Letters to Head before Exam

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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Letters to Head before Exam

Post by Advice »

I have been advised to write to the school before my son sits the 11+ this October as a) he is a year above the allocated age as he was put back a year due to ill health and will now be penalised heavily for this and b) because a lot of personal home problems have cropted up during the summer and have caused huge stress on the whole family.

I have NO idea how to put in writing the above concerns without sounding either as if I am winging or desperate, any help will be gratefully received as my sons head can be a bit dragon like (sorry) and dont want to upset her if I can.
Guest

Post by Guest »

Hi Advice

I'm not certain why it has been suggested that you write to the Head? If it is to ask for her advice about your son being over-age for the 11+ I would probably ask for an appointment with her to discuss the implications rather than writing. If she is a bit dragon like, is there another teacher with long experience of the 11+ who you can approach for a discussion? Failing that you could always call the Admissions team at County Hall for their advice on him being overage - I'm sure it has cropped up before.

I can't see any reason why telling the Head about your family problems makes a difference to the 11+ at this stage. Those issues would become important in the event that your son fails the 11+ narrowly and you have to go to an appeal. The head's support would be important then, and if she recognises the family issues as being important it might help your case. However, be warned that Appeals panels are frequently looking for evidence of why a child didn't perform on the actual day, rather than traumas going back over several months.

If you can tell us more about the advice you were given, we can try to help you.

All the best
Sally-Anne (Sorry - forgot to log in, so I'll just appear as Guest!)
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

I rather agree with Sally-Anne. What reason was given for writing to the head beforehand?
Etienne
patricia
Posts: 2803
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:07 pm

Post by patricia »

Dear Advice/Sally-Anne and Etienne

I know of heads that ask for letters before or at the time of the tests, letter goes on file in case an appeal is necessary. It has been suggested that it is better to have a letter on file with a current date of the problems, instead of in retrospect, which, apparently is harder to prove.

Patricia
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Hello, Patricia

Yes, it rather depends what the letter is about.

I cannot see the purpose of a letter written now about the year being repeated for health reasons. Unless there's been a significant change in personnel, I assume the school would already know and be able to confirm the details, and presumably there would be supporting medical evidence. In this situation (from the perspective of an appeal panel) a new letter is not going to add anything useful.

If the family problems occurred during the summer term, and were sufficiently serious for schoolwork to be affected, then one might have expected the school to have been contacted before now. Or perhaps the problems started in the summer term, but became much worse recently?

If the problems relate essentially to the summer holiday, it would indeed be wise to write a letter along the lines "I thought you should know .......... in case his work is affected."

Difficult to advise without knowing a bit more about the case.
Etienne
dltracy

Letter to Head

Post by dltracy »

Just to try to update you. My son has a long term illnes that resulted in him being off school at one point for 18 months, this resulted in having to go back a year. In total he was actually off school all together for a total of approx. 2 years, so when going back to school was on special needs for a couple of years. He has gone from being on special needs in year 3 to in year 5 ( his school give them the sats in yr 5 to access their levels) a level 5 in literacy and 3rd highest in the class. So even though he has had less education than a majority of the children in his present year he is doing very well. BCC DO NOT allow at all for children who have been put back a year at school as 'he is still older than the others taking the test' and also 'this does not crop up very often' so I have been told to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

As for the personal problems this have arisen in the summer holidays and are his Grandfather suffering from terminal cancer and receiving aggressive chemo in the hope to prolong his life and my own relationship breaking down.

Hope this gives enough insight to the problems and whether or not I should send a letter.

Also given that my son is older does the present appeal margins still apply as I was told by BCC if the situation was good enough that I could appeal at a lower mark due to standardisation on his older age.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear dltracy

Thanks for the additional facts. So pleased to hear how well your son has been doing.

I do think you should write to the head with the new information. ("I thought I should write and let you know about the following in case there is any impact on my son's work. During the summer holidays, ....................") Keep a copy of the letter.

There is no such thing as "appeal margins". It is true that the majority of successful appeals are for scores in the range 117-120, but lower scores will receive serious consideration, especially where there is a strong case.

For more information about appeals, have a look at:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/11plus ... nswers.php

Please ask if any further help is needed.

Kind regards
Etienne
Guest

Post by Guest »

Hi dltracy

I'm glad Etienne spotted this, as her advice is always very sound. With the progress he has made since returning to school, your son may surprise you by passing the 11+ with flying colours!

I find the BCC response very strange, but as they make no allowances in advance, this is a classic example of why the appeals process exists - to understand why a bright child hasn't passed the 11+ and take account of such problems as major illness.

Let's hope he passes, but if that doesn't happen, do come back to the Forum for support on an Appeal. I found the forum to be an absolute lifeline last year when going through that process.

Good luck
Sally-Anne
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