allergies are not rare and all schools have strategies for supporting pupils with allergies. Are you sure that the preferred school would allow any pupil to go offsite at lunchtime? The argument about drama and science will only fly if you can show that the preferred school has better facilities and opportunities; their results are not material here.

But, as others have said, you lose nothing by trying.

Hi Op. I hope everything goes well with the appeal . My son is also severely allergic ( anaphylactic) to nuts , I know it’s a really stressful time but if possible I would really encourage him to try staying at school for lunch. That’s where friendships develop and deepen . at our secondary, the office keep one of our epi - pens, and my son carries one himself so no time is lost accessing it. The nearer normal we can make the day the better .

As children will often also have food at break times, lunchtime is not relevant as nuts could equallybe present, possiblymore likely as often in snack food. It must be difficult never eating out because of his reactions, but you can ask school for a reasonable adjustment, such as a space he and group of friends can eat as friends will normally be supportive. Look at other reasons why the school is needed for your child

Thank you all for the replies.
I appreciate it's a weak argument but I think it would make a big difference to DS.
Obviously the coming home for lunch is an absolute last resort but the knowledge that it's a possibility will hopefully help the anxiety DS has around this.
The hour lunch will make a difference too and that's only offered in this school.

I'm aware we probably won't be successful as I said I only know one child who got a place through appeal but most people I know have appealed on religious grounds.

Unfortunately none of the schools we looked round said they could offer anything like designated seating area.
The school we've been offered has a 30 minute lunch break for over 700 pupils to eat in and told us it's virtually impossible to police. Year 7 pupils get a priority queue pass until October half term only.

The school we're appealing for have an hour lunch and they have a high uptake of school lunches which are allergen free. They have lots of seating including outdoor seating under cover which would be perfect for DS.

Don’t worry too much about how many other appeals didn’t get through. It shows that the school probably put up a reasonable case, but you don’t know how good their cases were, and it sounds like they may not have been brilliant if they did indeed focus on faith or siblings.

Are there other things you can identify as suggested, that you could add to strengthen your case?

@EduCated
Thanks. It just goes to show how out my depth I am, to me a strong faith would be a good reason to appeal a place at a Faith school that prides itself on its religious ethos and spaces to worship when the alternative place is at a school not affiliated to any particular religion.

As I said on paper there very little difference in what the schools offer. The GCSE options are virtually identical, both use the local college for vocational courses. The extra curricular activities are very similar.
The Faith school gets much better GCSE results and has a much better inspection result hence it being oversubscribed but obviously I can't use that.
I only know one person who's actually won an appeal. Nobody else seems to know anyone either.
Speaking to some parents who are appealing at school this morning. One is going for the sibling connection, one is using staying with friends due to anxiety and the others are using religion however their religions come even lower in the acceptance criteria than our denomination.

I feel it's going to be a stressful waste of time.

On the positive side, the only thing you have to lose is time and energy, so as long as you can face it, you may as well give it a go!

When you say he feels uncomfortable it's not clear to me what you mean. Do you mean he feels anxious or does he have a mild physical reaction?
When you write your appeal you will need to be clear and specific about this sort of thing.

@PastMyBestBeforeDate

A very mild physical reaction, he says it makes him feels tingly. Sometimes his eyes water.
It also makes him very anxious because he is afraid of a physical reaction. Unfortunately he has a lot of anxiety around illness, he's petrified of vomiting for example.

As others have said, you have nothing to lose (apart from time) by appealing. In my experience both in RL and on MN, most parents who lose their appeal take a bit of comfort from knowing that they tried every option open to them.