Secondary school appeal question...

[Appealedpeel]

When doing multiple school appeals in the same area of your city, would it be the same panel members from the previous schools you had your appeal hearing?

I know obviously the headteachers would be different but would the other panel members be the same?
Also do they read you notice of appeal document from your previous appeals?

Thanks in advance.

If the information broadly aligns then hopefully it wouldn’t be too much of an issue. I would think problems would occur if the information does not align, not just highlighting different things. For example, if you stated your top priority was for them to attend a faith school in one application, then a STEM school in another, single sex / co-ed. Likewise, if you stated they were a grade 8 musician in one so wanted a musically strong school and in another mention they had been scouted by a professional football team in another and spent all their time playing football. I presume the basic information on home address, time in each family home ( if appropriate) etc. is accurate and the same for all.

So is it the same panel members in the other panel hearings?

Appeal panels consist of trained volunteers wth varying availability, recruited through various means (e.g. on the books of an LA Statutory Appeals office, or of an independent organisation) and therefore it is perfectly possible that one, two or even all (usually three) of the panel heating appeals for school B will have heard appeals for school A the week before. But all appeals are held 'in a vacuum' and considered at their own face value, as per the relevant Code

However, one thing which may well give cause for pause, so to speak, is if the multi-school appellant hasn't really paid attention to their copying and pasting from one form / statement to another. Since the Clerk must include in the appeal pack all the submissions from each 'side', this is the only way that information from the school A appeal will e included in the paperwork for the appeal for school B.

To be clear, the head teacher is not on the panel.

Educated is correct though, the headteacher is not on the panel. They do, in some areas it, attend as a “ witness” though. In some areas it is just the local authority that attends.

Sounds like you’re going to tailor your appeal to each individual school. Be careful. Remember you have to back up your case.

You misunderstood. EduCated. Said the head teacher is not a member of the panel.
Aka their opinion is not involved.
They ARE present at the meeting.

When I did our appeal for ds headteacher explained briefly why ds had not got into school that was their only input at the meeting. Bar offering water to all.

So rude! @EduCated is completely right, HT may attend to give evidence, they are not on the panel. Now would be a good time to apologise and thank them for their advice.

The Presenting Officer can be anybody the Admissions Authority chooses. Sometimes it's the Head, sometimes a Governor, sometimes a Trustee, sometimes another member of staff. They are not a member of the Appeals Panel.

Just to be clear.

I sit on, and chair Appeals panels. As a previous poster said the panel could easily have people on it who have heard your previous Appeals. We are volunteers, so the panel makeup will depend on who is available at that point, assuming they have no reason they should be disqualified from hearing that appeal (This would apply if they have a child at the appeal school, or if they are or have been a governor of that School, or they happen to know the appellants personally)

It's not uncommon to hear Appeals from the same parents for more than one school. Each appeal will be heard on its own merits and the evidence provided for that appeal.

The head, or any representative from the school or LA, will not be on the appeals panel itself. They will play no part in the decision-making of the panel.

They may be there on behalf of the school or the admission authority to give evidence, but they may not - most heads have better things to do these days, especially given that many appeals happen in exam periods.

I’m glad to hear you were successful, SuperLuxurious.

I’ve stopped contributing to appeal threads, but couldn’t let this one pass without comment.

Our LEA has a large pool of panel members, so someone appealing for several schools is not certain to see the same panel members at each one. Some very popular schools have appeals running over several days, so the panel members may be over and out after that. Sometimes, though, panel members are ‘booked’ for a week to cover several schools each with fewer appeals, so might see the same parents more than once.

As has been said, each appeal is decided on its own facts and after weighing up the parents’ and the school’s case, to decide where the prejudice (detriment) is greatest. Schools sometimes send a representative, but they are there to present their case in the same way that the parent is and are most certainly not part of the panel.

What a bizarrely rude response, even if you did believe me to be wrong. Good luck with the appeal.

Just to add nowhere in my post did I say the headteacher is on the panel. The headteacher in my city attends buy does not have any input. My question was regarding the "panel members".

You do know we can read your posts, and the ones you replied to? And you have been extraordinarily rude to people who could help you. Watch out for that karma.

Are you concerned that a panel member might remember your behaviour from a previous appeal at all?

You do have a rather distinctive writing style - if it mirrors how you are at panel then, yes, if there is somebody who has been on a previous one might remember you.

It won't make any difference to their handling of the appeal, however. They'll do that in accordance with the Law as always.

Same to you.

I can’t begin to tell you how good my life is as it would sound made up.

I am not the one who was rude to a poster who tried to help me. Nor did I bumble in to my appeal not knowing what the process was. That was because I listened to what people had to say and read about the system.

You were one of the posters who gave me advice at the time @PanelChair. I was grateful at the time and I still am. Mine was a primary appeal so it was even more difficult .

I come on these appeal threads as now I do know something about the process now, having navigated myself.

One of the best things about this forum is that there are people on here that know things and are willing to spend their own time helping strangers. Be it legal advice or how to rescue a ‘bobble plate’ that is wedged down the back of a toilet cistern.

Are you self-aware enough to realise how rude you are coming across @Appealedpeel?

Yes, the panel members could be the same.

Each appeal will be done on its own merits, but the panel may well remember your case from one panel to the next.

Ah, the bobble plate. That’s a measure of how long people have been around, but I digress …