Back to School...

 

"I would inform you that, following careful consideration of your case, the Panel decided to allow your appeal. This means that Megan is to attend the school. The Appeal Panel considered that your case was sufficiently compelling to outweigh that submitted against admission.

Megan Hope is expected to start at Redden Court School on Monday 16th May 2011... blah blah blah."

It was one of those deja-vu moments... walking into the Town Hall boardroom to face the Appeals Panel, the Secretariat and the Havering Council representatives who were going to be arguing against my appeal for Megan to attend Redden Court School along with Poppy - seven people, all trained to fulfil their roles, plus me, nervous and deeply aware of what was at stake.

It felt just like the day - 4/5 years ago now - when we gathered around a similar boardroom-sized table to fight (not literally, even though I was tempted!) with Barking and Dagenham Council over Poppy's Statement of Special Education Needs. That was the end of a very long, frustrating process, into which we dragged our local MP and even the then Minister for Education (!?). Bizarrely, after all the hype and preparation, the meeting lasted about 20 minutes - the Council caved, we won that fight... and (equally bizarrely) I ended up re-writing Poppy's Statement.

Sweet as that victory was, I stayed angry for a long time - and I think I still am in some ways - angry that the odds are always stacked up so high against parents, the systems so intimidating, the rules and Codes so complicated... it's a wonder that *anyone* wins their fights. More often than not, parents lose... and more often than not, that actually means that their children lose. And that, I think, is what makes me angry - the scoreline is oh so familiar; System/institution 1, Child 0. Game over.

I spent hours and hours compiling our case for Megan to attend Redden Court after receiving the initial rejection letter, and after lodging our intention to appeal. We trawled websites, read books and Codes of practice, downloaded OFSTED reports, petitioned Pupil Support Services with endless questions, printed out architects drawings and building schedules, compiled GCSE data and other test results, compared teacher:pupil ratios, and spoke with anyone who could vaguely help or advise us.

And then, before we knew it, there I was, sat on one side of an intimidatingly large boardroom table in Romford Town Hall, with no idea if I was prepared enough... and so the arguing began.

- - - - -

The letter came this morning. A few paragraphs to wrap up weeks of preparation and prayer. "I would inform you that, following careful consideration of your case, the Panel decided to allow your appeal. This means that Megan is to attend the school. The Appeal Panel considered that your case was sufficiently compelling to outweigh that submitted against admission."

HALLELUJAH!!!

Thanks so much to all our friends and family who have prayed with us, encouraged us. We're very grateful... and Megan is very excited. After years of on/off home education, she is going back to school. :)

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