Appeals - LEA Preference Anomalies
Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:15 am
Etienne, Sally-Anne,
I have a not entirely hypothetical question relating to appeals in situations where an out-of-area LEA has a different (lower) number of preferences available on the LEA form.
In a situation where an LEA has say 6 preferences (e.g Birmingham) but but with a number of adjacent LEAs allowing only 3 preferences on the LEA list (Worcs, Staffs etc) - parents in those LEA can only really put down 2 Birmingham grammars as they need to put the local catchment comp down as 3rd choice for a backstop. In this situation, particularly where there are different exams and even pass marks for different grammar schools, parents in the neighbouring LEA are disadvantaged regarding choice.
My questions are:-
1. Does the appeal process cater for general appeals against the LEA rather than the school for restrictive practices? (ie I can only put down 2 grammars whereas Birmingham parents can put down 5)
2. Is it possible to make an appeal for a school that you didn't put down on your preference list (but would have, and passed the exam for, if you were given equality of choice)?
3. If it's not possible to use any of the above routes if there a process that can be used?
I should add that neighbouring LEAs that don't have grammar schools themselves tend to be disinterested regarding help or assistance to parents in this situation.
I suspect this may be relevant to other areas of the country. There are particular issues within the West Midlands area where a large proportion of children in Bimingham LEA Grammars or KE Foundation Grammar live outside the Birmingham LEA area, but with easy access to the schools.
When I completed a Worcs LEA form last year we decided not to include the local catchment Comprehensive on our list, to give us an extra grammar choice. However if my son had failed to a place in one of the grammars we would probably have been allocated a failing Comp about 20 miles away. Thankfully that didn't occur.
I think that a number of parents may be interested in you views on this.
Regards
Ken
I have a not entirely hypothetical question relating to appeals in situations where an out-of-area LEA has a different (lower) number of preferences available on the LEA form.
In a situation where an LEA has say 6 preferences (e.g Birmingham) but but with a number of adjacent LEAs allowing only 3 preferences on the LEA list (Worcs, Staffs etc) - parents in those LEA can only really put down 2 Birmingham grammars as they need to put the local catchment comp down as 3rd choice for a backstop. In this situation, particularly where there are different exams and even pass marks for different grammar schools, parents in the neighbouring LEA are disadvantaged regarding choice.
My questions are:-
1. Does the appeal process cater for general appeals against the LEA rather than the school for restrictive practices? (ie I can only put down 2 grammars whereas Birmingham parents can put down 5)
2. Is it possible to make an appeal for a school that you didn't put down on your preference list (but would have, and passed the exam for, if you were given equality of choice)?
3. If it's not possible to use any of the above routes if there a process that can be used?
I should add that neighbouring LEAs that don't have grammar schools themselves tend to be disinterested regarding help or assistance to parents in this situation.
I suspect this may be relevant to other areas of the country. There are particular issues within the West Midlands area where a large proportion of children in Bimingham LEA Grammars or KE Foundation Grammar live outside the Birmingham LEA area, but with easy access to the schools.
When I completed a Worcs LEA form last year we decided not to include the local catchment Comprehensive on our list, to give us an extra grammar choice. However if my son had failed to a place in one of the grammars we would probably have been allocated a failing Comp about 20 miles away. Thankfully that didn't occur.
I think that a number of parents may be interested in you views on this.
Regards
Ken