Secondary school appeal advice

[GoldCrow]

Hello. My son has been offered a school not on our preference list. The school is the second one nearest to us with a bad reputation. We have put him on waiting list for choices 1 & 2. He is currently 3rd for 2nd choice and there's glimmer of hope there I know but this is so overwhelming. I am unable to function and currently not sleeping very well. My heart breaks everytime I look at my son, he looks so sad. I can't stop thinking that he doesn't deserve that, he is very bright academically and we are currently working on our appeal. We will be appealing on the ground of SEND, my son has a history of selective mutism. We have letters from therapist and diagnosis from the CAMHS. I know we should not appeal against the allocated school but it looks like the school shows a good support for SEND on its website except that in reality it doesn't. It is quite a disruptive school and ironically the school that my son dreaded getting. Any advice for our appeal please

'it looks like the school shows a good support for SEND on its website except that in reality it doesn't' you'll need some decent evidence on this for your appeal other than hearsay and comments on it being 'quite disruptive'. If you haven't visited the school and met the SENCO I think you'll really struggle to be successful with this appeal.

Unless he has an ehcp or needs specific provision provided there it will not carry weight on its own. The letters need to specify why he professional believes he needs that school. What else does this school offer him? What was the reason for refusal if the nearest school was listed?

I can't stop thinking that he doesn't deserve that

You DS was allocated a place at that school because it was the nearest one with a place available, once your LA (or its computer system) saw that none of the schools for which you expressed a preference ranked your DS high enough against their oversubscription criteria for him to be offered a place.

With the outside possibility that there was an error in the system at some point (there have been ?two areas referred to in threads on this site where this appears to have happened, plus on another forum, there are indications that a waiting list may not be being ranked correctly).

So initially - what we're the oversubscription criteria for all the schools you applied for? Under which criterion should your DS have been considered? If this is not the last one ('all other applicants' / 'others whose parents desire their DC to be educated in our variety of religion' or whatever), what was the cut-off criterion for the school? If you think your DS should have been ranked within e.g. 'Criterion 4 - attends a named feeder school' and the LA says that the last offer went to an applicant in Criterion 5, then ask the admissions team to check your application and how it was handled.

Are there any other other schools accessible logistically that you didn't name on your CAF (and are you also appealing for the third school you named? - the legal requirement for LAs is to allow parents to express at least three preferences), which would be better than the allocated school? If so, find out how to get your DS on the waiting list for those as well as appealing for one or more of your original preferences.

If you are basing your appeal on your DS's special educational needs, then you need to have evidence that the school(s) appealed for are going to be able to provide effectively for these - have you or the SENCo at your DS's primary school actually had, or at least tried to have, a conversation about this?

"I am unable to function and currently not sleeping very well. My heart breaks every time I look at my son, he looks so sad"

Can I gently suggest that your son may be picking up on your anxiety about the offered school? Many children don't go to the school of their choice, but a wise parent will point out what is good about the offered school, and prepare themselves to support their child on that journey.

There is a school in my area that everyone tries to avoid for similar reasons to those you describe, yet it is rated 'Good' by Ofsted and very many children thrive there. They have more difficult children than some other schools, but that is because they usually have empty spaces for children who are permanently-excluded from elsewhere. If enough parents were to support it positively, and if other parents stopped slagging it off online, then it would do much better.

"He is currently 3rd for 2nd choice and there's glimmer of hope there"

Probably more than a glimmer - 3rd is very high on the waiting list. Are you able to find out how much waiting list movement there has been in previous years? Some areas publish "last distance offered" for March 1st and Sept 1st to give an indication of movement. If it's not already published, you could try asking the admissions team for the information.