CEM extra allowances

[Sunshine 11]

So, is anyone requesting extra time or extra allowances ? My DD has dyslexia and dyspraxic tendencies, not that you would know now, but it really affected her in infants. It took her ages to learn to read for example, now I can't stop her and she is well above average in reading (reading age 12).

She is no longer on school action but does still struggle in math and gets a bit of extra help from the teacher. She really wants to try for grammar,and now she has got used to working around her problems, her progress is immense.

However, I will be requesting extra time etc as I have an educational psychology report recommending this. I have been told by admissions they will need to review the CEM criteria specifically, so does anyone have any experience of CEM in this aspect from other counties ? also, is anyone else putting in special requests this year in Glos ?

I am not too hopeful as she is not on school action, but it is worth an ask and is evidence if we have to appeal.

[kenyancowgirl]

I know the rules for extra time are incredibly tight. If it is like external exams (GCSE etc) then the rules are that it must be her "normal way of working". That is, if your dd does not already get extra time/a scribe/a reader for eg in school (eg for SATs) then she would not normally be entitled. If you have got an ed psych report saying she should have it, then the school should be implementing this in her everyday work. If her progress is going well, you could put her in under normal time and then use the dyspraxia etc as part of an appeal, if needed. If she gets extra time and then needs to go to appeal, you may find that they will have been deemed to "meet her requirements" with the extra time.

[Sunshine 11]

If she gets extra time and then needs to go to appeal, you may find that they will have been deemed to "meet her requirements" with the extra time.

Yes. Interesting point kenyancowgirl ! Thanks for the comment

[rockyroads]

My DD is dyspraxic and did well in the eleven plus and is starting grammar school in Sept. We are in Warks and she sat the CEM test.

We were offered the opportunity to have extra time but decided against it. The LEA advised us to still include all the information when applying and we could have used it if an appeal was necessary. They were very helpful so it may be worth asking their advice.

She did the test in normal time as she wanted to be in the hall with her friends who were taking it!

We did phone the school where she was going to sit the test a week before so that the surroundings weren't strange which did help relax her.

Our school had also noticed that her spatial maths was below the rest of her maths at school which is apparently quite common in dypraxic children and this was refelected in her non verbal reasoning so keep an eye on that.

Wishing you good luck for the exam and please pm me or post on the forum if I can be of help.

[Sunshine 11]

Thanks rockyroads, that's great to hear Good advice x