Transfer Appeal for current year 7

[neelam]

Hello

I will be doing a transfer appeal for my daughter for WHS. I was hoping you could give me some tips to help me present my appeal. Please find below a brief background.
We recently moved to High Wycombe from Bracknell (Berkshire). We finalised our move in July 2011. After consultation with the Buckinghamshire council we were advised to apply for in- year admissions through the Bracknell Forest Council. In September, on calling the Buckinghamshire council they informed me that they did not have our application on the system at all. Hence following further advice we re-applied directly to the Buckinghamshire Council. After all this we finally got a test date of 20th October for our daughter. She scored a 132, but we were advised that there are no places in our preferred schools. The only school which seemed to have admission was Cressex Community and hence I had to start school on the 2nd of Nov, as I could not afford to let her be out of school any longer (I would lose my job as I was sitting home with her ).
I will be doing a transfer appeal based on
1. Catchment area: we are within catchment
2. Proximity: the school is only 0.5 miles from our house
3. Educational: we will be arguing that Wycombe High is more suited to our daughters educational needs (Maths and Computing School) We will be attaching evidence of her previous year results to show her interest in Maths and Science
Do you have any particular advice for us? She is first on the waiting list…should we raise this point at the appeal??
Thanks a lot in advance for your help
Regards

[Sally-Anne]

Hi neelam, and welcome!

This sounds as though it has all been a bit of a mess.

We finalised our move in July 2011. After consultation with the Buckinghamshire council we were advised to apply for in- year admissions through the Bracknell Forest Council. In September, on calling the Buckinghamshire council they informed me that they did not have our application on the system at all. Hence following further advice we re-applied directly to the Buckinghamshire Council. After all this we finally got a test date of 20th October for our daughter.

If she had been tested more promptly, there is a possibility that she would have been admitted prior to the start of the school year, because WHS was "All Offered" this year, suggesting that they were either exactly at their PAN (Admission number) of 180, or may have even had spaces.

You should explain this timeline clearly to the appeal panel, because I think they will feel that matters could have been handled more promptly and efficiently, and perhaps feel that your DD has been unnecessarily disadvantaged. At the hearing I would suggest questioning the LA Rep or School Rep on the situation on allocations over the summer, leading up to September. If it shows that an earlier test might have allowed your daughter to gain admission, that point will not be lost on the panel.

I will be doing a transfer appeal based on
1. Catchment area: we are within catchment
2. Proximity: the school is only 0.5 miles from our house
3. Educational: we will be arguing that Wycombe High is more suited to our daughters educational needs (Maths and Computing School) We will be attaching evidence of her previous year results to show her interest in Maths and Science

How far away is the Cressex from you? Obviously it won't be a huge distance, but does she pass WHS on her current journey, or are you in between the two schools? It isn't a major point, but worth mentioning if Cressex is, say, a couple of miles away.

Do you have any particular advice for us?

If you have not yet done so, please read the Appeals Q&As http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... bed-school" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for over-subscription.

She is first on the waiting list…should we raise this point at the appeal??

Unofrtunately it is unlawful to do so.

You should receive details in your appeal pack of the current numbers in each year group, but to give you some idea in advance, these were the numbers on roll as at January 2011, so for last year - Y7 will now be Y8, etc.

Y7 - 170
Y8 - 191
Y9 - 185
Y10 - 183
Y11 - 180

As you can see, the school has exceeded PAN on 3 previous occasions, and by fairly large numbers on two occasions. Your argument to the panel would therefore be that, as the school has coped with between 3 and 11 additional pupils in the past, the prejudice to the school of taking a single additonal pupil can surely not be that great? (The school's case will argue that it is, of course, although how strongly they will argue that remains to be seen.)

Obviously there could be more than 180 pupils in the current Y7 due to successful transfer appeals in the summer, so that might prove more challenging. You could call the school, explain that she is first on the waiting list and ask how many pupils they have in Y7 at present. Hopefully they would be willing to tell you.

That is a starter for ten! Keep in touch with us as matters progress.

Sally-Anne

[Sally-Anne]

Just to add, I have sent you a Private Message (PM). You can retrieve it by going to the top left-hand corner of any forum page and clicking where it says "You have 1 new message".

[neelam]

Hello Sally

I have enquired with regards to the total number of students and it is 181 in the current year7. The last offer was unfortunately made on the 13th of May 2011.

I found the above information from the admissions team, so I was not sure if this iformation is available to the panel members?? Is it worth still mentioning the delay in handling our application.

