Headmaster Questions at Appeal

[pellingham]

At our appeal last week, which we have just found out we failed, the headmaster of the school who was present, asked us the direct question:

"There are almost 100 children ahead of your son on the waiting list, why should he get a place ahead of them?"

Only 25 were appealing.

Is he allowed to ask that question, as our understanding is that his place on the waiting list is irrelevant? and his question may have predjudiced the panel?

Basically our son did not do as well as expected in the Maths paper, we had strong school evidence that he was a level 6 in Maths and reasonable extenuating circumstances that could explain his poor performance.

[Etienne]

Welcome!

The exact words in the Code are "Appeal panels must not take account of where the admission authority has placed a child on the waiting list, .............."

I don't think the head should have asked that particular question, and in my view the chair or clerk should have intervened to rule it out of order. Ultimately, though, the issue is likely to be whether the panel improperly took it into account, or whether they took the correct decision to ignore it. The clerk's notes may or may not reveal this!

Is this school an academy?

[pellingham]

Thanks Etienne,

I appreciate the welcome.

The school became an Academy in August 2011.

They have already offered above their PAN but still had 3 spaces according to their net capacity figure.

We await the letter explaining the decision.

[Etienne]

I would have thought the matter worth pursuing - so long as you don't mind what might turn into a long drawn out process!

The decision letter should tell you what to do if you wish to make a complaint. (This could be to the Academy in the first instance, or straight to the EFA.)
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals/ombudsman#d6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[pellingham]

Thanks Etienne.

Your answers on this site have helped us greatly through this process.

[pellingham]

We have an older sibling at the school that we have been allocated.

We have evidence from their reports that even though he his Gifted and Talented he is not being pushed to his full potential and an Ofsted report from January 2012 that states:

"Teaching is usually matched to the needs of the middle-ability group within the class but this means that the higher-attaining students are often not sufficiently challenged"

Our question is should we be detrimental to the "other" school?

[Etienne]

Keep it as brief and factual as possible. The emphasis should be on reasons for the grammar school.

Why XXXXX Grammar School

The allocated school is .......

Ofsted quote

This has been what we ourselves have experienced (with another child at ......... school).

Move quickly on to reasons for wanting a place at the GS (with no further mention of the allocated school).

[Stocky]

Totally reiterate what Etienne has said. Ofsted had made a similar comment about our allocated school. I made a short factual reference to it in our appeal submission "our concern is......oftsed stated in 2011....." - i.e. it was Ofsted's comment not ours. At the appeal I never mentioned the allocated school once. The only time it got mentioned was when one of the panel members asked a question.

[pellingham]

Hi,

We are going for a 2nd appeal and would like some advice on our opening letter to the Head of Legal at the LEA.

Thank you.


Please take this email as a formal written request for a 2nd appeal for *** at YYYY, for year 7 intake starting in September 2012.

There are two reasons we believe entitle us to a 2nd appeal.

1. Irregularities in the first appeal:

a. Inadmissible question from Mr ZZZZ representing the school.
i. Mr ZZZZ asked out loud “why does *** deserve a place when there are over 100 children ahead of him on the waiting list”
ii. From our understanding, the position on the waiting list is irrelevant at an appeal.
iii. The clerk to the appeal did not block the question and we were forced to address it.
iv. We believe that this question unfairly prejudiced the appeal panel.

b. Confusion over where our elder child attends school.
i. We were asked if we were also appealing to AAAA Grammar school, which we confirmed we were.
ii. We were also asked where our elder son attends and we stated AAAA Academy, a different school.
iii. We also confirmed we had a place for *** at AAAA Academy if the appeal to YYYY failed.
iv. The letter from the appeal panel explaining the decision stated that as we have an “elder child attending AAAA Grammar school”, we understood how it worked.
v. We are concerned that the appeal panel wrongly assumed that *** already had a place at a different Grammar school with his brother, and this unfairly prejudiced the appeal panel.

2. New Evidence

a. The reason stated in the letter from the appeal panel was that there was a “lack of academic evidence”.
b. We only had predictions of SATS grades at the time of the appeal, we now have his actual SATS results and he has exceeded his predictions:
i. He achieved level 6 in Maths; also scoring 100% in his level 5 paper placing him first in the school.
ii. He achieved level 6 in Reading; the only one to do so from his school.
iii. He achieved his predicted level 5A in writing; no child from the school was submitted to level 6.
c. We also had a supporting letter from his current head teacher stating he had the ability to achieve at a Grammar school and was working in the top group of 8.
i. The Head teacher ran us to say they now believe they understated the position and want to help us with a 2nd appeal as a Grammar school education would be in the best interests of ***.
ii. They are now able to confirm that *** is top in the school in Maths and was the only child to achieve level 6 in Reading.
iii. They are in the process of writing a new supporting letter.

Therefore we request a 2nd appeal for YYYY

Thank you.

Pellingham, I have merged this with your previous threads so that the whole story is in one place - Herman

[Etienne]

I would use the phrase 'fresh hearing' rather than '2nd appeal'.

I would suggest the following:
ii. From our understanding, the position on the waiting list is irrelevant at an appeal, as the use of such information would contravene the Appeals Code.
iii. Neither the chair nor the clerk raised any concerns about the question, and we were forced to address it.

Also:
2. Significant new evidence that was not available at the time of the hearing.

I would omit the rest of part 2 (after the heading), because the head's letter will be the evidence, and should speak for itself.

The head would need to word the letter carefully so as to indicate that the new evidence (a) was unforeseen and (b) is really very significant.