Chesham Grammar School Oversubscription Appeal Response

[mumofboys88]

Does anyone have a copy or know how I could get a copy of Chesham Grammar School's reponse and reasons for not being able to admit any further children for their September 2022 Year 7 intake?

[ToadMum]

Does anyone have a copy or know how I could get a copy of Chesham Grammar School's reponse and reasons for not being able to admit any further children for their September 2022 Year 7 intake?

I hesitate to ask, but why? If you have lodged an appeal, you would get this automatically. Presumably you have tried the parents of other DC at your DC's school who applied, have not been offered a place and have appealed themselves?

Making the assumption that the school hasn't turned applicants down on the grounds of them not having qualified, but whilst still being under PAN (in which case, the argument would be that they didn't have to take any more as no further qualified applicants have put themselves forward), the usual basis would be that the school has a PAN of X and X is the number for which they are resourced for the coming year. Plus other factors such as physical spaces (where teaching spaces are too small to take any more pupils), safety-based restrictions on group size for technical subjects etc, the layout of the school, flow of pupils around it, any specific issues pertaining to the coming academic year - e.g. major building work putting areas of the school estate out of bounds and so on.

[Etienne]

Welcome!

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking for.

"Response" to what?

They would have responded to questions from the panel and parents at stage one. Is this what you're referring to?

Or are you just looking for a copy of the school's case for prejudice, which ToadMum discusses above?

[mumofboys88]

Thank you for your responses and apologies for the lack of context! This is in relation to a SEN query, the LA are looking to place my child in CGS but we have concerns about how they will be able to cope with an extra child with significant needs. I remember from going through the appeals process for my other child that the school produce a reponse/statement saying 'we can't accept anymore children because ...' as ToadMum has described. Again apologies for not knowing the correct terminology!

We don't know anyone who is going through appeal for placement into CGS this year so if anyone was prepared to share the school's case for prejudice, we would be really grateful.

[ToadMum]

Is this via an EHCP? There may actually be a fair distance between the situation / potential situation described in the school's 'Defence Statement, as I believe some refer to it as and the reality for any individual pupil either joining the school or finding themselves in an 'over full' year group. One of the reasons why taking a DC along to an appeal hearing is a bad idea (even more so for an in-year appeal, because however much it is explained that the first part is about the school saying why it cannot take a single extra child, not anyone specific's extra child - and the presenting offocer is probably laying it on with a trowel - it generally must feel very personal and rather horrid).

Have you spoken to the SENDCo at the school? I would imagine that they would be best placed to discuss the day to day experience of the pupils under their remit.

Tbh, how much SEN provision / the level of need within the year group is actually put forward by the school or probed by the panel / parents can vary an awful lot from one appeal to another, so the statement in itself, without 'inside' info on the rest of the Stage 1 conversation, may not really help as much as you might imagine.

[mumofboys88]

Yes it is, the problem is we are hearing such a wide variety of views from the LA, school SENCO, parents etc so am just collecting as much information as we can to try and find the true picture!