Secondary appeal advice - letter from teacher

[SuperSue77]

I’m looking for advice on a supporting letter from my son’s teacher. I know it’s been said that letters from existing school don’t carry as much weight as one from a medical professional but I feel the letter is important to corroborate my argument as she can confirm current reasonable adaptations school are making for my son that preferred school already incorporate into their teaching, but offered school does not. His teacher is very supportive of our appeal and agrees with our arguments.

The advice I’m seeking is who should she address the letter to? “Dear Appeals Panel…” or “To whom it may concern…” or “Dear Sir/Madam…” (want to make the best impression!)

Also, should she simply state the facts or should she say that “in her opinion preferred school would better meet his needs because of the facts?” She is local to the area with children at local secondary schools, so she knows quite a bit about them.

And would it carry more weight if also signed by SENCO or the Head? My feeling is that given the comments I’ve read so far about letters from schools not carrying much weight, the SENCO and Head’s signatures wouldn’t add anything, but want to ask the view of those experienced in this!

@prh47bridge
@PatriciaHolm
@Lougle
@PanelChair
@schooladmission

I hope you all don’t mind me tagging you but I’ve found all your advice so far really helpful (sorry if I missed anyone!) Thank you all 😊

It really doesn't matter who the letter is addressed to.

It would be helpful if she states that, in her opinion, school X would be best for your child and lays out the reasons.

Personally, I wouldn't put two signatures on the same letter unless it is genuinely a joint letter - "in our opinion", etc. As for who's signature would carry most weight, that really depends on the appeal panel. Some may think the Senco is more persuasive due to their knowledge of SEN, some may think the teacher is more persuasive due to their knowledge of your child.

@prh47bridge thanks very much! My son’s teachers have actually been much more instrumental in his support than the school’s SENCO. The SENCO has a reputation as a blocker and dismisses a lot of what the classroom teachers approach her for! She has supported my son’s (unsuccessful) EHCP request, and has met with us to discuss his needs, but it has really been his teachers who have had to manage him in the classroom who have found what works for him, with some input from me. Th e biggest adaptation came from his EP report and my request for it, and it has been a game changer, and this is what preferred school offers. I think the SENCO would support the letter, so might ask class teacher to write and see what SENCO thinks about using “our” and including her name.
Thanks again!

@prh47bridge has given you great advice. The letter will carry most weight if it is specific and can easily be matched to the target school. For example, if the teacher writes 'we've really had to support Johnny this year ', it doesn't help much. If they write 'Johnny is particularly sensitive to the acoustics of our building. In rooms with high ceilings, such as the main hall, Johnny becomes heightened and needs 1:1 support to calm.' and you have evidence that your preferred school has had all their ceilings lowered, but offered school has high ceilings throughout, that allows the panel to see the difference in the impact for Johnny of the environments.

It may not be that specific, but if you do get the letter in time, it would be good for you to add a letter that details how you believe the letter supports your case. Very simple things like 'SENCO letter says they have to give time out. Preferred school has a dedicated time out area, offered school is open plan and no space available.'

Thanks @Lougle that’s really helpful too. Yes, what teacher plans to say backs up my arguments and it is very specific to preferred school provision which they do not offer at offered school.

Final question - does it matter if letter is not physically signed? It’s on official school letterhead. I don’t think it needs to be as it is clearly from the school - but don’t want to
fall foul of anything!

I think that's fine as long as it is very clear who the letter is from and their position in school.

Thanks @PatriciaHolm yes it says “Class Teacher” and “SENCO” next to their names and the schools headed paper also has the SENCOs name and job title. They offered to do physical signatures if needed but I don’t want to bother them anymore as they have already done so much to support us.