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beemamad

Youth Team
Joined
Aug 11, 2005
Messages
240
Location
leigh on sea
Guys and girls, hoping to draw on the wealth of knowledge and experience that's seen on here from time to time.
To cut a long story short (not sure if specifics matter), we live in Westcliff at the moment but are planning to move into Rayleigh sometime in July. My son is at Blenheim school at the moment and applied for a place at Fitzwimarc, for when we had moved. Unfortunately he didn't get a place, and was instead offered Sweyne Park, which was our second choice.

I'm planning on appealing the decision and was hoping someone on here would be able to advise how best to maximise our chances of getting the place at Fitzwimarc, as the information I have found is of a standard nature and a little confusing. Does anyone know the best angle to use for the appeal or know anyone who has successfully appealed??

If anyone can help at all I would be very grateful as this is important to us and could potentially affect the rest of my sons school life. You only get one crack at it so I want to make the most of it.

Thanks in advance.
 
If the school is full to its planned admission number (PAN) - which FitzWimarc will be - I am afraid you won't have much chance of success at the appeal. The Appeals Panel are all independent of the school and the local authority and will have to weigh up, once the school has given its case, whether, firstly, the school has proven that it is full to its PAN, and secondly, whether your case for admission to the school outweights that of the school and whether the admission of your child prejudices that of the other children in the school.

There are literally 100's of appeals throuighout the county from April-July and I would say only around 10-15% of prejudice cases, which this one will be are actually successful. You will largely be reliant on FitzWimarc either not proving their case (about a 1% chance) or it not having the greatest of cases - i.e. they are full to their PAN but the classrooms are a good size, as are the common areas (halls, corridors etc).

You might have a very good case but the Panels tend, to err on the side of the school.
 
Once you have moved you will go higher on the continued interest list for the school. SO once in your new home it will be worth contacting the school and seeing where you are situated on that list. You will find, before the end of the month there will be movement as parents refuse the offer of a plavce at the school. You should be aware the place on the waiting list will have absolutely no bearing on your appeal. One appellant can be 97th on the waiting list but have a stronger case than someone place 1st on the list.
 
Thanks for the insightful replies, do you know how I could find out the schools PAN and if they have actually hit that number?
 
Have you thought about King Edmunds?

That bottle green sweater is feared and revered in equal measure. Particularly in the ghettos of Hockley.
 
Thanks for the insightful replies, do you know how I could find out the schools PAN and if they have actually hit that number?

They will have hit that number, which OBL (she does get things right occasionally!) rightly states is 270, becuase you have received a refusal letter. Last year that filled places to admission criteria 6, and it is likely that will be the case this year too. Criterai 6 basically being distance from home to school. In this case it is the home you currently reside in not where you are moving too.

There is no magical formula for winning an appeal other than the case you make must be stronger than that of the school.


If there are a lot of appeals for Fitz on a given day, the Appeals Panel may decide to let a couple or three appeallants be successful - but that really will depend who the three on the Panel are on that day. They do this, unless the school really is bursting at the gunwhales to justify their role as a Panel.

All in all, it is worth appealing for Fitz, you do, after all, have your second choice. As long as you are realistic about your chances of success; and don't be rude to the Panel!!!!
 
They will have hit that number, which OBL (she does get things right occasionally!) rightly states is 270, becuase you have received a refusal letter. Last year that filled places to admission criteria 6, and it is likely that will be the case this year too. Criterai 6 basically being distance from home to school. In this case it is the home you currently reside in not where you are moving too.

There is no magical formula for winning an appeal other than the case you make must be stronger than that of the school.


If there are a lot of appeals for Fitz on a given day, the Appeals Panel may decide to let a couple or three appeallants be successful - but that really will depend who the three on the Panel are on that day. They do this, unless the school really is bursting at the gunwhales to justify their role as a Panel.

All in all, it is worth appealing for Fitz, you do, after all, have your second choice. As long as you are realistic about your chances of success; and don't be rude to the Panel!!!!

So, if we had moved before the appeal hearing, would that automatically strengthen our case?
 
So, if we had moved before the appeal hearing, would that automatically strengthen our case?


Yes it would. The address that is taken is your address at the time of offer. If you have documentation that shows you had purchased the new house but it was held up for reasons beyond your control it might have strengthen your case oh so very slightly. However, Panels are not too concerned by this. You need to build your case around why it is a stronger case than the school admitting more pupils would result in correspondingly less access to learning materials and facilities for all children. By admitting any additional pupil to the school would reduce the amount of teacher time for each pupil; increasing the workload of the teachers in terms of planning, preparation, assessment, marking of work and time at parents’ evenings. The admission of any additional pupil will result in overcrowding in common areas; and the requirements for pupils with additional needs makes it imperative to admit only to the schools PAN.

So build your case to say why the admission of your child outscores each of the above.

You may wish to consider whether the school's admission arrangements complied with statutory requirements and had been correctly and impartially applied both in general and with regard to your child. However, it is VERY unlikely they would have ballsed-up in this respect.
 
So, if we had moved before the appeal hearing, would that automatically strengthen our case?
Yeah, definitely. You'd be well within your rights to appeal then, from their point of view you're arguing from a residence well outside their catchement area, and for all they know, might never actually move into their catchment.
 
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