APPEAL TOMORROW!!

[Hye000]

We have our appeal tomorrow and I am absolutely scared to death, so worried and just petrified it’s not going to go our way. Two other families we know who have had there appeal already, aren’t convinced it was worth while and one family have been offered a place for a school that was on their list so I am guessing there appeal won’t be upheld if the panel have offered a place elsewhere. I’m worried my emotions are going to get in the way and also worried how to summarise my case when my time comes to speak 😩😭

Have you written some notes? There is no way I could have remembered what to say, I was definitely emotional but didn't show it because I knew I had to keep it together.

Everyone was lovely at mine and they made me feel comfortable and kept asking me if I had anything to say.

Good luck.

Good luck. Ours was on May 12, 2 years ago - we won! Hope it's a good omen for you.

Good luck. Give it your best shot.

One small thing. The other family will have been offered the new place by the LEA, from the waiting list. The appeal panel has no role in that. The appeal will be decided (like all the others) on the balance of prejudice and the new school place has no bearing here.

Ahh ok. Thank you, don’t know how I would have got through this without the amazing knowledge of you and others here on MN! x

I really really hope so! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

I have wrote some rough notes but they are for when I question the presenting officer. I don’t know how to re-word what I need to say in my summary that I haven’t already said in my letter.

Remember that the panel have already read your letter, so you only need to remind them of the main points, something like “as I said in my letter, my child needs a place at this school because a, b, c”.

@PanelChair thank you, that’s helpful. I just didn’t know how to start it and what to say without babbling or going on about something irrelevant. As I am appealing on LA being negligent in putting my child in the wrong criteria but also appealing for a place in general, do you think I should emphasise on the fact she is in the wrong criteria or on the detriment in general??

I think at this stage, so close to the hearing, you need to go with whatever feels most natural to you and makes you feel in charge.

I’ve been on lots of appeal threads this year, so forgive me if I’m confusing your thread with others, but (if I recall correctly) this is about not getting a place on medical/social grounds. So I think you could begin by saying that your child has medical/social needs which this school can cater for better than the allocated school; in your view the LEA was wrong not to place your child in the med/soc category and your letter sets out why; on top of that, there are other reasons why your child will be disadvantaged if not admitted to the school. You could then pick up these points, drawing attention to the evidence you’ve submitted.

Good luck @Hye000 - I had made a note of your appeal date to remind me to wish you luck the day before, then didn’t look at notes on my phone so forgot!

I have got everything crossed for you. Did you see the update from NatM70 about her appeal the other day? I found it reassuring, I’ll try and post a link in case you haven’t seen it.

I also think @Rae247 has their appeal tomorrow too - good luck to you too!

I found out today that one person has pulled out from ours appeals, so one less!

Thought it might be easier to copy and paste it here than link it, hope NatM70 doesn’t mind!

I had our appeal yesterday, there were over 20, so stage one was heard yesterday morning and all parents who wanted to attend that did so.
Really use this to ask your questions and try to pick holes in the school's case (respectfully! - A lot of parents yesterday were quite rude or aggressive, which really isn't on given the panel do this voluntarily. I can't see that going in their favour, as you meet the same panel at the individual meeting.
You won't be allowed to ask any more questions re school at your individual hearing, so write it all down and ask at this stage. Or you can email them in.
I did email some in, and they were read out by the Clerk for me, but I had a few more which I did ask myself.
School couldn't answer some of my questions, but that was okay.
The panel retired, but came back pretty quickly to say the school had demonstrated a good case, so stage two would go ahead.
I think this is what they have to do, else if they'd dismissed school's statement, everyone would then have automatically been given a place.

I was super nervous, I did not think I would be able to do it, especially as hubby was not able to go with me due to his work commitments (I do suffer a little anxiety, but I knew it was my one shot so I was determined to stay and fight for my child).
I then had a 3.5 hour wait (no point driving home to go back again, so I found a coffee shop and set about reading through my files to refresh my memory!).

I then had my individual hearing, and because my written appeal was so comprehensive, we just addressed the main points - I think the panel did a silent phew at that point!
The panel were a delight, and really tried to help me.
They asked about my child so they could see him as a real human being, they asked about his strengths and what he enjoys.
We went over the main points, and I felt I was given enough time to explain clearly.
They had read my appeal and said they would read it again.
I did apologise for the length of it, as they said it's the most comprehensive one they'd ever had 😅
They seemed to really listen to me, and took on board the issues my child has, and I questioned if they thought I had enough supporting evidence from professionals, which they stated I had.
I look back and wish there are certain things I had said, but as long as they do read my written appeal, it is all in there anyway.
We had a bit of a laugh, and the panel members gave me instances of their own children who had similar issues to my son, and with the right help in the right school, they have flourished.
That was very kind of them to say so, and it gives me some hope that I might just win the appeal.

