Who am I?
My name is Jacqui Rock and I have been consulting on secondary school appeals since my son was unfortunately allocated a school that we didn’t feel was the right fit for him when he was 10 in 2007.
It was an arduous time, as we knew that it would be a big mistake for him if we did nothing and so, I took it upon myself to find a way to do something about it and thus, “Get Your School” was born. Well, its inception anyway! I am probably running away with myself, as I also remember feeling lost, helpless and not knowing where to turn.
Whilst I found that the secondary schools that were on my initial application were sympathetic, they were also not able to support my predicament, as they had their full allocation for the upcoming term and so were focused on that and their current school cohort. It was so frustrating!
After the initial shock I slowly found my feet and through lots of trial and error, found a path. Whilst I did not know whether this path would be successful as I went through the process, I did know that doing something distracted me from mine and my son’s despair and gave us hope.
To cut a very long story short, my school appeal was successful (twice) and my son got the school he wanted. What a relief..!
And there I thought my secondary school appeals focus would end, but no….
Slowly but surely, other parents came out of the woodwork from far and wide and through word of mouth, and asked if I could help them too. I knew already that my school appeal wasn’t a fluke, as two separate schools had successfully accepted my argument to give my son a place at their schools.
Why I created this service
Having gone through the desperation of that day when we first heard that my son hadn’t got the school he wanted was so unsettling for him and us. It seemed that all his friends and cohort had been successful and so were planning their next steps into the secondary school system, with my son becoming more isolated as he waited to find out what would be happening to him and if he was destined to go to a school where none of his friends would be going – Yes, we’ve been there too!
After our success, realising that there is a way to win and helping a few others do the same too, led me to thinking that if I had also found a consultant to guide me through the process when I most needed it, it would have made things so much easier and avoided giving me the blind hope that I experienced when I went through it all by myself.
My Experience
Whilst there is never a guarantee of success, over the years I have honed my skills and learnt additional techniques and strategies to benefit the parents that have reached out to me. One thing for sure is that when I had to go through another school appeal with my daughter 3 years later, I ensured that I started my appeal right at the start of the process in preparing for the secondary school open day visits. Which is why I also start these subscriptions here too.
I hold my hands up to say that we put our heads in the sand with my son and hoped that he’d be successful with our selection and this led to his initial school allocation which he didn’t want. Does this sound familiar..? How wrong were we, and I wasn’t about to make that same mistake again. I was the only mother walking round my daughter’s school open days with a notepad and pen, and I have found that whilst a secondary school appeal can still be won after your school allocation results have been given to you, there is a lot to be learnt during the initial stages that you can’t go back to obtain when you are already at ‘school appeal’ stage. Starting at the beginning also gives you the right posture for facing this head on and being prepared!
My situation turned into a positive one. Both my children chose to continue into their respective 6th forms , went on to graduate at their universities with distinctions and one is now a fully qualified Chartered Accountant with the other a Project Manager. I honestly believe that things would have been different now if we hadn’t ensured that they got the secondary schools that were right for them.
Whilst there are no guarantees of success, if you now find yourself in a similar position to me, then we are here to help.
I have found that whilst a secondary school appeal can still be won after your school allocation results have been given to you, there is a lot to be learnt during the initial stages that you can’t go back to obtain when you are already at ‘school appeal’ stage. Starting at the beginning also gives you the right posture for facing this head on and being prepared!
Our Packages
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.