How far away is the Cressex from you? Obviously it won't be a huge distance, but does she pass WHS on her current journey, or are you in between the two schools? It isn't a major point, but worth mentioning if Cressex is, say, a couple of miles away.

Cressex is roughly about 2 miles and yes we do pass Wycombe High on the way. Due to the amount of traffic in the morning we need exactly 20 to 25 mins to cover the 2 mile distance . She would be able to walk to Wycombe high which would also save a lot of CO2 genertated due to the car journey!!!! and ofcourse a lot of my time too!!!

I will look at the links you have forwarded and will post further questions if any

Thanks a lot

[Sally-Anne]

First of all, I must correct my last post - WHS was not "All Offered" this year. (That will teach me to check my own numbers before posting!)

I have enquired with regards to the total number of students and it is 181 in the current year7. The last offer was unfortunately made on the 13th of May 2011. I found the above information from the admissions team, so I was not sure if this information is available to the panel members??

Now that is very curious.

Firstly, if it is correct, it suggests that the school went over PAN prior to Transfer Appeals taking place, although I would need to check when exactly they happened - they are usually held in June or July.

Secondly, I have just checked the allocation profiles (available on the BCC website here http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc/schools/a ... files.page" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;? The figures for WHS were as follows (note that these distances do not include successful transfer appeals, because they would distort the profile):

01 Mar - Catchment to 6.805 miles
15 Apr - Out of catchment to 4.023 miles
13 May - Out of catchment to 4.023 miles
01 Sep - Out of catchment to 9.67 miles

With the figure leaping from 4.023 miles to 9.67 I feel sure that there had to be several allocations made after 13th May. I find it very hard to believe that the next girl on the list was 5 miles further away ... And the figure did not change between 15th April and 13th May, therefore there was no new offer made on 13th May. I am going to ponder this issue, and discuss it with Etienne and a couple of others.

Is it worth still mentioning the delay in handling our application.

I think that is subject to what I am able to find out, but I suspect that you will still be mentioning it.

Cressex is roughly about 2 miles and yes we do pass Wycombe High on the way. Due to the amount of traffic in the morning we need exactly 20 to 25 mins to cover the 2 mile distance . She would be able to walk to Wycombe high

Good, that point is worth making. It is not hugely strong, but it is another little factor in your argument.

[tedolita]

Hi Neelan
I just wanted to write to you , because we were in exactly the same boat earlier this year.
We moved from Bucks to Kent, and as you, after having to wait for a test ( My DS lost almost a month of school) we were given a placement at a GS which, although a very good school, was not our choice. We accepted the place to avoid our DS missing even more of his education, but put an appeal for our preferred GS, which is next to our house. ( the one allocated was 2.5 miles). The school we wanted is a very popular school and always oversubscribed. Everybody said don't bother, but we went ahead and appealed.(Not the lovely people from this website, which were always a great support and the place to find all the best information). To cut a long story short, we won the appeal and our son is now at the GS next to our house, and can happily walk there and back in less than 10 minutes. We put our appeal together ourselves, taking advice from the appeals sections of this website. Good luck with yours.

[Sally-Anne]

Thanks for posting that, tedolita.

N eelam, you have another PM from me.

[neelam]

Thaks a lot Tedolita for your reply.....it has indeed lifted my spirits.
Would it be possible to let me know how you put forth the appeal case and what kind of evidence you sent ...

Thanks again

[tedolita]

I took advice from this site. Since my DS had qualified, and therefore his academic ability was not in question, I based my appeal on the advice given for oversubscribed schools.
The information was spot on, and helped me stay on the ball, as otherwise I would have been one of those parents ranting on,and on, about emotional issues that the panels do not really want to hear (I'm spanish and tend to get a bit overemotional at times ). Keep it short and to the point, as advised, and you can't go wrong.
In our case, the school we wanted had not even been approached by the council for a place, as the one we were offered had vacancies, and the one we wanted was over their PAN already.
When we got the reasons why they could not give our DS a place, it was easy to put an appeal together, as they were not that strong. That may be different in your case, but if you do not try, you will never know. As it was, we did not even had to sit through the appeal, as they decided to find a place for him just based on the paperwork. Let's hope you have as much luck.

[neelam]

Hi Sally
Havent forgotten to post the dates for various correspondence. Just have been quite busy and was travelling as well for work.
Will do that over the weekend

Thanks
Neelam