Secondary allocation appeal

[Schoolappealler]

Hi

Just hoping for some help re secondary allocation appeals. I don’t want to put too much identifying info on here but basic reasons for appeal are traumatic sudden bereavement (Dad, witnessed by DC) and distance (75 mins journey time, bus, 0.8 mile walk through middle of very large town/city followed by second bus) journey.

I have the date for one appeal (third choice) but other 2 are TBA.

I selected preferred schools based on strength of pastoral care. Second choice school has just been shortlisted for an award for pupil mental health. First choice school has 2 BACP fully qualified counselors on site full time.

The info I have from scheduled appeal seems to say quite heavily that one of the major reasons why they are full is because of ongoing building work. But the work has been going on for at least a year already so must end soon. Can I argue that the detriment to other pupils is temporary and therefore irrelevant?

Second choice school took in an extra 30 pupils last year and the year before at the request of LEA. Does this double down on the argument that they are full or support the fact that they are able to absorb more this year?

First choice school has kept to same PAN each recent year.

Any advice, assessment of likelihood of success would be greatly appreciated esp from @PanelChair@PatriciaHolm @prh47bridge @Lougle who have seen have been so helpful to others in this situation.

Thanks in advance

Just realized it’s a bit ambiguous, bereavement was DC Dad not mine.

I'm so sorry to hear that your DS has witnessed the death of his father. That's really hard.

In terms of journey time, 75 minutes is the upper end of the guideline for secondary school and most panels won't consider the journey to school unless there are clearly evidenced reasons why it is detrimental to the child (an example might be that the child has severe asthma which is exacerbated by walking distances). I don't think the journey time is going to help your appeal.

What support has your DS has following his bereavement? Is there anyone who could write to confirm that your DS needs the extra pastoral support that the other schools provide? They really need to write a letter that says that in their opinion, that school is the one that can meet your DS's needs because of his bereavement. Is your DS affected by his bereavement over and above that which other children would be affected? Sadly, parental bereavement isn't terribly rare, so in itself it's not going to be an automatic reason to admit. Was the bereavement recent?

The building work is an odd reason to say they're full. Are they saying it makes them full, or are they saying it reduces the school site so the pupils in the site have less space? The panel would ask when the work would end, but would also consider that information because although it is temporary, it is a factor.

The fact that they took an extra 30 in each of the last two years will go for and against you. It shows that they can take a bulge class, but it doesn't show that they can fit extra children in existing classes. Also, it means they have 60 extra children to accommodate in the halls, etc.

I am sorry to hear of your bereavement.

I agree with Lougle. The stronger argument here is about pastoral care and access to counsellors. To strengthen your argument, it would be helpful to have a letter from whoever is currently supporting your child, confirming the need for ongoing support and that in their professional opinion the school is better placed to meet that need.

Sorry for delayed response, working all day and just got kid into bed.
My husband died a few months before pandemic. We had to immediately move out of our house for 7/8 weeks while it was redecorated due to damage as a result of the death. We got back in for Christmas and then lockdown happened in March. School recognized how difficult things were and let child back in with vulnerable/key worker children after several weeks.
Before lockdown I took DC to a bereavement charity day session and they advised that it would be better not to have any intervention then but highly likely he would need it in his teens. Unfortunately this was verbal, not in writing. In any case my child absolutely refused to engage on Zoom, Teams etc so no therapy would have been possible at the time anyway.
The school were supposed to run a programme called Seasons to help with bereavement but it got delayed until 2022 due to COVID and then when they tried it DC wouldn’t engage, “I don’t want to spend time at school talking about stuff that makes me feel sad”. So there has been no support for child.
I, however, had about 18 months of weekly bereavement counselling where I talked at length about how my child was acting and reacting and I think I could ask that counsellor to write a letter in favour. Do you think that would be helpful?
Many thanks for you prompt responses and help today.

I am so, so sorry.

The issue here (and again I am sorry that, in these awful circumstances, this sounds so bureaucratic) is that the appeal has to focus on what your child needs. It therefore makes for a stronger case if you can say that your child will need counselling, rather than that he might. A letter from your counsellor could be helpful here.

Think too about other things that make this school best for your child - subjects on the curriculum, extra-curricular clubs etc. They all help build a case.

That sounds so very difficult. I think @PanelChair is right. Although the most important thing in your mind is your DS's bereavement, prejudice appeals are on 'the balance' so anything you can do to tip the balance will help. 3 small things can be as big as one big thing, if you see what I mean.

