Faith School Appeal

[NorthernDad2022]

Hi all,

I’m hopefully looking for some advice/guidance. We have been refused a place for my youngest daughter at a church school in Leeds (which her older sister attends) on the grounds of too low a score on the admissions criteria. The main reason for this is that the Supplementary Information Form evidencing church attendance was returned by our vicar with ‘no evidence of attendance’ marked on the form.

The background to this is that the current vicar is relatively new to the church (joined shortly before the pandemic struck) and so doesn’t know the family particularly well. The family have been attending church for around 9 years but suspended attendance during the Covid lockdown due to safety concerns, recommencing attendance in August 2021.

We have now obtained a letter from the Vicar at least acknowledging attendance since August 2021 and also a supporting letter from another member of the clergy in a personal capacity evidencing our long-standing relationship with the church, along with some patchy Sunday School attendance records.

The grounds for the appeal are:

1.      The school did not have a complete picture of the family’s attendance at Church which may have influenced the ranking of our daughter’s application. The Supplementary Information Form is quite specific in that it refers to church attendance in the two years prior to application (i.e. the time of the Covid lockdown) but the argument is that the key issue is that the family have a long-standing and consistent (apart from lockdown) relationship with the church 
   

2.      The faith focus of the school is very important to our daughter and the family, given our long-standing relationship with the church – the argument being that refusal would be of significant detriment to her (the school we have been offered is non-faith) 
   

3.      Her older sister has a health condition (mental health related) which my youngest daughter is playing a key role in supporting with. The argument here being that her inability to help and support her older sibling (travelling to and from school together, spending breaks/lunch etc together and having some commonality in education) would be of significant detriment to her 
   

I would welcome any comments or advice. Some of my queries are:

Is point (1) a procedural matter rather than the detriment to her vs the school argument? Do we have to make this clear on the appeal form?

Is there likely to be flex around interpretation of the Supplementary Information Form or is it strictly to the letter?

Do I need evidence of the school’s past flexibility in terms of student numbers to show that they have flexed before?

Many thanks for your help

our desired school particularly excels in the areas that are important to our daughter.
Which daughter? I still have concerns for dd1 who I don't think is going to be seen as a person in her own right but solely there to meet needs of her elder sister.

Are there any additional guidelines on the school website for attendance during the period while the church was closed?
If the reason you were unable to attend church in 2020/1 during the limited period(s) it was open(before August 2021) were health related (including mental health) then I would add this to your case.
I know a family who won an appeal for 2021 entry, who were initially declined a sibling place due to low church attendance that year, who won an appeal. This was based on the fact that a family member was shielding during the pandemic.

As others have said, the admissions process and any subsequent appeals have to be concerned with the letter of the oversubscription criteria as, otherwise, subjective interpretations can distort matters and introduce unfairness.

Nothing about the SIF sounds as if it has been dealt with incorrectly and (kindly) your reasons for not attending Zoom services are unlikely to convince the panel. Better to muster other arguments about why the preferred school can meet your younger child’s needs in ways that the allocated one can’t.

If you want to rely on the argument about your older child’s mental health needs, you will need a letter from a health care professional confirming what those needs are and that your younger child’s attendance at the school is essential to them. Even then, I think the panel might find this problematic, because the appeal is about your younger child’s needs, not the sibling’s.

@MichelleScarn

Her older sister has a health condition (mental health related) which my youngest daughter is playing a key role in supporting with. The argument here being that her inability to help and support her older sibling (travelling to and from school together, spending breaks/lunch etc together and having some commonality in education) would be of significant detriment to her *@NorthernDad2022* Is your younger daughter happy with this? To not be allowed to become an individual in her own right at school? To make friends and attend clubs and activities? What happens at evenings, weekends and holidays? Is she allowed to do these then?****@NorthernDad2022**

Yes, I'm hoping that the OP has put that down in the hope of strengthening her argument rather than she actually expected that.

I mentored briefly a child in the position of the younger child here and it had a dreadful effect on her mental health and self esteem, as well as friendships.

Op if you are genuinely thinking this: Please don't. Your younger dd needs to be at school with her friends and not have to worry about her sister. Although you probably won't think it will, but it will adversely effect their relationship if she feels that she has to look after them.

@LIZS

Where is she on waiting list?

@LIZS Not sure where she is. Are we entitled to find out?

@PanelChair

As others have said, the admissions process and any subsequent appeals have to be concerned with the letter of the oversubscription criteria as, otherwise, subjective interpretations can distort matters and introduce unfairness.

Nothing about the SIF sounds as if it has been dealt with incorrectly and (kindly) your reasons for not attending Zoom services are unlikely to convince the panel. Better to muster other arguments about why the preferred school can meet your younger child’s needs in ways that the allocated one can’t.

If you want to rely on the argument about your older child’s mental health needs, you will need a letter from a health care professional confirming what those needs are and that your younger child’s attendance at the school is essential to them. Even then, I think the panel might find this problematic, because the appeal is about your younger child’s needs, not the sibling’s.

@PanelChair Thanks for your input. Seems to be a consensus that any successful appeal will be down to why the preferred school can meet my daughter's needs rather than any issue with the SIF. Couple of questions:

1. Presumably the provision of unrivalled religious education within an environment with a strong Christian ethos would be a valid 'need'. There is still the argument of 'why didn't you attend during the pandemic etc etc' which is something we can deal with as there are valid reasons

2. Is it best to focus on one reason for appeal, being (1) above or is it best to find multiple grounds? The main reason, frankly, is the Christian ethos

May I ask what your reasons were for not attending during the pandemic?

I think you will struggle arguing faith"need"when you effectively opted out of participation for two years. Focus on the other things which set it apart for her.

Waiting last may well be held by the school itself rather than LA. You can ask your dd place but did the letter suggest she would automatically have been put on it? If not, you may need to contact them to do so.

I suspect a Panel (I sit on appeals panels) will see your faith argument as a weak one, as I said earlier. That's not to say it has no merit at all, but it's weak, and you would be relying on the schools' case being very weak too (and that of any other appellant).

The crux is that you need to show the detriment to your daughter to not attending is greater than the detriment to the school of taking another child. Your desire for your daughter to have a faith education is a consideration, but her faith can be easily supported outside of school. If the school presents a decent case, they are likely to win.

Also; do you have any evidence that this type of education is important to her and not just to you? I don't say that to be rude, but that is what the panel will be looking at; the detriment to her, not to you.

It's so hard because I'd love to say 'yes, that will do it.' but the reality is that having been a panel member, they are accountable for their decisions and they can't just allow an appeal because the parents really really want it.

You can use as many arguments as you want to and the panel will consider them all. What you need to be careful of, though, is weakening your stronger grounds by giving the impression that you're throwing everything and anything in.

What, specifically, is it that the preferred school does that sets it apart from other schools? All schools are required to have a broadly Christian character (unless they have applied for a variation based on their school population).

I very much agree with PatriciaHolm and Lougle.

The appeal - and the weighing up of the arguments for and against admitting - have to centre on the child’s needs. The panel will pay attention to your preference for a faith school, but that’s straying from what the appeal’s really about (and, as I’ve said before, the apparent flaw in your argument here is that you opted out of worship for two years, despite Zoom services being offered).