Just missed the pass mark
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Just missed the pass mark
Help. We recieved our letter of failure to pass this week,& were understandably upset. Our son missed by one point on each exam ! He is a consistant high acheiver at primary level. We are out of catchment for the GS,but are were,& still are, willing to move literally onto the schools doorstep if it will help ! As we are out of catchment,he received no 11plus preparation from his present school,simply the practice papers we purchased for home use.We thought about private tuition,but it was beyond our means financially.We are now playing the 'what if' game & blaming ourselves for not doing more-hindsight is a wonderful thing !
His class teacher is prepared to give us all the help she can if we decide to appeal. However from reading through this site for hours appealing sounds like an extremely daunting process. From reading on here,I'd like to ask,does Lincolnshire have a Headmasters appeal process,if so how likely is it to suceed ? It is also a long time to wait until March to begin the appeal process,is there anythiing I can do now. All & any advice would be helpful. Our local comprehensive is dreadful,& I feel we would be selling him short if he had to go there. Should we appeal ? HELP !
His class teacher is prepared to give us all the help she can if we decide to appeal. However from reading through this site for hours appealing sounds like an extremely daunting process. From reading on here,I'd like to ask,does Lincolnshire have a Headmasters appeal process,if so how likely is it to suceed ? It is also a long time to wait until March to begin the appeal process,is there anythiing I can do now. All & any advice would be helpful. Our local comprehensive is dreadful,& I feel we would be selling him short if he had to go there. Should we appeal ? HELP !
Hi sallyj,
So sorry you have had bad news. One of the consequences of giving the results of the 11+ earlier than scheduled for this year (to allow cross border candidates with an earlier return date for their Common Application Forms to have the results before choosing schools) has been that very few schools have managed to do the informal "headteachers' appeals" process. This means that quite a few borderline misses who might have got through under this system will now be in the formal appeals system after March allocations. I am assuming that you know from your primary head that there were no "HT's appeals" in the school that marked your papers. The knock on effect is, of course, that schools which are generally oversubscribed will have filled all their places in March and the appeals for these ones will be against oversubscrition as well as non-qualification which inevitably makes it a harder task to get through.
A lot of the questions about chances at appeal are impossible to answer without knowing a bit more about what school you wish to go to and where you live as success rates at appeal do vary quite widely. Lincolnshire schools do not have catchment areas as such, though some do give priority to applicants in certain areas. Again, the chances of getting in for a greater distance vary a lot between schools.
Were the Grammar School made aware that your child had Tourette's before he took the tests? Did he take them at the Grammar School or in his own primary school? Does he receive any particular help in the primary school setting? Did he find difficulty with the test situation? Was there any information given from the school about what to do if your child had a disability or Special Educational needs which might affect them in the test situation? There are certainly children with Tourette's who have taken 11+ before in the County and who have been to appeal. There is or was also a nurse specialist for Tourette's who does or did go into schools and give advice both in general and for particular children if asked. She is not employed by the county - I think she was associated with the Tourette's Association - can find out if she is still around.
I am appalled that a school should tell you so blatantly that your son would not be welcomed - this is disability discrimination and the school should be tackled on it.
I have sent you a PM.
So sorry you have had bad news. One of the consequences of giving the results of the 11+ earlier than scheduled for this year (to allow cross border candidates with an earlier return date for their Common Application Forms to have the results before choosing schools) has been that very few schools have managed to do the informal "headteachers' appeals" process. This means that quite a few borderline misses who might have got through under this system will now be in the formal appeals system after March allocations. I am assuming that you know from your primary head that there were no "HT's appeals" in the school that marked your papers. The knock on effect is, of course, that schools which are generally oversubscribed will have filled all their places in March and the appeals for these ones will be against oversubscrition as well as non-qualification which inevitably makes it a harder task to get through.
A lot of the questions about chances at appeal are impossible to answer without knowing a bit more about what school you wish to go to and where you live as success rates at appeal do vary quite widely. Lincolnshire schools do not have catchment areas as such, though some do give priority to applicants in certain areas. Again, the chances of getting in for a greater distance vary a lot between schools.
Were the Grammar School made aware that your child had Tourette's before he took the tests? Did he take them at the Grammar School or in his own primary school? Does he receive any particular help in the primary school setting? Did he find difficulty with the test situation? Was there any information given from the school about what to do if your child had a disability or Special Educational needs which might affect them in the test situation? There are certainly children with Tourette's who have taken 11+ before in the County and who have been to appeal. There is or was also a nurse specialist for Tourette's who does or did go into schools and give advice both in general and for particular children if asked. She is not employed by the county - I think she was associated with the Tourette's Association - can find out if she is still around.
I am appalled that a school should tell you so blatantly that your son would not be welcomed - this is disability discrimination and the school should be tackled on it.
I have sent you a PM.
