Empowering Parents to Make the Right Choice for Their Child
As parents, we understand our children better than anyone—and that insight puts us in the strongest position to make important decisions about their education.
Get Your School is a process developed to help share a practical approach with subscribed parents, supporting you in navigating the system in securing the right place at a school where your child can truly thrive.
Are you choosing which Secondary School to send your child to, or you’ve just found out that your child hasn’t got a place in the secondary school they want…?
The good news is that we can help you with what you need to consider when choosing the right school(s) and, if you are unsuccessful in your selection, appeal the decision in getting your child the school that they do want.
This website will guide you with step-by-step explainer videos and example templates, coupled with hands on support on how to prepare for:
- Your School Open Day Visits – Don’t just turn up and hope for the best!
- Choosing Your List of Secondary Schools – There is a strategy that allocates a weighting to your decisions.
- Appealing Against a Secondary School Decision – Your opportunity to contest the decision
If you should find yourself in this predicament, we understand the emotional rollercoaster that you find yourself in having personally been affected twice by the same situation and since 2007 we have successfully been guiding you through the trials and tribulations of finding the right school for your child.
Whilst there are no guarantees, the combination of your dedicated time, this websites subscription and strategic hands-on support will give you the ammunition needed to give you the best chance of success to secure the path for your child’s future and so we have made it as simple and accessible as possible for you to be able to obtain the support you need.
Our Packages
Our Customer Reviews
I can’t thank Jacqui enough for helping with the school appeal. We moved area mid-term and couldn’t get my son and daughter into the school they wanted as it was already oversubscribed being a good school that everyone wanted. I do not think James and Eleanor would be where they are now without her help, with my son as a special needs teacher and daughter, who is a mentor for young adults who find themselves outside education
During late 2012, I was recommended to contact Jacqui Rock. My husband and I decided to apply for a place for our 11 year-old son at Twynham School in Christchurch. Because the school and year group was oversubscribed, we would have to “Appeal” to School Authority – Dorset Country Council. We were advised that Jacqui had a great deal of experience in this area and could act as an Advisory Service to us. Once I engaged with Jacqui, she completely explained the process and what we would need to do to prepare and submit our Appeal Case to request a place for our Son. Jacqui advised what research I would need to do and how to construct the document. This enabled me to completely understand the school case for not accepting our son and how to argue their case. Once I had drafted the document Jacqui checked and added some valid points before we sent our document off to the Authorities. Before the Appeal date was advised Jacqui again sat with us and we discussed how we would prepare a Personal document for our son and why the school should accept our son. Jacqui also prepared us for the Appeal Panel – she explained what would happen and how we should interact with the Panel and the School representatives. This can be a very daunting experience but my planning and knowing the process we felt quite at ease. Our case was successful and we have Jacqui to thank for her excellent guidance and preparation. We would happily recommend Jacqui to any parents that require an advisory service relating to School Appeals
When you receive the news you don’t want to hear that your child hasn’t got into the school of your choice – Jacqui is a great person to talk to. She’s been there herself and knows how it feels and gave us excellent advice and arguments to use in our appeal that we wouldn’t have thought of ourselves. We went on to win our appeal and our son now goes to the school we chose.
In recent years, Jacqui has successfully supported and advised me through 2 separate school appeals - one secondary and the other primary. Both required different sets of information to be gathered and Jacqui’s knowledge of the schools involved as well as the legalities of the appeals system were paramount, in my opinion, in me being successful and my children gaining places at their chosen schools. I was surprised at the types of information required to form an appeal and, even though my own education system knowledge is good, I wouldn’t have won at appeal if it hadn’t been for Jacqui’s unwavering support and knowledge from start to finish of the appeals process.
FAQ’S
It is beneficial to ask the right questions at the IDENTIFY – School Open Day and ‘REVIEW – Choosing Your School(s)’ phase, and to take a broad view to fully understand why you are choosing the schools you want even if you don’t use ‘Get Your School’ to achieve this. Additionally, the order that you place the schools on your application form can mean the difference between being successful at the initial allocation phase or not and we don’t know anyone that would want to have to complete a secondary school appeal if they didn’t have to. The importance of thinking ahead should not be underestimated, as if you are unsuccessful in the initial allocation and you want to pursue it, then a school appeal is the next step and so, it’s important to fully understand your options in phases 1 & 2 so that you can bring this knowledge into the appeal phase should you need to.
Yes, the secondary school appeal panel have authority to determine whether the school can accept more students over their public admission number, and you need to fully understand the process and strategies to use, especially bearing in mind that you are not only challenging the schools who repeat this process every year, but also the competition bought to you by other students who want the small number of places available
Yes, however, you would want to think seriously about whose parents want moving a student towards the end of their secondary school education. These subscriptions are open to everyone who has a need to be supported with their secondary school place in England from year 7, including those who are looking to join a secondary school from year 8 or above and those who find themselves either outside the usual timeline for start of year intake and require a secondary school place mid-year.
Each subscription requires your dedicated time and focus to obtain the skills required which will give you the ammunition needed to give you the best chance of success to make the right choices and be successful.
You are in competition with any other students who want the small number of places available AND the school of your choice.
Each subscription option offers you relevant step-by-step explainer videos and example templates, coupled with hands on support on how to prepare. Each option has a limited subscription time for your access and therefore we recommend that you sign up when you are ready to begin, otherwise your subscription may expire before you have completed the process. We have given you a limited time to keep momentum going and to remain focussed, whilst keeping within the confines of the process’s timelines.
Subscription fees are set regardless of success. That is why it is important to understand that it is your responsibility to progress sourcing the secondary school place that you want using the hints, tips and guidance given to you here within the timeframe that you have access to your respective portal.
You will need to be Microsoft Teams compatible which will require your email address details for set-up.
While I aim to make the content as clear and accessible as possible, this service does not provide specialist support for parents with learning difficulties or disabilities. If you require additional help understanding or accessing the materials, I recommend involving someone you trust who can support you through the process. My role is to guide and inform—not to act as an advocate or specialist support worker.
Yes. This service is designed for parents or carers who are comfortable using a computer, accessing online content, and completing forms digitally. If you are not confident with this, you will need support from a friend, family member, or trusted person who can help you navigate the process.