What should I put in the review

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parent66

What should I put in the review

Post by parent66 »

I am in the process of requesting a revie. Is there any format / areas I should cover within the review?
chad
Posts: 1647
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:49 pm
Location: berkshire

Post by chad »

I am not sure what area you are from......but have you looked at the appeal Q & A's... their are many tips on what is important in an Appeal. The main areas are predicted 5's in Sats, evidence of high standard work at school and mitigating circunstances (if there are any). You may get more answers if you post within the region forum. Good Luck.
Katie
Posts: 229
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2007 10:25 am

Post by Katie »

What you need to say depends very much on who manages the admissions for your school. If it's the LEA - then check out their web pages / School transfers booklet to see what grounds for appeal they allow.
If the school is a foundation school (where the admissions policy may be set by the governors) then you need to refer to their info. It's often available on schools' web sites.
When you go to the review - don't give away too much information (in case you decide to go for a formal independent appeal). You are within your rights to request a review meeting just to ask for the schools/LEA's views and to investigate if an appeal would be worth while.
We have just been through the process in Torbay. It was a minefield. The LEA offer no help in any shape or form. (the school was foundation).
The LEA and school advised that only breaches of the Government Admissions / Appeals Code of Practice would be acceptable grounds for an appeal.
We then had to get to grips with these lengthy documents. After identfying the many breaches which had taken place and appealing formally, the Ombudsman's office advised that the Codes of Practice were only there as guidelines and that breaches were permissable. Arghhh!
P.M. me if you want further info. :)
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

If the local area had been stated in the topic title, it might have attracted the attention of someone with local knowledge.

The problem with a Review is that it's a non-statutory procedure with no set guidelines. Different parts of the country do different things. Frequently it takes place behind closed doors without the parents in attendance. Sometimes the parent is not even involved in any written submission (only the primary school headteacher is).

In so far as one can give general advice, I agree with what Chad has written above - the parent's approach should broadly be the same as for a statutory appeal (evidence of high academic ability and mitigating circumstances).

Have a look at the Q&As E12 (it will need adapting, depending on the admission authority). If this is a review where the parents cannot attend, then I would break my normal advice about brevity - you need to give as much detail as possible if you're not going to be there to expand on the case.

Don't worry about "giving too much away". The review process and the appeal process are separate, and the same people should not be involved. [There might be some foundation/VA schools where things are not kept as rigidly separate as they should be, but certainly the appeal panel should have had no previous involvement in the case.]
Katie wrote:You are within your rights to request a review meeting just to ask for the schools/LEA's views and to investigate if an appeal would be worth while.
Even assuming the review process is one where parents are allowed to attend, the people there are all acting on behalf of the admission authority and should not anticipate what an independent appeal panel might think.
The LEA and school advised that only breaches of the Government Admissions / Appeals Code of Practice would be acceptable grounds for an appeal.
This was an outrageous statement. Completely wrong and misleading.
the Ombudsman's office advised that the Codes of Practice were only there as guidelines
Legally this has been so - strictly speaking it has been necessary only to "have regard" to the Codes. The new Appeals Code (which takes effect next year) will have statutory force, but even so it will, I believe, draw a distinction between what 'must' and what 'should' be done.
Etienne
Katie
Posts: 229
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2007 10:25 am

Post by Katie »

Hello Etienne,

As you can see - we still fight on. We agree that the information we have been given is completely incorrect and wide of the mark to say the very least - however that's what anyone in Torbay who appeals is forced to put up with.
There is no support / no help / no advice.
If we hadn't had your support we'd have given up at the first hurdle.
I do wish someone in addition to us would challenge our LEA / The school / The Ombudsman about what we have been told and how we have been treated. We feel like we're up against a brick wall. It seems that everyone has closed ranks and as we are so isolated in this part of the country, and so unique it seems in raising any questions about the way things are being run - it's simply not welcomed.
Even local councillors just shake their heads and say - mmm - it's not very good is it. Everyone knows what's going on, but people prefer an easy life and to retain their job security. Well not me.
I still have a sinking feeling that nothing good will come of this, despite the huge effort. I'm advised that there are 160 too many applicants for the school this year - so it's going to be really difficult for lots of families.
But basically, no matter what you're child's reason for underperformance - none of the appeals will be upheld.
Oh - perhaps I just threw down the gauntlet?
Upwards and onwards. :)
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