I made sure to thank them for their time, and was respectful.
And for taking the time to read through what probably equates to something similar in length to 'War & Peace'.

It wasn't nearly as stressful as I thought it might be, so all that worry leading up to it wasn't necessary, but obviously I didn't know that.

As there are face to face hearings today, and Zoom meetings tomorrow, the panel won't be deciding until Friday, and I will know one week later if I've been successful or not.
However, they did say (and I double checked) that each appeal goes on merit alone and is not compared to any of the other appeals being heard, which is a comfort.

Thank you, this really helped me build the beginning of my summary… I was just stuck on how to start.

@SuperSue77 thank you for the best wishes. It will be a slight relief once it’s over and then the awful wait over the weekend. Hope they take mercy on me and get in touch sooner!!! Just need to hold it together and make sure I get the important points across that may not be expressed as well in a letter. Mine is on Microsoft teams which I’m not looking forward to, technology can be so unreliable at times like this!!

Good luck. Hope it goes well.

I don't mind at all.
We're all desperate for help right now!

Good luck to everyone at their appeals.

I was scared silly before I went in and during Stage 1, but it was no where near as scary as I thought it would be.

The panel were amazing, and really wanted to know about my child and his likes and strengths.
We had a laugh, they totally put me at ease.
I had nothing to worry about at all as it turns out.
They even helped me - it was a if they actually want me to win this.

Go in, be respectful and thankful for their time.
They do this voluntarily, your kindness can go a long way.
Make sure you write your main bullet points - if you've sent in a very comprehensive apoeal like I did, you do not need to go through it all as the panel said they had read mine and would read it again.

If you need evidence, make sure you get it.
I had to fight and fight for mine, but I got it in time.

Remember to look at the school's case and ask questions to try and pick holes in their case - you need to do this at Stage 1, as you can't do this at Stage 2.
If you're too nervous, email your questions in and they'll be read out for you.
I did this, but also asked more on the day.
School couldn't answer some of my questions, but that was okay. I said thank you for every reply whether they could answer me or not.

I honestly did not think I'd be strong enough to get through this as I have some anxiety, but when it is your child, you forget that, and you fight for them.

If I can go in and do that, I promise you that you can too.
And it is not going to be as scary as you think.
The panel are human remember, and if anything like the panel I had, they tried so hard to help me.

I find out next week, and I do feel positive about this.

@Hye000 hope it went well for you.

not long finished. Didn’t start on time as the presenting officer was late but got there in the end. I was so nervous and struggled to hold emotion at times but didn’t fall apart. So when I asked why she wasn’t taken into account for medical and social the presenting officer told me that there threshold was that the professional needs to write “school x is the only school for this child” (or something like that). So my child wasn’t out in the criteria down to the choice of words that her health professional used within the letter 😠 I didn’t express my annoyance or anger but I was absolutely mortified!!! So relieved for it to be over, just the wait now for the outcome. Praying for those still waiting and will be sure to update when we get an answer, thank you all for the knowledge, wisdom and kind words. I genuinely did the best I could for my daughter and I couldn’t have done it without you all so thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤️ xxx

Unfortunately it is always the advice on here that a letter of support from a hcp needs to state that in their opinion this is the most appropriate school due to ... In theory any school can cater for most additional or health needs. Does your evidence now include this?

@LIZS It does now yes and her healthcare provider attending the meeting and made it clear that she hadn’t been through this process before and had she known she would have stated it more clearly. Unfortunately the way it is written in the admissions info it doesn’t mention this and unless a person came to MN before initially applying for a school, no one would know this. I think it’s a floored system that that’s how easily they can write someone off, just down to a choice of words. It’s wrong.

That is not how the school should operate. If they are going to have a medical/social needs category, they need to assess applications properly, not reject them simply because the evidence does not include a particular form of words.

I think we were all shocked and I made it clear that I was disappointed that this all came down to words and that we wouldn’t be in this situation had they made one small contact with her hcp before throwing out her case

how can they reject in the criteria of ‘… doesnt contain xyz words’ when the criteria doesn’t explicitly say social, medical category is limited to those with the xyz wording. How does that comply with admissions code?

That was the point I tried to make that in the criteria it says you must have exception circumstances as you would be asking the LA to give you a place over someone who may live closer and I felt that that’s exactly what I did. I am disgusted really at how they can put a child’s health on the line due to a choice of wording!!!

And can I add. I only found this out today when I asked why she didn’t meet the criteria and how they decide. So I wasn’t aware until it was too late to even get her hcp to re write another letter!