Sale Grammar Appeal - complex family situation any guidance?

[Moonbeam14]

Hi all,

I’m looking for some advice about appealing for Sale Grammar.

My DS missed the pass mark by 3 points. He’s at a prep school and his practice papers were consistently high. He also passed Stretford Grammar by 5 marks, but we’re 4.8 miles away so no idea if he’ll actually get a place.

We’re considering an appeal for Sale based on what was going on at home during Year 5/6:

• I was recovering from a car accident and a brain injury, which caused memory issues, neuro fatigue and a lot of instability at home.
• Because of this, I forgot to submit the form that would have given him extra time for ADHD. I didn’t realise until much later.
• We have a carer’s report from a charity he was working with to help him cope.
• His school report is excellent, and his test scores have always been high.
• We also have neurology and neuro‑rehab reports showing the severity of my injury.
• My partner was working all hours and also caring for me, so the form was overlooked by both of us.

I’m struggling to know whether this is enough for an appeal, or whether it’s worth going through the process at all . Everything is hard to think, organise at the moment .

So, Has anyone appealed for Sale Grammar has insights to help my appeal for my DS or been through a similar situation? Had Any success ?

Any thoughts or advice would be really appreciated.

Do you live in Sale?

My son's at Stretford and it's a great school. My older children went to Sale (as we live in Sale) but covid messed up younger one's schooling and he failed by 1 mark. We did appeal but no joy.

He'd passed for Stretford so we sent him there instead. He's been very happy there. It's a small school and very supportive.

@Moonbeam14 you have a case. The appeal panel will want to know what benefits your child will derive from being at the target school, so I suggest you think about that.

My only other advice to you would be to be more private about your situation. Each appeal is unique, and the information you've posted is potentially identifying.

I sit as an Independent Admissions Panel member for admission appeals but not in the area of Sale Grammar school (or anywhere close). I had a quick look at the information provided on the school website re. its admissions and my understanding is that you would be entitled to a statutory appeal (as would any parent whose child has been refused admission) but this would be arranged by the local admissions authority and would only happen if you named the school on your CAF and were then refused a place on national offer day. After that, you could appeal against the school's refusal to admit your DS. You would need to not only prove that your child was of grammar ability but you would also need to present a case that the benefit to your child of attending this school outweighed the prejudice to the school of admitting a child over their stated PAN. I'm afraid your health conditions are unlikely to be a factor, instead you would need to focus on specific things your child needs that this school could provide (i.e. not just "we want him to go to a grammar school".

But again, from what I can see, the appeal process above would only happen if you put the school down on your CAF which would seem a high risk approach given you know he missed the qualifying mark and so therefore could be a waste of a preference on the form.

I couldn't see any indication of a process by which you could actually appeal the test score he achieved.

Sorry not to be more encouraging.

As has been mentioned, any appeal for a grammar school has to address two points: whether the child is of grammar school ability and whether the prejudice (detriment) to them if not admitted outweighs the prejudice to the school snd the pupils already in it, in having to cater for another pupil.

I’m not in a grammar area, so have no direct experience here, but my feeling is that (some of) the evidence you mention here is not close enough to either of the points you need to address. You’d be arguing that your child might have got a higher mark if you’d applied for extra time (and you’ve got good evidence of your health problems) but the panel might think that’s inconclusive - they might not have got extra time or they might not have got a higher mark. Better, I think, to add other evidence that your child is of grammar ability, whatever that might be. Also identify how your child will be disadvantaged if not admitted to the school, whether that is curriculum, co-curricular activities, pastoral care or anything else.

Try contacting CORAM education law line

You definitely have a good case to put forward. You should appeal. You’ve nothing to lose if it doesn’t work out.

My understanding is that Sale don’t accept appeals

Was he able to finish the test in the time allocated? I think if you can show that it was the lack of extra time that caused him to miss a few marks then you might have an even stronger case.

I hope you mean, that there is no local review procedure as there is in e.g. Buckinghamshire (review can be requested by parents once notified of their DC's results) and Kent (review of 'unexpected' fails instigated by the primary HT prior to results being released)? Because there is absolutely no way that a school cannot allow to be undertaken a post-national offer day appeal against the refusal to admit an unsuccessful applicant. Or to.refuse to admit a pupil whose appeal has been upheld by the independent appeal panel.

Or are you under the misapprehension that the decision whether or not an appeal should be upheld is the school's to make?

Quite!