Year 7 admission appeal

[Springtime7]

Hi,

I would really apprecaite any help - my DS has been allocated a secondary school which we did not list - this is an inadequate rated school and has been for many many years - got changed in to an academy 5 years ago and still inadequate - now they have a termination notice in place from DofE ofsted.

I am really upset we didnt get any of our preferred choices - and i am upset my DS will go from an outstanding primary to inadequate secondary.

i have placed him on waiting lists - but also want to appeal - anyone have any positive appeal help? I understand winning an appeal is difficult and I am appealing for a school not against one. I also understand i need to show the detriment of DS not getting a place is more than that if he was given a place.

Any help would really be appreciated.

thanks. X

You need to identify things the appeal school offers that are not available at the allocated school and are particularly relevant to your son. If, for example, he is musical and the appeal school has more extra-curricular musical activities, that is the kind of thing that will help your appeal.

Thank you for replying. X

Does any one know where i can find out calculated capacity of a school? I have found out PANs already. X

Ask the school. They must answer any question you ask to help you prepare for your appeal.

would anyone know please - do academy schools get funding for published PAN children amount or the actual amount of chlidren that are admitted? Thanks. X

Don't get sucked into arguments about funding. They won't get you anywhere. However, to answer the question, funding is the same for all types of school. There is an annual schools census in the autumn that collects data on the number of registered pupils at that point. The figures from that census are used to determine the school's funding for the following financial year (which begins in April).

All state schools are funded for the number of children admitted, not the PAN.

Also, having one or two or even a handful more students obviously doesn't pay for the additional staff needed for a whole new "form of entry". That's why schools prefer to expand in a controlled way - e.g. having a bulge class of 30 can be easier to absorb than pushing all the existing classes over their planned number (thereby increasing student:staff ratios).

I contacted my LA and schools direct for net capacity info. LA didnt know what i meant - and the actual schools said they dont have a net capacity plan - they can just take on number of children funding is agreed for by DofE. They also stated if they do go over the number - the funding is lagged and they will recieve it the next year. Will any if this info help my appeal plz? X

None of that will help your appeal - if it would then everyone would use it and win! You need to do what the previous poster said and focus on why that school can meet your child’s needs best.

Thanks. Sorry if any of these questions are silly - im just really struggling - and this is my first time ever posting for help. So thank you. X

With regard to the number of children being admitted - I think you can also use the number of kids admitted after the beginning of the year as an argument. Some schools have a lot of movement in the first year, with kids routinely leaving/ joining - so the school usually have places later in the year.

It sounds as if this is an academy, in which case its capacity should be recorded in its funding agreement with the DfE. What might help you more is to know the actual numbers in each year group, because if there are year groups over PAN you can argue that the school can cope with additional pupils.

Arguments about turnover don’t really wash. The panel can’t allow appeals on the basis that other pupils might be leaving and so it will balance out. The decision has to be about whether the prejudice (detriment) to the child if they don’t get a place outweighs the prejudice to the school in having to cater for an extra pupil.

Thanks - yes the PAN is 800 but they have 847 student. But still only accepted 160 children for this coming year. I dont know where the extra 47 students came from as over the past 3 years only 1 appeal has been upheld.

another academy has a PAN of 800 which should be 160 per year group - but are only taking 120 per year group.

does it affect a panels decission if i appeal to more than one school?

No. The panel won't be told that you are appealing for multiple schools. Even if they did become aware, it isn't relevant.

The PAN is the number of students admitted into Year 7, not the total on roll.

is that 847 children on roll over 5 year groups? That could easily be explained by a bulge in one year, and then going over in other years by taking pupils under the Fair Access Protocol, or EHCPs for example.

You can appeal for more than one school yes. It won't affect the panel's decision.

I wouldn't get tied up with the extra 47 pupils yet.

If only 1 appeal has been successful in 3 years, then you'll need strong appeal grounds. That's what you need to focus on first. What are your reasons for appeal? Why do you think the panel should admit your child when the school has reached its PAN? Why do you think, if the panel will admit any child, it should be yours? If you can get that bit as strong as possible, then you'll be more likely to succeed.

Also, ignore the fact that your offered school is inadequate. Don't even mention it. Only talk about the strengths of the preferred school. No panel can agree that any open school is 'bad', even if it is really bad.

Please can someone also guide me - should i briefly mention my reasons for appeal in the initial form i fill and submit evidence and then elaborate on these points when i attend the appeal? Or is it best to add asmuch information in to initial form. I do not want to bog down the appeal panel reading lots of text and getting fed up of reading my reasons.

Thank you all for taking time to reply - i really really appreciate it.

What are your reasons for appeal OP? What are you going to say?
They have no interest in transport, preference, friendship groups etc
You need a real reason with evidence to back up why they should go over PAN for your particular child.

It’s best to give the outline of your arguments on your form - even if you go into more depth on the day - because you don’t want the panel or the school to feel they’ve been ambushed and you don’t want the appeal to be adjourned while the other parties consider new material.

Do try to be succinct though; if you can make your case on one page, don’t feel you have to expand it to five pages to make it look ‘better’. The panel will read everything you submit.

Thanks. I have noted down reasons what the appeal school offers and the allocated doesnt. Also reasons why i feel addmitting my child wont have a detrimental effect. Just the previous number of appeals and how many were upheld is disheartening. Still i will try my best

All your evidence should be submitted in advance. Panels want to be able to read and understand it first - we get the paperwork in advance. You can expand verbally on the day, but the main arguments and evidence should be submitted beforehand. Panels don't have to accept any evidence produced on the day.

At the risk of being picky - you don’t have to show that admitting your child won’t have a detrimental effect. You are trying to persuade the panel that, even if there is some detriment to the school in having to cater for an extra pupil, there’s an even bigger detriment to your child if they don’t get a place (although you can still question whether the detriment to the school is really as great as they may claim). And don’t just provide a list of things the preferred school has which the allocated school doesn’t. You need to explain why these things are relevant to your child and they’ll be disadvantaged if they miss out.

I am guessing alot of parents will argue addenting an inadequate school will have a detrimental effect on their child. I understand i should not be putting the other school down. It just seems difficult to construct an appeal - i assume all parents will have valid points as to why their child would benefit from that school. I need to think very carefully and find that one reason the appeal may go in favour of my child.