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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

To ask for secondary school appeal help, I am desperate.

126 replies

FluffyUnionSocks · 04/03/2023 17:16

My youngest dd did not get a place at the same secondary school as her two siblings. Nor did she get her second or third choice school which were both within the catchment area. She was given a school 12.8 miles away which in my opinion is not walkable twice a day for the average 11 year old girl, there is not a foot paths the whole way and would mean walking down 60 mph A roads on the grass verge next to the hard shoulder. She could get the first bus in our village at 7:00am (bus runs every 2 hours) to the town centre where she would arrive at 8:30am, then get another bus to an Asda store 1 mile away from school arriving at 9:15am approx and then walk the last mile, she would arrive at school at 9:35-9:40am daily, the school starts at 8:20am so this is just not an option. I have heard that the appeal panel don’t care about transport issues but the local authority have given her an out of catchment school which she can not get to on time by public transport.

Secondly we have a safety plan put in place by the police (not for domestic violence but threats from outside the home) the local authority is aware of this as they recently chaired a multi agency meeting (ASBRAC) where the plan was was reviewed and renewed. Part of that plan along with lots of other things is the children aren’t to use public transport unaccompanied by an adult, left home alone or out in local area until the problem is resolved. My eldest child is 16 and the same rules apply to her, I take and collect my other two children to school, if the council do not budge one set of children will have to be late every day and one leave school early every day. They couldn’t do after school clubs as we are a one car family and dh needs to leave for work at 3:30pm and then isn’t home until 6:30am the following morning. If he gave up work to allow someone to do after school club we couldn’t afford our car pcp payment, mortgage or our life generally on universal credit.

Some one that knows about school appeals please tell me do I have a chance of winning this? Do I write all of this on the form? I have evidence of the safety plan/ASBRAC but I don’t necessarily want to hand that over as it has sensitive information and you never know who the panel knows, although I could photocopy and delete the offending parties details.

OP posts:
MargaretThursday · 04/03/2023 17:19

If it's over 3 miles they'll provide transport.

But directoR's check they ha e your address right because that's an easy one to check.

MamOfFive · 04/03/2023 17:20

If it's 6 miles or more they must provide transport.

Lougle · 04/03/2023 17:22

Starting from the top, the transport issues aren't real issues. The LA has to provide transport if the offered school is over 3 miles away. They can offer a bus pass, but in those circumstances, the journey time is too long to be considered reasonable, so they would likely offer a taxi.

Secondly, if you feel that your children all need to be together, then I would use the ASBRAC plan to assert that your DD needs door to door supervision and that you are the one to do that, so she needs to go to the same school as her siblings on safety grounds. If you can get a professional to agree that it is the only suitable school, that will help. You can argue this alongside the usual 'strengths of the school' thing.

Original poster
FluffyUnionSocks · 04/03/2023 17:23

Our address is correct. Our local authority do provide transport if the school is over 3 miles away but only if it is within catchment area, this school isn’t within our catchment area so school transport will not be provided. Also it is means tested and the household income for this is £27,000 a year dh earns more than that.

OP posts:
NeverDropYourMooncup · 04/03/2023 17:24

You need to provide all the information relevant to your appeal straight away, as refusing to share it means the panel can't take it into account in their decision.

Thingsthatgo · 04/03/2023 17:25

Did you put your nearest school as an option?

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 04/03/2023 17:26

Does the school her siblings are at offer a sibling priority?

TiredArse · 04/03/2023 17:27

Are you sure they haven’t made an error when allocating a place?

DumpedinKilburn · 04/03/2023 17:27

What reason have they given for refusing your three chosen schools?

Dibblydoodahdah · 04/03/2023 17:29

Are you sure that’s correct re school transport? My local authority pays as long as you put your catchment school as first choice. It doesn’t matter whether you are awarded that school or not. Did you put your catchment school as first choice?

Original poster
FluffyUnionSocks · 04/03/2023 17:30

Thank you @Lougle it was reviewed in February and agreed by police, both children’s schools (primary and secondary) and the local authority themselves that it was the only safe option.

I don’t want to give to much detail for safety reasons, we are not the only family on the order 3 out of the 4 houses in our cul de sac are also on the same plan. We have a police marker on our addresses and mobile numbers if we are to make a 999/101 call out calls are prioritised over other school. There has been physical assaults, verbal abuse, criminal damage damage along side lots and lots of other issues. It is a very serious situation that resulted in 30+ armed police officers having to attend so a real threat to people’s lives.

