Advice for appealing a secondary school transfer for anxiety and bullying

[1eturner]

Please be gentle with me this is my first time posting,I have recently gone through an appeal hearing for an in year transfer for my 12 year old daughter, unfortunately this was unsuccessful but because September is the new academic year I can appeal again, which means another hearing,whilst I won’t add all the details I will just outline why I want to move her to a different school.
she suffers with diagnosed school based anxiety which she is under the GP for, to add to this she has been bullied, her attendance is currently 76%, as her anxiety manifests as panic attacks, nausea and vomiting insomnia she is currently unable to eat at school due everything that has been going on, she has had some sessions with reflexions mental health team, she sees the school doctor and the school nurse regularly, for the past four weeks she has been on a reduced timetable where she sits in a separate classroom for PE and drama as these are the lessons where all the bullies are in a group together, she has an individual support plan in place, unfortunately non of this has made any difference to the anxiety for this reason I want to give her a fresh start at a new school, my appeal was rejected as the school is full, I wanted her to go to the new school as she has an established friend group there for support and they have an excellent pastoral department that works closely with children who suffer with symptoms like my daughters, please can anyone who has been successful in securing a place through an appeal hearing offer any advice as to how I could go about the new hearing, I’m feeling desperate, she is currently missing vital education and I’m worried about her mental health and wellbeing.
Thank you

Your poor DD.

Are there any other schools you could access which are not completely full?

It wasn't rejected because the school was full. It was rejected because they felt your case wasn't strong enough to make the school take another student when already full.
You appealed for the y7 place, but you are allowed to appeal again in y8.

Can we summarise?
. The school based anxiety was first, this is being 'treated'
. Then the bullying which increased anxiety
. Then reduced timetable to avoid the bullies

You want new school, fresh start with other friends, avoid bullies.
But the anxiety was first.

Did you have professional letters eg doctor saying moving school would help, and this school with existing friends would be most likely to help the anxiety and attendance

I think you need this. Experts will be along here i am sure in a while. Don't rush to re appeal with the same case, strengthen it.
.

Would consider applying for an EHCP then you can have mo re options to name suitable schools. Call Sossen or IPSEA

Has your DD been referred to CAMHS? Do you suspect ASD/ADHD, or do you think this is purely school based anxiety? Did she show signs of this beforehand, in primary, or is it new?

How full is the school you appealed for? Is it nominally full (it has taken the number of students in its PAN) or very full (it is over PAN).

Ideally, you might find a school that isn't full. There is also the option of requesting Section 19 education for her. There's not enough information to say whether she might qualify for an EHCP at this stage.

@TeenToTwenties is right, though. Unless year 8 is significantly different in composition to year 7 (i.e. pupils have left) you are likely to get the same result if you appeal with the same case.

I've thought that your daughter's attendance works against her

Get in touch with SENDIASS in your area, DD needs a referral to CAMHS if she hasn't already got one and an EHCP assessment. An Ed Psych might well support your case to get her a place at the school you prefer.

Thanks for the reply, I don’t suspect ASD or ADHD this is all anxiety based around this school, she has already had sessions with CAMHS and the school told me we have to wait 6 months before she is referred back to them.
i understand I’m likely to get the same outcome with a second appeal but I feel at this point I have nothing to lose,the school has taken numbers over PAN but this true of all the schools in our area the next closest school she would have to get on a bus the journey would take around 30 minutes and I just don’t think her anxiety would allow her to do this I fear she would be absent even more that she is now.
i sent a covering letter from the GP as evidence but I’m now wondering if it had enough information in it, it takes about her anxiety and how it manifests it also stated that the doctor would be in support of a school move but it didn’t state the school by name.
i just want to try and strengthen my case.

Depending on where you are, you could ask the head teacher (albeit this is super late in the academic year) to consider a managed move. Its an agreement between two headteachers where they take a child onto their role (dual registration to begin with) for a trial period. If they pass the trial period, attendance will need to improve, they can then complete the move and be added to their role permanently.

Look online and see if this is something your school offers, can be easier if part of an academy. Check out their policies and be clear as to how this is in the best interests of your daughter. It may be you need to consider a different school to the one you appealed.

I have an appointment with her current school told discuss a plan moving forward, I am trying to work with them and have accepted all the support they have offered, I think you are correct though I may enquire about an referral to an educational psychologist, I’m guessing the school will be willing to support?

Yes this is correct I sent GP letters, CAMHS referral and discharge letters as evidence I do wonder if the GP letter was not detailed enough

What you have to lose by re-appealing too quickly is not making your case as strong as you can, losing, and then you can't appeal again for another year. (Is that right experts? or are there cases when you can appeal twice in the same year?)
So take guidance from experts here (not me, I'm just interested) to get your case as strong as possible before appealing.

