transfer appeal - distraught daughter
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transfer appeal - distraught daughter
Hi,
My daughter was absolutely distraught on receiving the letter with second choice of school. She had set her heart on the first choice.
We are going to appeal on the following grounds and hope that soemone more experienced will be able to offer advice as to whether theres any hope or the grounds are good enough etc..
Firstly, we are in catchment for our first choice of an all girls school which we wanted as she finds boys annoying and they distract her from her work by being silly and they don't concentrate on the tasks given.
She is academic and they tease her for it.
Secondly we under-estimated the transport difficulties of getting her to the second choice and were led to believe there would be a school bus which i would still have to drive to for her to use it.We are now told today by county transport she wouldn't be guaranteed a place on the bus which would have dire consequences on my jobs (such as losing both my jobs) as I couldn't get back in time as a mum told me whose son goes to a nearby school that it took her an hour there and back as its on a busy route even though it' s only 9 miles away.
Thirdly, social and health reasons - my daughter still suffers stress ass a result of family problems in the past and needs familiarity and stability which she would get at our first choice as she knows the school well and has a few friends already there.
Going to our second choice school she would be under a huge amount of stress and I don't think she would cope at all well in a big school environment
Fourthly - our first choice girls school is smaller by a few hundred than our second choice school and emphasises pastoral support.
Fifthly - two of my daughters teachers expressed prior to the selection tests that she would fit in really well with our first choice school
The head teacher has said she will write a letter also re-iterating these reasons.
Do those more experienced than me feel these are good enough reasons?
Is there any chance of appeal or getting a place onthe waiting list?
Any advice /help most welcome for a mum trying to help her child be happy and achieve her full potential!
My daughter was absolutely distraught on receiving the letter with second choice of school. She had set her heart on the first choice.
We are going to appeal on the following grounds and hope that soemone more experienced will be able to offer advice as to whether theres any hope or the grounds are good enough etc..
Firstly, we are in catchment for our first choice of an all girls school which we wanted as she finds boys annoying and they distract her from her work by being silly and they don't concentrate on the tasks given.
She is academic and they tease her for it.
Secondly we under-estimated the transport difficulties of getting her to the second choice and were led to believe there would be a school bus which i would still have to drive to for her to use it.We are now told today by county transport she wouldn't be guaranteed a place on the bus which would have dire consequences on my jobs (such as losing both my jobs) as I couldn't get back in time as a mum told me whose son goes to a nearby school that it took her an hour there and back as its on a busy route even though it' s only 9 miles away.
Thirdly, social and health reasons - my daughter still suffers stress ass a result of family problems in the past and needs familiarity and stability which she would get at our first choice as she knows the school well and has a few friends already there.
Going to our second choice school she would be under a huge amount of stress and I don't think she would cope at all well in a big school environment
Fourthly - our first choice girls school is smaller by a few hundred than our second choice school and emphasises pastoral support.
Fifthly - two of my daughters teachers expressed prior to the selection tests that she would fit in really well with our first choice school
The head teacher has said she will write a letter also re-iterating these reasons.
Do those more experienced than me feel these are good enough reasons?
Is there any chance of appeal or getting a place onthe waiting list?
Any advice /help most welcome for a mum trying to help her child be happy and achieve her full potential!
Dear chez
Just my initial thoughts!
It's impossible to say what one's chances are when appealing for an oversubscribed school, because it depends on the strength of the school's case as well as your own. The strength of other appellants' cases could also influence the outcome.
You do have grounds for appeal, not least the fact that you are in catchment.
I assume you can provide medical evidence to show that your daughter still suffers from stress.
It might not be easy to convince a panel that one school emphasises pastoral support more than another! If you're not sure you can really justify your statement, stick to the size of the school and something vaguer such as "Pastoral care may well be easier to sustain in a small school".
If the teachers who said your daughter would fit in really well with your first choice school would put their comments in writing, and justify them with reference to some of the points you are making, it would be very useful evidence.
Regards
Just my initial thoughts!
It's impossible to say what one's chances are when appealing for an oversubscribed school, because it depends on the strength of the school's case as well as your own. The strength of other appellants' cases could also influence the outcome.
You do have grounds for appeal, not least the fact that you are in catchment.
I assume you can provide medical evidence to show that your daughter still suffers from stress.
It might not be easy to convince a panel that one school emphasises pastoral support more than another! If you're not sure you can really justify your statement, stick to the size of the school and something vaguer such as "Pastoral care may well be easier to sustain in a small school".
If the teachers who said your daughter would fit in really well with your first choice school would put their comments in writing, and justify them with reference to some of the points you are making, it would be very useful evidence.
Regards
Etienne