OP posts:
Lougle · 04/03/2023 17:32

FluffyUnionSocks · 04/03/2023 17:23

Our address is correct. Our local authority do provide transport if the school is over 3 miles away but only if it is within catchment area, this school isn’t within our catchment area so school transport will not be provided. Also it is means tested and the household income for this is £27,000 a year dh earns more than that.

What LA is that? They can't offer transport to only within catchment area if they have allocated the school out of catchment. They also can't means test it - it's statutory. PM me if you don't want to say what LA it is.

SimplySipping · 04/03/2023 17:35

They should provide transport if they have allocated her to that school.

Definitely worth appealing though, this sounds way off.

Of course no 11 year old can walk 12.8 miles to school. None of them have a right to attend after school clubs but may be allowed to wait in the library... nevertheless with this order in place I think you should have a good case that she needs to be with her siblings and close by for safety.

Original poster
FluffyUnionSocks · 04/03/2023 17:35

To answer some questions, I believe they have made a mistake as siblings get priority according to the school’s admissions policy. The LA are adamant she didn’t meet the admissions criteria although her siblings will both still attend that school in September, one will move in year 13, the other into year 10.

I am certain about the transport, the LA have told us we are not eligible on household income and that the school is not within catchment area.

The secondary school I want my child to attend are aware of our current living situation and we’re present at the review meeting and agreed to the safety plan.

OP posts:
BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 04/03/2023 17:37

You need to take a look at the admissions policy for 23/24 on the schools website and see what their definitions of sibling count as - it sounds like going into y10 and y13 should count but they may have it in their policy that it only counts up to y9.

Benjispruce4 · 04/03/2023 17:40

Appeal!!! If siblings are still there, she should get a place. It may be an error. This happened to a friend of mine and she got a place in the end.

Boomboom22 · 04/03/2023 17:41

Did you like the yr10 sister on the application? On mine you have to link them in at the time as a reason. It sounds like you have really good grounds for appeal with the police and la about use of public transport. Have you called the admissions officer and explained this to them or the Headteacher?

Lougle · 04/03/2023 17:47

FluffyUnionSocks · 04/03/2023 17:35

To answer some questions, I believe they have made a mistake as siblings get priority according to the school’s admissions policy. The LA are adamant she didn’t meet the admissions criteria although her siblings will both still attend that school in September, one will move in year 13, the other into year 10.

I am certain about the transport, the LA have told us we are not eligible on household income and that the school is not within catchment area.

The secondary school I want my child to attend are aware of our current living situation and we’re present at the review meeting and agreed to the safety plan.

But it's statutory. If she lives over 3 miles away and they have allocated her the school, as long as you put your catchment school in as one of the options, they have to transport. Did you put her nearest school in your list?

Original poster
FluffyUnionSocks · 04/03/2023 17:47

The headteachers of her current primary school and the secondary school I want her to attend are both aware of the safety issues and were part of the ASBRAC meeting were the safety plan was renewed.

The school they want her to attend is not a “qualifying school” for travel assistance as it is not within our catchment area. We also do not receive tax credits, working tax credits, universal credit, or free school meals so do not qualify for assistance in out LA.

OP posts:
PurpleWisteria1 · 04/03/2023 17:49

OP did you put your nearest school as one of your choices on your application form???

Rogue1001MNer · 04/03/2023 17:50

I'd sat you've got very strong grounds for appeal.
Good luck.

Amazing you didn't get allocated the same school as siblings. Are you in catchment for that school?

Dragonsandcats · 04/03/2023 17:50

Appeal. It definitely sounds like they have made an error. Did you submit your application on time? Might also be worth contacting your MP

urbanbuddha · 04/03/2023 17:50

Ask for this thread to be moved to Secondary Education where one of the appeal experts like @prh47bridge or @PanelChair is more likely to see it.

Lougle · 04/03/2023 17:50

If you put your nearest suitable school on the form, then it's down to them if they allocated you a school out of catchment. If you didn't put your nearest suitable school down on the form, then it's down to you if they allocated you a school out of catchment.

Original poster
FluffyUnionSocks · 04/03/2023 17:57

I’m so upset and stressed out about this whole situation as dramatic as it sounds I haven’t been able to sleep since Wednesday.

The school she has been given is crap, in special measures and has required improved since it opened 15 years ago. She has SEN and is roughly currently year 5 term 3 level, if she goes to this school she will be forgotten and as her parent I can not allow this to happen. The siblings school is outstanding, has a leading SENCO department, specialises in dyslexia and has a small class of year 6 1/2 which would be perfect for my dd. The idea is they are taught in one classroom by two teachers and TAs in groups of 6 and then integrated back into the school population in year 8 caught up to where they should be.

OP posts: