Prejudice & other questions

[otllen]

I wondered if anyone could shed any light on a question for us. Who has to establish that there will be a prejudice to the school you are appealing for by taking a child over the PAN - is that the LA representative or the panel?
For example if the LA rep stated that "they were not lodging a prejudice case" does that mean that the panel would still consider prejudice issues if there were lots of appealants to that school and they had reached their PAN. Also does this then apply to all appealants or could the school/LA argue prejudice in some cases an not others?

[Etienne]

Welcome.

Have a look at C1-2 of the Q&As.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... bed-school" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The LA rep. has to satisfy the panel that there will be prejudice. (The authority cannot pick and choose which appellants will or won't cause prejudice.)

If the authority says "no prejudice", the panel will need to establish whether all the appellants can be admitted without prejudice.

[otllen]

Thank you Etienne. We lost our appeal. The letter stated that the panel decided that the physical spaces available are inappropriate for accommodating extra pupils and that to admit extra pupils would prejudice the good and efficient education and would not be an effective use of resources.

You said earlier that The LA rep. has to satisfy the panel that there will be prejudice. I'm confused about how the panel arrived at this as prejudice was not argued by the head at all. Nothing was mentioned in the schools information to the panel which was circulated prior to the hearing either. Is there a way that the panel determines the physical spaces available and the the impact that would have on accepting an additional pupil. Wouldnt the Head have to provide evidence and argue how it would "affect the good and efficent education and use of resources"?

Surely the cant just make assumptions or can they???

I'm feeling very confused about the whole process. Any help would be much appreciated.

I also have some other questions about our letter, is it best to ask them here or to ask on another thread?

Thanks again

[Alex]

The panel can only make its decision based on evidence presented to it. If you are absolutely sure that there was no evidence presented by the school/LA representative then it is difficult to see how they could reach that decision. However, you have mentioned paperwork from the school which went before the panel. Did this contain statements about difficulties the school might face if it were to admit extra pupils?

I am sure Etienne will be along later to clarify further.

[Etienne]

Sorry to hear your news.

I agree with Alex that the panel can only reach a decision based on the evidence available. I suppose it's just possible that the facts on their own, if sufficiently detailed, could lead them to conclude 'prejudice', but the current Code states "the admission authority must be able to demonstrate [my underlining] this [prejudice] over and above the fact that the published admission number has already been reached". I would have thought it's unusual for the admission authority/school not to try and spell out what the prejudice would be (assuming they want to win their case), and for a good panel not to press for clarification.

If you want to send the school's written case to the Appeals Box, I'll have a look at it and tell you what I think. I would also need to know whether the headteacher said anything additional at the hearing, and what questions were asked (and answers given) about the school's case.

You're welcome to discuss the decision letter here (and to send a copy to the Appeals Box if you wish). I've altered the thread title to "Prejudice & other questions".

[otllen]

Thank you both, I'll send the letter and the schools information provided prior to the hearing through. I've just read through it again and there isnt even a mention of anything at all to do with taking over their allocated number. It does however refer to the school their own and the council website for further details on admission.

Thanks again.

[otllen]

Ok, I'm being a bit dense now - but where do I find the appeals box!!!
Sorry

[Etienne]

No problem.

There's a banner at the top of the main Appeals Forum page where it says:
There is a facility here for keeping sensitive information private while seeking advice.

[otllen]

Found it thank you!
It will be this weekend when I send it throuh as I've no facitity for scanning so will have to retype it.

Interestingly....which was the reason for my first post..... prejudice wasnt mentioned until I did my summing up. I stated that I believed that whilst there was bound to be some degree of prejudice to the school, that our case outweighted that prejudice. At that point the panel asked the other side what was their opinion on prejudice and the reply was "I am not arguing prejudice today". I almost leaped out of my seat as I thought yippee, thats too good to be true. I made the assumption that all we had to do was statisfy them that our child was of grammar school ability.

Thats why I made my original post and thats why I'm so confused that we've been turned down on prejudice.

[Etienne]

No rush.

At that point the panel asked the other side what was their opinion on prejudice

If you were summing up, I don't believe they should be asking the other side to comment. It looks like panic, because the panel realised they hadn't looked properly into the issue of prejudice.

and the reply was "I am not arguing prejudice today"

It would be fascinating to know whether those words appear in the clerk's notes.

Theoretically, a panel could find prejudice, even if the school says otherwise, but I think they would have to be able to justify how they arrived at their decision.