So you mentioned a new point
. her anxiety is such that she would benefit from a short, simple, journey to school. <Why, get GP to explain in his letter, you explain why this school is the best travel option>

GP letter needs to say 'in my professional opinion' not 'Mum tells me'

I am aware of this but her anxiety is so bad some mornings I can’t physically get her into school, her current school do acknowledge this and she is not marked as unauthorised absence she is marked as ill.

Op you can definitely get advice on applying for an EHCP without ADhD or ASD in the mix, as the anxiety itself is a SEND - SEMH need and the reduced timetable is potential evidence that her needs are not met in the current setting.

You can l consult an Ed psych who has experience in writing reports for dc undergoing an EHCP assessment (an Educational Health Care Needs assessment) and apply for an assessment yourself. Great if school support but you can successfully apply yourself.

Good.
DD missed all y11 due to anxiety (in covid).
At college if her anxiety was too bad, I always sent in as Sick - reason MH.

Yes this is exactly what I want to do strengthen my case before I appeal again in September, at this point I feel I have nothing to lose I’m desperate to get her back into normal education but I want her to be happy more than anything

This is a useful link Op - this charity IPSEA are very knowledgeable and provide a free legal advice helpline:

www.ipsea.org.uk/school-anxiety

Is she getting therapy for her anxiety? Our daughter has been isolated from her friends by her ex best friend. These were primary school friends. We considered moving her but after discussing with therapist decided at least she knew the building, layout, teachers and other non close friends at school.. EVERYTHING at the new school would be new and no guarantee old friends will still be her friends. .. painful that is ..we keep encouraging her to be open, relax and expand her friendship group. I’m sorry you’re going through this this..

I know you have said that you don’t suspect ADHD or autism. I was in a similar position with DD2 at that age and also did not think it was ADHD or autism but I
turned out to be wrong. DD2 also got
diagnosed with dyslexia. None of this was discovered until tbe age of 18/19, after completing A-Levels. Until that point, everyone thought it was bad anxiety. Intelligent girls are good at hiding their difficulties - even dyslexia.

The school even gave DD2 some screener questionnaires for ADHD, autism and a few other conditions and all appeared to be normal but false negatives are common too, especially with young people due to low self awareness.

Your poor DD. My heart goes out to her.

Great thank you I will research this today and apply myself, thank you for the advice

@1eturner very many children are now diagnosed with anxiety and unfortunately they can't all go to their school of choice. If there is a specific issue with the current school then do move her, but its unlikely to be seen as a strong case for her to need to go to this specific school, even if she does have some friends there. Your case is very similar to very many other cases that I've seen be rejected.

You need to state why the particular school you are appealing for would be the right one for your daughter - ie their pastoral/mentors etc.

In any in-year appeal, it is not really about the school you are moving from - it is the school you want to move to. You MUST state what it is about that school that makes it the one you are appealing for. Without this, the LA may be able to allocate your child another school if there is space, but not this school, which is already full.

This is part of the problem that all the other schools are full too, I do realise that there are many other people in the same situation as us but as a mother it’s emotionally draining, I’m a single parent as many others, but I work in an operating theatre, I don’t have access to my phone so I can’t offer her the reassurance and support she needs in the mornings before school, because of this I have also had to take time out from work.if there was another school in the area that had places I would consider it, but I’m sure you understand that sending a child who already has anxiety issues into a school where she has no support system at all would prove very challenging, I chose the school I did as it has an award winning pastoral department and felt that it had tried and tested strategies to support someone like my daughter who has these issues, the established friend group at the new school was just a bonus

Look, although it’s not guaranteed, there is some hope. Put in the strongest case you can muster for this school. Be as specific as you can. Try to visit if you can. Ask questions. Anything you can to strengthen your case for THIS school. You seem to have put in medical reports etc. Try to get them updated, hopefully getting targeted towards THIS school. Just be a little aware that the LA can include reports from current school, which I assume you would have seen, so that you can answer them as fully as possible. When you formally submit your appeal the LA can include extra documents if they consider they are relevant, just as you can. So be ready to answer for those if need be.

"it has an award winning pastoral department"

... and therefore will be a magnet for people looking for exactly what you are looking for, including many exceptional circumstance applications and appeals very similar to yours. I'm not saying its a hopeless cause, only that the barrier is probably higher than you think. Nobody can give you a magic bullet for shooting through the barrier - your case needs to stand on its own merits.

Do mention your job and its impact on your circumstances, but only in the context of your child and her circumstances. Panel members are humans, and all have different responses to the appeals they hear, so there is no magic formula.

I found out today that she is number 1 on the waiting list maybe we will have some luck over the summer