LGO
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Hi, LFH
Very sorry to hear of the provisional finding (not totally unexpected), and that the clerk's notes did not throw up anything really helpful.
I'm afraid the ombudsman cannot query the panel's judgement. If they took a particular view of school work, or of extenuating circumstances, even if he disagrees, he cannot intervene unless the judgement is based on misinformation (e.g. the wrong SATs predictions), so it's best not to go down that road.
The notes are not going to be verbatim, but they should be sufficient to show the ombudsman that the correct procedures were followed and that the panel considered the key issues. The ombudsman is well used to disagreements about what was said at the hearing. I feel sure you're right when you say you weren't asked if you had had enough time, and my guess is that the clerk (writing up the notes later on) was on autopilot - but proving this is another matter.
BTW, did you get any sort of ruling about whether it was acceptable for the notes to be taken in shorthand and written up later?
As far as I can interpret, I suspect the ombudsman thinks that things were not done as well as they should have been, but is not convinced that the decision of this panel would have been any different.
If I were you, I confess I'd be sorely tempted to write back and point out any inaccuracies, but I think you'll probably get a comment along the lines that "recollections of exactly what was and wasn't said during the course of a hearing often vary".
To be honest, once a provisional finding has been given, it's very difficult to shift the ombudsman, unless you can produce significant new evidence about what happened.
Even though you were more or less prepared for this outcome, I do understand how very distressing it must be. I hope that one good thing may emerge - namely that appeals at St.B's will be somewhat better run in future. If so, it will be thanks to your courage in pursuing a complaint. You may not have gained anything - other than knowing that you have done absolutely everything possible - but others in future might.
Very sorry to hear of the provisional finding (not totally unexpected), and that the clerk's notes did not throw up anything really helpful.
I'm afraid the ombudsman cannot query the panel's judgement. If they took a particular view of school work, or of extenuating circumstances, even if he disagrees, he cannot intervene unless the judgement is based on misinformation (e.g. the wrong SATs predictions), so it's best not to go down that road.
The notes are not going to be verbatim, but they should be sufficient to show the ombudsman that the correct procedures were followed and that the panel considered the key issues. The ombudsman is well used to disagreements about what was said at the hearing. I feel sure you're right when you say you weren't asked if you had had enough time, and my guess is that the clerk (writing up the notes later on) was on autopilot - but proving this is another matter.
BTW, did you get any sort of ruling about whether it was acceptable for the notes to be taken in shorthand and written up later?
As far as I can interpret, I suspect the ombudsman thinks that things were not done as well as they should have been, but is not convinced that the decision of this panel would have been any different.
If I were you, I confess I'd be sorely tempted to write back and point out any inaccuracies, but I think you'll probably get a comment along the lines that "recollections of exactly what was and wasn't said during the course of a hearing often vary".
To be honest, once a provisional finding has been given, it's very difficult to shift the ombudsman, unless you can produce significant new evidence about what happened.
Even though you were more or less prepared for this outcome, I do understand how very distressing it must be. I hope that one good thing may emerge - namely that appeals at St.B's will be somewhat better run in future. If so, it will be thanks to your courage in pursuing a complaint. You may not have gained anything - other than knowing that you have done absolutely everything possible - but others in future might.
Etienne
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I think that you are right Etienne, I should throw in the towel.
However the whole process has been an eye opener to me - in no other walk of life would such important decisions be left to people who really don't know the business they are supposed to be in. The chair gave me a mental maths paper back, all marked correctly as 20/20 and said, I don't think you want us to see that it doesn't help your case.
Anyway thank you very much for all your help, I am off now to lick my wounds and figure out what it is I want for my son.
Best wishes,
LFH
However the whole process has been an eye opener to me - in no other walk of life would such important decisions be left to people who really don't know the business they are supposed to be in. The chair gave me a mental maths paper back, all marked correctly as 20/20 and said, I don't think you want us to see that it doesn't help your case.
Anyway thank you very much for all your help, I am off now to lick my wounds and figure out what it is I want for my son.
Best wishes,
LFH
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Looking for help
- Posts: 3767
- Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:12 am
- Location: Berkshire
Hello again, I'm still trying...
Well we have written back to LGO. Once we thoroughly read the letter from the LGO we noticed that they had not understood the evidence that we had given them.
Etienne, you said above that there are very few cases where the LGO has changed their findings from their initial conclusions. Do you have any statistics on this?
Thanks
LFH
Well we have written back to LGO. Once we thoroughly read the letter from the LGO we noticed that they had not understood the evidence that we had given them.
Etienne, you said above that there are very few cases where the LGO has changed their findings from their initial conclusions. Do you have any statistics on this?
Thanks
LFH
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Looking for help
- Posts: 3767
- Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:12 am
- Location: Berkshire
-
Looking for help
- Posts: 3767
- Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:12 am
- Location: Berkshire
-
Looking for help
- Posts: 3767
- Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:12 am
- Location: Berkshire
