APPEALS AND EVIDENCE

[aimshai]

Hi,

Im trying to collect evidence to back up claims in my son’s secondary school appeal. My son’s head teacher has said that she and his teacher will not be sending me any information as it’s frowned upon by appeals panels and if they do it for my son then they have to do it for everyone else. My son’s teacher is extremely supportive and was not aware of the email that was sent to me by the head.
Can the school refuse to provide evidence?
I am really upset as I did not expect the negative response from a headteacher, when all I’m asking for is supporting evidence which they hold on my son.

What evidence are you after? On What grounds are you appealing?

What evidence are you looking for?

A character reference on what a nice, polite boy with high attendance is irrelevant; as is evidence of academic prowess unless you are trying to counter non-qualification for a grammar school.

Grounds of appeal, well being (ongoing with school) his sporting achievements in school and the positive effects this has had on his wellbeing and also his sporting and dance achievements outside of school. The school he wanted is a sports and arts college. He dances at advanced competition level. He is team captain being put for dance World Cup qualifiers this year. The school has dance and arts at GCSE level as well as other things. Hes struggled a lot with anxiety and panic attacks in school which has been supported by school counselling and pastoral due to ongoing issues with peers. Hes grown in confidence through the amazing support he’s been given and also his passion for dance. Dance is the only time I see him express himself fully and the extracurricular activities offered at the preferred school compared to the one he’s placed in, will be something he can do to help with his education.
There’s so much more, my brain is fried from it all.

Do you need school evidence for that? Bear in mind timetabling may mean he cannot choose dance gcse and another performance based subject.

" He dances at advanced competition level. He is team captain being put for dance World Cup qualifiers this year"

You don't need school evidence for this. Surely you have competition write-ups etc that you could point to?

"He's struggled a lot with anxiety and panic attacks in school which has been supported by school counselling and pastoral due to ongoing issues with peers."

You probably have some correspondence that would back this up, unless it was all discussed by phone.

But it's not clear why this point would make the appeal school a more appropriate choice than any other. All schools provide pastoral support for mental health (some better than others, but only anecdotally - it's not something you can realistically prove).

I take it that your offered school doesn't offer dance at GCSE?

You don't need the school as evidence if he does dance at advanced competition level.

What makes the preferred school better in terms of pastoral support?

"He dances at advanced competition level. He is team captain being put for dance World Cup qualifiers this year. "

OK, then presumably you can evidence that with letters from clubs etc?

"The school has dance and arts at GCSE level as well as other things."

This is fine, but bear in mind GCSE offerings can change, so whilst they are on offer now, they may not be in a few years time. So a panel are likely to give it some but not much weight.

"Hes struggled a lot with anxiety and panic attacks in school which has been supported by school counselling and pastoral due to ongoing issues with peers."

Do you have any emails etc outlining this? The problem here will be that all schools offer pastoral support.

As I said on the other thread, the fact he's doing so well out of school in these things could be deemed to suggest the provision in school isn't as important as he's supported very well with those interests outside of school. What are the extra-curriculars he could do as well as the current dance classes? Do the offered school not do them?

his dance, he has back up evidence for all of this from his tutors, would this be sufficient to be put forward with appeal?

It would be sufficient for proving his interest in dance, yes.

Unless the school puts forward a very weak case and there are not many appeals, this is unlikely to be enough to sway a panel on its own though.

Is this school particularly strong on the pastoral side, or do you just prefer it?

I'm a bit worried that you might focus so much on the dance, but in reality, for all the reasons pointed out already, it's not the strongest case. He has managed to get to advanced competition standard without the school, so it would be hard to show it's necessary.

For someone so competent in Dance and who is presumably dedicating many hours to it outside of school I doubt the extra curricular clubs the school offer would actually be of any benefit.

The dance GCSE could be withdrawn before he starts doing GCSEs and also is not necessary to study dance post GCSE so isnt that strong an argument.

Nothing to stop you trying though and sounds like your evidence can be obtained from other and probably better sources than his primary school.

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Kkknn

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