Secondary School Appeal could cry

[Boymumtimes4]

Just got the appeal pack and feeling hopeless. I thought we had a fighting chance given our reasons below but they’ve put that they’ve already taken an additional 15 students over pan and they can’t even take one more child and all these health and safety concerns etc I just feel like crying as there’s literally no other school I can do given the below reasons as a single parent with hardly any support

1. racism from students at allocated school well documented with police reports
2. Im Guardian to my 2 nephews both SEND. 1 is starting primary in sept and other attends school I want my son to go to. My argument is I can’t escort 3 children to 3 separate schools and older nephew is unable to travel independently due to his needs.
3. mental health implications well documented struggles doctor has wrote me a letter and we have a Camhs referral and also support at primary school

I know nothing about school admissions but if your nephew is officially in your care and is already at the school you wanted for your son, was there no sibling priority given to your son at the application stage?

Argument 2:

students with send and who are looked after (presume this applies?) usually are high priority.

does your child count as a sibling in this case?

worth looking into.

they won’t consider the 3 separate schools thing as many parents have to do two schools (primary and secondary) and there is a general presumption secondary school students can make own way.

you may be able to get transport for the children with send however (this is obviously separate from the appeal) - if their send impacts their ability to travel etc, this is not my area but you may be able to get help in the SN section.

To answer questions our school has its own criteria and sibling wasn’t given high priority although has been previously was moved from 5 to 7 this year.

My nephew can’t make his own way to school given his needs. He is autistic adhd learning delay. He easily gets lost, can’t manage transport independently, reactive to noise, no sense of danger. Can’t get send transport as have no echp and it’s required here

School has to mention their class size constraints as that is their case for refusal. Agree your ds may have a sibling link if dn is within your household officially. Is he already on a waiting list? Would he get an ehcp himself? If either dn school is not local might they qualify for transport? Otherwise logistics are not a strong reason to appeal.

I didn’t realise logistics of taking the 3 children to 3 schools with start times 5 min apart wasn’t strong grounds so demoralising to hear that as our social worker thought we had a strong chance with that alone due to the 2 boys additional needs.

So if the children did not have any send then the usual solutions would be one or more of the following:

primary child in breakfast club/after school club
some secondaries have school buses where you can see them onto the bus - does either your nephews school or the school your child has been given have that?

many secondaries will have some sort of breakfast club provision - this is not normally available to all students but is generally invite only for pupil premium/send students. Speak to the school and ask if anything like that exists.

primary child could go to childminder who then does drop off and pick up.

your child (who you say has MH issues but not otherwise Sen) may be able to travel independently to secondary? Walk/bike/bus?

We’ve already explored breakfast/ after school clubs but it’s a fee paying service I can’t afford (single carer) also as they require a key worker isn’t an option.

my son who has MH can’t walk to school due to the safeguarding issues he’s been attacked outside before and had to call 999 police are ones that advised escort to and from school. He’d have to walk and wait at bus stop so can’t do that looked at taxis they won’t take him under 12 and I can’t afford an escort.

honestly I’ve looked researched every option to death and it’s literally a case of this or no school at all. He also has adhd and will suffer with lack of routine. I’ve been to social to ask for help with transport for my nephews they’ve said no. It’s now literally a case of either returning one of the boys or my son has no school/education which is an awful position to be in. I’ve spoken to educational psychologists, eysen, social workers everyone sympathetic but no one can actually help.

That’s the standard rebuttal in an admissions case. When you think about it, that is why they can’t admit every child who wants to go. There isn’t enough physical space. So don’t panic. I appealed and there was a lot about fire escapes and so on but I still won.

Do you have evidence of the police involvement and advice ?

Presumably you have evidence of the SEND status and your status as Guardian?

Have you submitted all this?

It is true that Dc in different schools wouldn't ordinarily be grounds for an appeal per se but you do seem to have a range of compelling issues.

Maybe @prh47bridge could advise, or @PanelChair or @PatriciaHolm ?

But it is standard for the school to outline their case as being too many over PAN. The independent appeal panel can still award places.

Do you know where you are on the waiting list?

Kids in different schools isn't usually considered strong grounds due to the assumption that secondary kids normally get themselves to school. But obviously that isn't possible in your case.

Is transport not available for the one with SEND?

