1. We will send you an email invitation to the group hearing of the school’s case a day or two in advance of the meeting.
2. Please follow the link in the email to join the meeting five to 10 minutes before the start time, to give time for everyone to be admitted to the meeting and for the hearing to start on time. When you join the meeting, you will be placed in the lobby. The clerk will let you into the meeting as soon as possible. If you are joining the meeting by phone, please dial the phone number given in the email and then enter the Conference ID number when prompted.
3. Once parents/carers have been admitted to the meeting, and it is time to start, the clerk will admit the admission authority representative(s) from the lobby.
4. The clerk will then bring the panel members into the meeting from the lobby and the group hearing will start.
5. In order to manage the meeting effectively, we ask everyone to keep your microphone on mute unless you are speaking. (This does not apply if you have dialled in to the meeting.)
6. The chairman of the appeal panel and the clerk will make any introductory remarks before inviting the admission authority representative(s) to present the school’s case.
7. Once the school has presented its case, all parents/carers will be able to ask questions of the admission authority representatives about the school’s case. (Please do not raise anything private relating to your child’s appeal. You will have the opportunity to do this in your individual hearing.)
8. The chair will ask all parents/carers in turn if you have any questions. To do this, the chair will use the “Item” number of your appeal, which appears on the appeal papers we will have emailed to you. Please make a note of this before the meeting.
9. Once everyone has had a chance to ask questions, the chair will check whether there are any further questions from anyone, before moving on.
10. The panel will also have questions on the school’s case. They may ask these at any time.
11. Please treat all other participants with respect and avoid interrupting those who are speaking.
12. When you enter the meeting, you can choose how your name is displayed. Use this facility if you wish to keep your name private from other appellants at the group hearing. You may wish to use your appeal “Item number” instead.
13. If you are dialling into the meeting, you can dial 141 first to keep your phone number from being seen by others in the meeting.
14. If you have problems accessing the meeting using the link, please contact the appeals team immediately for assistance.