School appeal

[warringtonschools]

We won our appeal.

We are very happy but it’s tough.

We had dla, blue badge. 3 consultants letters and a letter from school.
The appeal panel although nice still questioned us.

please be prepared if you appeal on distance, friendships or even anxious child then you probably won’t get in. Out of the 26 appeals we only know if one other child who and they had just moved
to the area and the older sibling got a place .

also put 3 preferences, don’t decline the school place offered and unless your fully prepared and capable of home schooling don’t use this as a threat as appeal panels have heard it all before.
Good luck

Great that you won, such a relief isn't it.
I won ours too.

But I think there are huge variations in what Panels accept as evidence from area to area, and even school to school.

I had a letter from current school saying they believed X school was better for our child due to X reasons.
I had a diagnosis of anxiety & OCD from our GP, but they didn't say which school would be best as they've only just become involved. They stated 'mum believes X school is better suited,' which doesn't bear much weight.
I had a letter from CAMHS saying my DS needed a graduated plan and enhanced transition to secondary school, and they believe he's autistic, but due to the long wait times, he has no formal diagnosis.

So I didn't have as much evidence as I would have liked, and I was certainly worried I just didn't have enough.

But the lovely Panel really listened to me, took on board the fact we needed to get DS away from chronic bullying, and that CAMHS believe he's on the spectrum.
I felt they tried to enhance my case rather than pick holes in it.

It was enough, and we won.

There were over 20 appellants, so this concerned me.

I think it depends on a whole host of reasons, some being -
Area
Popularity of the school
The strength oh the school's case
The strength of the appellant's case
And the panel themselves

So I wouldn't say you need X, Y, & Z to definitely win, because we certainly didn't have as much as it looks like we would have needed for your appeal.

I know it is hard to get in on social or medical alone, but combine them and it strengths the case.
And as long as you can absolutely prove that to not give a place to your DC, it would disadvantage them more than it would the school by allowing in one more child, toy stand a very good chance.

Yes such a relief.
think our schools in the area are very oversubscribed and very popular.
i am so happy for you and your child has got away from the bullies.
look forward to a great summer

Friends of ours appealed. There were 8 people appealing. After the school gave their argument the panel decided that they hadn’t proved that they didn’t have space for the 8 kids so they all got in! Our friends didn’t have to present their (hundreds of hours worth of work) case.

The really interesting thing was that one of the families didn’t turn up for the appeal. They still now had a place.

I always advise people to appeal even if their case is not great.

I’m so pleased to hear you won your appeal. I am just waiting to hear if we were successful
or not and it’s great to see there has been so much help on these threads that mean so many people are able to be successful.
I can only imagine how delighted you are- well done!

That’s amazing news.
yes the school not presenting its case properly allows all appealing cases to get in.
well done to your friends and what a relief

Thank you so much. This site has proved so valuable to us

Good luck and hope it’s good news for you soon

@warringtonschools Yes, this one is, which was also a worry!
You too, may the summer be a long one 😊