So if you can get a letter from your counsellor to say that your DS will need support and counselling when he is ready to process his father's death, that's great. Also if the SENCO could write a letter about the support they've tried to give and the fact that your DS isn't ready for it yet, but will need it later, that will also help.

Then, anything at all that you can find that is positive about the school you hope for. Any clubs, etc. Use it all.

I do hope that your DS gets the school that will support him most and that you can both heal.

I have mentioned curricular stuff too. For example first choice school has outstanding art department and my son is really interested in art, computing and animation. He spent loads of his birthday etc money on a drawing pad that links to a Chromebook so he can create moving pictures. Second choice school offers a film studies GCSE which would help develop this interest further. I have mentioned these things but I thought journey would be a strong argument too. I went on the web to find the journey time and it said exactly 75 mins but I can’t imagine that it would be that if you add in a margin to make sure you’re not late by missing connections etc. Also that makes him arrive 10 mins earlier than he needs to be there so essentially already 1h 25mins.
Thanks for your help.

Thanks @Lougle great idea re Senco at current school. I’ll get on to that tomorrow. Thanks! Hadn’t occurred to me but makes great sense the way you put it.

Just for context, our official “nearest” school’s website only quoted external charities etc as mental health resources. So I chose for my 4th choice the sister school to my first choice. I assumed my official “nearest” school would be the default if I didn’t get any of my 4 preferences. I didn’t think they could send him 7 miles away to a school I had never heard of.
Also because of the increase in PAN in the last two years at my second choice I thought that was a shoo in. As it would have been as we were under 30 on the wait list.

The third choice is a catholic school. We aren’t RC but got CofE credentials and school is spitting distance from home. This is the one with the building works.

You tagged me but I don't really have anything to add to the good advice you've already received. I'm sorry for your loss and hope you get a school that can give your son the support he needs.

I have good news, and another question please.
The good news is that we won our first appeal!
Which was for our third choice school, we are very delighted and relieved!
The question is, will this affect the two forthcoming appeals to our more preferred schools? Do I have to say this appeal was won if asked? (Obviously wouldn’t lie if asked directly, but is this a fair question?). At the first appeal they asked whether or not I had rejected the allocated school and I said yes. Then they asked what my back up plan would be if the appeal wasn’t granted.
All my appeal paperwork is referring to allocated school, nothing about the school we have an offer for now.
Many thanks for your help to date.

No, it won't affect the other appeals. It is unlikely they will ask you about this appeal. If they do, answer honestly.

You were right, they didn’t ask me about other appeals. They did ask me whether I applied to the RC school which is v close to home and I said yes, but they’re not v keen on admitting non RC children and we’re not RC.

I had appeal for second choice this week, but won’t hear the result until 16 or 19 June.
The lay panel member asked whether I had visited the allocated school and I said no, it was simply too far from home.
This week’s appeal went much better than the first, so I’m hopeful, and v hopeful the practice I’ve had in doing two appeals will really help with first choice appeal next week.
many thanks to the appeal experts on this thread xxx

I remember your post OP. Pleased you won your third place appeal. That must be a weight off your mind.

Fingers crossed for the others.

Found out on Friday… we won first choice appeal! So delighted and pleased. And relieved!
We haven’t heard yet about second choice school appeal but frankly doesn’t matter now we have first choice.
Really big thank you to the experts on this thread who helped me and others.
xxx

Well done!

Thanks to you and the other experts who have helped.
I am so happy and delighted that my son is going to get to go to the best most suitable school for him x

Oh @Schoolappealler I'm delighted for you! This is why the appeals process is so important. For a panel to be able to recognise that the admissions authority weren't wrong to deny your DS the place but your DS needs the place anyway is just brilliant. I hope your DS enjoys attending his first choice school and that when he's ready they can give him the support he needs.

Just in case anyone was wondering, in the end we won all 3 appeals. Obvs going to first choice school now. I am sincerely grateful to the experts on here for their help, not just on this thread, I learnt so much from their posts on others’ threads too. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Well done! The power of Mumsnet!

It's so good to hear. You did have a very strong case, so I'm not surprised that you won.

Well done, I hope you and your son can move forward now. I also hope he realises the importance you are placing on making sure that his mental health is supported, maybe he will now feel a bit differently about having some counselling.