Yes have evidence of police involvement have 4 police reports and further 4 ASB reports

I have reports for the 2 send nephews detailing their extensive needs

we are 44 on waiting list so don’t stand a chance if we don’t win at appeal

we don’t qualify for assisted transport without EHCP

The school will always argue that it can't take any more pupils. Without knowing exactly what they have said I can't offer an opinion on how strong their arguments are, but health and safety concerns are often a weak case as, when it comes to it, the school can't really back them up with evidence.

Looking at your points:

1. That would be stronger if your child was already at the school and experiencing racism directed towards him. However, even without that the panel may regard it as a strong argument.
2. As others have said, transport issues generally don't win appeals. Logistical problems like this are regarded as an issue for the parents, not something that disadvantages the child, and in general panels expect children of this age to be able to make their own way to and from school. However, if you can convince the panel that your son genuinely cannot make the journey on his own, this argument may fly.
3. If you are talking about your son's mental health, that is definitely a strong point, particularly if the letter from his doctor says that, in his professional opinion, your son needs to go to the appeal school.

Good luck!

With response to number 2 given that police have said my son needs to be escorted to prevent further harm and with both nephews being unable to travel independently due to age and disabilities. Would it still be worth raising or should I just disregard it.
I appreciate usually child would expected to walk but there is well documented reasons why they can’t.

sorry I feel like I’m repeating myself but a large part of what social worker has written surrounds this

social worker letter forms a large part of my evidence so I’m worried now if it’s not even going to be considered

Yes, raise it!

Yes, it will be considered. As I said, if you can convince the panel that your son genuinely cannot make the journey on his own, this argument may fly. Given the evidence you have, you may well be able to convince the panel.

If DN’s can’t walk to school because of the additional needs and attend the nearest suitable schools but the LA is refusing transport purely because DN’s do not have EHCPs, have you challenged the LA’s decision?

Even if DN’s don’t attend the nearest suitable schools, it might be worth appealing given their circumstances and being placed with you.

Do you know how they are accommodating the extra 15? I'd wonder if they are adding an additional class, which would normally be 30.

If you have your DNs on an SGO, should they not be considered in the category of care experienced children, so in the usually highest category. I would be leaning heavily on children’s social care to liaise with education and admissions to make this happen. After all, if you can’t get three children to school on time, then two may need to go into care?

Has your son got a social worker? Or is the SW yours as a foster parent?

(As a LAC DT in a highly sought after school) I have seen it happen a few times where a CIC gets a priority place in a highly over subscribed out of catchment school, but birth siblings in the same home don't because they don't have the CIC status.

If your own son has a SW, do you mind sharing what for?

I think your arguments are strong and if you have evidence, have a good chance of getting a place.

They’ve said how they’re accommodating the additional 15 just that they’ve maximised their resources and increases classes to absolute limit

which seems unfair increasing pan to accommodate the additional 15 surely once the 195 reached it would have been better to wait for appeals then allocate based on merit. I feel like those 15 have been given preferential treatment.

children’s services are involved and written a letter supporting our appeal but that’s as far as they are willing to go unfortunately.

My son doesn’t have a social worker we only have a SGO social worker and that’s only because we’re already at real risk of placement breakdown due to the stressors of caring for 3 kids all with additional needs

They are not allowed to hold places for appeals. Once they decided to admit 15 more pupils, they had to offer those places to whoever was at the head of the waiting list at the time. They had no choice.

Ok, so let's break this down:

1. It's absolutely standard for a school to say they are full.
2. The fact that they've taken 15 over PAN is noteworthy, but you can ask about the Net Capacity, how those 15 are being spread over the year group (e.g. does every class have one more student, or are they making an extra half-class, or are they making an extra class but all the other classes are going to be slightly smaller as a result? - that will make a difference).
3. Was there a Social/Medical category in the oversubscription criteria? If so, what was the reason that your DS didn't qualify? If not, then appeal is the place to explain why he shouldn't be treated as any other child.
4. Do you have anything in writing from the Police to say that your DS should be escorted to school?
5. Do you have anything in writing to say that your DNephew can't travel alone to school?
6. Have you tried applying for an EHCP for DNephew?
7. Is the school that DNephew goes to his nearest suitable school, or did you choose it under the LAC criteria? This makes a difference to the obligation of the LA to provide transport.
8. Is the school that DS has been allocated more than 3 miles away? (Or 2 if he gets Pupil Premium).
9. Does the SW letter say 'Mum says.....' or 'I believe...'?

Sounds drastic, but have you thought about moving to a different area that can take all the kids at the same school?