School appeal, can they use where you work to reject dc or can i use it as reason to accept dc?

[CelestialGalaxy]

Am trying to understand if the fact i work in a school that is further away (not by much) than the appeal school is likely to be a factor which either i can use as a reason for my dc not attending same school that i work at or if i would have to declare that i work in the other school and they might use that as a reason dc should go to school i am at, or if it should make no difference.

What are the reasons for your appeal?

It is irrelevant

Current school does not offer range of subjects as other school.

I don't see where you work making any difference. Why would it? You could say you work in the sweet shop next door or you commute to Calais. I don't see why it would be relevant.

I don't think it would matter either way.

Is dc attending your school or another? You don’t need to include information about your place of work, unless you are trying to use logistics as an argument.

Then this needs to be the appeal focus: that DC has a particular aptitude for Drama / Music / a language etc (with evidence) that they want to pursue and these subjects are not available at the school you’ve been offered. You essentially have to demonstrate that the detriment of your child attending another school is greater than the detriment to the other students at the school if the school goes over capacity.

You working at one of the schools is very unlikely to be a factor either way, it’s not relevant unless there are very particular extenuating circumstances. You don’t need to declare it, the appeal wouldn’t be based on it.

You mention ‘current school’ so I’m assuming it’s an in year transfer you’re looking at. If the current school does not offer something that your child is particularly skilled in, such as a particular sport, music tuition or art and drama type subject, that would be a reason for appeal.

Because the school i work at also offers the subjects and because i work there, would be higher up the criteria for dc entry

You are appealing for a specific school. So I don’t see a need to mention your workplace at all.

If the school you work at has staff kids as an entry criteria then use it, if they don't I can't see it going anywhere.

OP works at a school with this criterion, but she doesn’t want her kids to go where she works

Do I have the scenario and your question correct?

Your child has a place at school A. You're appealing for school B based on the argument that school B offers specific subjects that aren't available at allocated school A. But school B isn't the only nearby school that offers those specific subjects - school C also offers them and your child could have priority admission at school C if you wanted. You want to know if the panel can consider that attending school C to take those desired subjects was an option and use that to say that your child doesn't truly need to attend school B?

But why? Teachers don't get preferential treatment over other professionals or an unemployed person?

Why would it make them more likely to accept your child?

Because it can be in the admission criteria. So for example it could go:

Looked after children
School named in EHCP
Children of Staff
Siblings
Everyone else

Did you name the school in which you work as one of your preferences, but want to appeal for a higher preference? Were you offered a place at the school in which you work or another school? If you are seeking another school entirely but failed in the appeal, would you be happier with the school in which you work or the offered place?

No. If you had been offered a place at the school you work in and the curriculum is broadly the same, it would weaken your case. But if you have been offered a place at a school that does not offer the curriculum, then arguing for the curriculum of school A is fine, with the caveat that you need some sort of evidence that the preference for this curriculum is justified. Eg. "They offer Spanish" without any evidence that it matters to your DS won't count. "They offer Spanish" and "My DS has shown a great interest in Spanish and has been using Duolingo for the last 6 months." will be stronger.

The criteria could be that. But why would the admissions criteria be that it's preferential to work at a completely different school?

That’s not the point.

As a staff member, OP’s kids could have a higher preference at the school where she works - School A. School A offers the subjects OP wants,

However, OP (or the kids!) doesn’t want her children at her school and so she is appealing for School B, which also has the subjects she wants. School C, the allotted school, doesn’t have those subjects.

OP is asking if the panel for a School B appeal would judge her for not applying for School A, her own school, where her kids would have a higher preference.

I understood it as this too.

OP, do you need to mention where you work or even that you're a teacher? Your job is irrelevant to the appeal argument. I would ignore it. In my experience they can latch on to things like this (in our case they asked if my twins had a school place and how far away it was, which was totally irrelevant to the appeal we put forward).

I think some people are going off track!

I've never been in this position but I understand there are strict criteria for making an appeal and individual preferences or circumstances are not usually remotely considered.

You can put him on the waiting list for any school though. Where I live secondary schools have falling rolls, movement is common as families move away to less expensive areas and the likelihood of securing a place quite soon is high. Maybe different where you are, of course. But I doubt lack of access to a particular subject/s is grounds for appeal as all schools offer the core subjects.

Actually based on what appeal experts have said on many threads on MN is is a ground. Yes all schools offer core subjects, but say your DC had a German grandparent and spent every summer there – all schools offer MFL, but not all offer German (increasingly few sadly) and that would be a really good argument for the DC studying German.

It's got to be solid as I understand it – more than just "my DC likes football and might like to learn Spanish" – better is "my DC has been selected as an excellent prospect as a sprinter and the school has an athletics track, and my DC already has a sewing machine and makes their own clothes and the school offers textiles GCSE" (not every school has or offers both those).

Ah ok I get you. Sorry I thought she was saying she should tell school B she works at school A as it would make them more likely to take her kid. But I couldn't understand why it would help.

It wasn’t the clearest OP that I’ve read 🙂

Thank you! I'm not as daft as I thought hopefully?! 😂