Don’t panic: This is how you can appeal your child's rejected school application

Enrolling for school applications can be a stressful process for parents and children. For the head of a school dealing with panicking parents can sometimes leave you attending to parents emotions than trying to find solutions to the challenges of the admissions.

However, Stephen Price, the principal at Bergvliet High School in the Western Cape, has taken it upon himself to help guide parents on the school’s admission process.

In the Western Cape, the admissions process is done on the online portal. The province’s education department announces a date when all parents can apply at the schools of their choice through this portal. They will then get feedback on their application from the portal, and if parents would like to appeal the decision, they do so by emailing the school.

Price, in his advice to parents, starts off by explaining that parents at this moment find themselves in at least one of these three positions.

Your child was accepted at the first choice school – to which he adds that you best accept the offer on the portal to open up opportunities for others.

Your child was accepted at their second choice – to which he advises you to again accept the offer to make way for others. Also, if your first choice gets back to you and offers you a place, you may withdraw the acceptance.

Or you do not get accepted at the schools. You can re-motivate to the school or contact your district office.

However, in your re-motivation to the school, you should:

• Be polite: Do not be rude or abusive to the staff of the school as this will not help your application at all.
• Refrain from slandering the school on social media.
• Do not compare your application to that of your neighbours: Applicants are judged using criteria.

In your re-motivation letter you should :

• Paragraph 1:Acknowledge understanding of the difficulty principals have in selecting learners
• Paragraph 2: Provide additional information about your child, with further evidence or references. You should touch on academics, sport, culture, service and the child’s leadership qualities.
• Paragraph 3: Inform the principal about your commitment to paying school fees. If for some reason you can’t afford the full fees, then offer to commit to paying regular amounts rather than pay nothing.
• A handwritten motivation from the learner can also be useful, however, principals can tell if its not the child’s wording.

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