St Bernards - Appeal -Olisun

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olisun
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:46 am

Re: St Bernards - Appeal -Olisun

Post by olisun »

I had my appeal a week ago and I was very confident that it will be upheld based on the evidence I provided and the way the appeal went.

Today I got the news that that the panel has decided not to uphold my appeal.

I am waiting on the detailed report and in the meantime, is there anything more I can do?
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: St Bernards - Appeal -Olisun

Post by Etienne »

olisun wrote:Today I got the news that that the panel has decided not to uphold my appeal.
I am waiting on the detailed report and in the meantime, is there anything more I can do?
So sorry to hear your news.
If 'detailed report' means the decision letter, I think you need to wait and see what it says.
Etienne
olisun
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:46 am

Re: St Bernards - Appeal -Olisun

Post by olisun »

I still have't received the detailed decision letter.
olisun
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:46 am

Re: St Bernards - Appeal -Olisun

Post by olisun »

olisun wrote:I still have't received the detailed decision letter.
It's over 7 weeks since the appeal hearing and still no sign of the detailed decision letter.

I contacted the clerk on the 10th of June and she replied back mentioning that it will send sent out in the next few weeks.

Does it really take this long to send out the letters?
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: St Bernards - Appeal -Olisun

Post by Etienne »

It usually depends on the date of the last appeal. Decisions cannot be finalised until all the appeals have been heard for a particular year group.
Do we know when the hearings were due to end? (This should have been before you received the message that your appeal was unsuccessful.)

The Appeals Code states that decision letters must be sent as soon as possible but within five school days "unless there is good reason".

The emergency covid regulations (in force until 30 September 2022) say within 7 calendar days "wherever possible".

"Unless there is good reason" and "wherever possible" give some wriggle room, but to have been waiting over a month does seem excessive.
Etienne
olisun
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:46 am

Re: St Bernards - Appeal -Olisun

Post by olisun »

Etienne wrote:It usually depends on the date of the last appeal. Decisions cannot be finalised until all the appeals have been heard for a particular year group.
Do we know when the hearings were due to end? (This should have been before you received the message that your appeal was unsuccessful.)

The Appeals Code states that decision letters must be sent as soon as possible but within five school days "unless there is good reason".

The emergency covid regulations (in force until 30 September 2022) say within 7 calendar days "wherever possible".

"Unless there is good reason" and "wherever possible" give some wriggle room, but to have been waiting over a month does seem excessive.
The appeals website mentions,

"1st March 2022 - Secondary allocation day
6th April 2022 - Deadline to receive appeal forms
23rd June 2022 - Deadline to hear secondary admission appeals

Any appeals received after 6th April will be heard after 24th June once all timely appeals have been heard. "

Surely they should have already sent out the letters for the first round of appeals?
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: St Bernards - Appeal -Olisun

Post by Etienne »

It looks as if they could be hearing timely Y7 appeals up to 23rd June, although the date might be earlier if they received fewer appeals than expected.
No decision letters should be sent out until all these appeals have been heard. This is because, if they are minded to allow more appeals than the school can cope with, it might be necessary to compare the 'qualified' cases, and decide which of them to allow up to the point where the prejudice to the school would become too great.

What I don't understand is why they gave you the result of your appeal if hearings were still taking place.
If your appeal was turned down on academic grounds, they might want to argue that there was no need to delay in your case because they could not move on to consider whether your reasons for wanting a place outweighed the prejudice to the school (since your child remained unqualified).
Nevertheless, the Appeals Code states: "A panel hearing multiple appeals must not make decisions on any of those appeals until all the appeals have been heard."
Etienne
olisun
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:46 am

Re: St Bernards - Appeal -Olisun

Post by olisun »

I received the detailed response letter

There are some bits, which I am not comfortable discussing it in a open forum.

Having said that, does one have to provide evidence of the Extenuating circumstances or in the absence of that, should the panel be requesting it before the hearing?
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: St Bernards - Appeal -Olisun

Post by Etienne »

olisun wrote:does one have to provide evidence of the Extenuating circumstances
The Appeals Code omly insists that there must be evidence of the required academic standards for grammar school.

However, it's not unreasonable for an appeal panel to look for evidence of extenuating circumstances if it wants to - and the greater the shortfall of marks, the more likely they are to expect an explanation for underperformance in the test.

should the panel be requesting it before the hearing?
If appellants have any persuasive extenuating circumstances (e.g. father was taken to hospital with a heart attack the night before the test), they are likely to provide the evidence without needing to be prompted.

Appeal panels do not normally say in advance what evidence they will require. The three panel members are completely independent, and they may have differing expectations.

Appeal clerks, or even the admission authority, sometimes publish guidance on appeals, but they are likely to stick to what is in the Appeals Code. They cannot presume to reflect the views of individual members of an independent appeal panel.
Etienne
olisun
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:46 am

Re: St Bernards - Appeal -Olisun

Post by olisun »

Etienne wrote:
olisun wrote:does one have to provide evidence of the Extenuating circumstances
The Appeals Code omly insists that there must be evidence of the required academic standards for grammar school.

However, it's not unreasonable for an appeal panel to look for evidence of extenuating circumstances if it wants to - and the greater the shortfall of marks, the more likely they are to expect an explanation for underperformance in the test.

should the panel be requesting it before the hearing?
If appellants have any persuasive extenuating circumstances (e.g. father was taken to hospital with a heart attack the night before the test), they are likely to provide the evidence without needing to be prompted.

Appeal panels do not normally say in advance what evidence they will require. The three panel members are completely independent, and they may have differing expectations.

Appeal clerks, or even the admission authority, sometimes publish guidance on appeals, but they are likely to stick to what is in the Appeals Code. They cannot presume to reflect the views of individual members of an independent appeal panel.
The letter mentions that I did not provide any evidence of the extenuating circumstances and there is nothing to prove that my son has been effected by it, and as such they didn't consider it.

BUT they did take into consideration the part where I mentioned that my son was tutored. That sounds contradicting to me.

They also acknowledged that my son has made considerable progress and "The Panel noted that xxxxx did well in the other entrance tests however the tests were of different formats and standardised against different cohorts of children which means that the different tests could not be compared with each other."

"Having taken into account all the evidence provided, they concluded that these factors did not outweigh the case made by St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School. The pace and challenge at the school are very high. It would cause prejudice to the quality of education to all students by allowing the admission as resources will be stretched which would result in desks, computers and other equipment having to be shared."

And by their conclusion does it mean that they have rejected all the appeals on the same ground that the school is over stretched ?
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