Is it worth appealing?

twiggs · Post by **twiggs** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:20 am

Thanks everyone for your kind and realistic words nice to have honesty and support. We are under no illusions we wil have a go at the appeal process but we know its high probability of a no no. Having looked at this site there is the option of entrance exams but when that time comes he might be happier where he is, so we will see. We had not prepared ourselves for the depth of emotion we are currently experiencing, however he was not the only one in our school who didnt make the grade only a very few passed anyway. And we understand now that there are more passes than places, so some people that have children that have passed will experience this disappointment come allocation day in march. At least we can get that over and done with now. We will go ahead with our appeal but only because the ht so felt so strongly about it. To all who are in the same boat as me go for it what have you got to lose. You cant help thinking though if only we had got him a tutor but hindsight aye great thing good luck for all you. and Tracy special message to you, "The show is not over until the fat lady sings" keep fighting i think you case is probably more deserving than ours good luck

dadofkent · Post by **dadofkent** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:02 am

twiggs wrote:Thanks everyone for your kind and realistic words nice to have honesty and support. We are under no illusions we wil have a go at the appeal process but we know its high probability of a no no. Having looked at this site there is the option of entrance exams but when that time comes he might be happier where he is, so we will see. We had not prepared ourselves for the depth of emotion we are currently experiencing, however he was not the only one in our school who didnt make the grade only a very few passed anyway. And we understand now that there are more passes than places, so some people that have children that have passed will experience this disappointment come allocation day in march. At least we can get that over and done with now. We will go ahead with our appeal but only because the ht so felt so strongly about it. To all who are in the same boat as me go for it what have you got to lose. You cant help thinking though if only we had got him a tutor but hindsight aye great thing good luck for all you. and Tracy special message to you, "The show is not over until the fat lady sings" keep fighting i think you case is probably more deserving than ours good luck

What also happened last year is that after allocation, Medway invited further applicants to take the Medway test between about May and August, to help fill empty GS seats in Medway. May not happen this year because I think there were many more out of area pupils taking the test. Maybe worth keeping a watch out next year for a similar process if it is an option to you.

Blakesmum · Post by **Blakesmum** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 7:17 pm

My sister got through on appeal with a 109 maths score. and EXPECTED 5 on sats maths. she had been having trouble with her maths!!!

Mitigating circumstances were my nan dying in july, and that my sis spent a lot of time staying with me and freinds whilst my mum cared for nan. Therefore her school work suffered.

So yes go for it.

Ogremum · Post by **Ogremum** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 7:48 pm

Admissions remarked dd's math test for me - you never know!! They were very quick and I spoke to them today, it's all correct but hey - was worth a go!
SHe was really really supportive of dd and her ability and said to appeal

Tracy · Post by **Tracy** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 8:10 pm

Blakesmum, that's quite low, what were the other marks if you don't mind me asking?

Blakesmum · Post by **Blakesmum** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 8:49 pm

Erm in the mid 120's i think. I cant remember for sure. She was 1 of the youngest in class.

My DS got through on HT appeal this year with 133, 126 and 109 in maths too, ..but he has a lot if maths evidence.

With my sis HT appeal they said no, as her work was to young. By the time it went to appeal she had matured alot and that was evident.
Where my DS is 9th sept, and after going to parents evening last week even i was stunned at the quality of his work.

Tracy · Post by **Tracy** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 8:40 pm

Thanks Blakesmum, the maths score is similar to my dd's and she has SO much evidence to support her maths. She's one of the youngest in her year.

What I hadn't considered is that at the time of the appeals, her work would be a lot better, it's already fantastic but it's her attiude to work that is iffy,

, having had 6 months to mature.

But our caf has gone in, the deadline being 23/10. I'm happy if she gets choices 1 or 2, but failing that, does anyone know how you go about appealing to a school that's not on your caf? It's normally undersubscribed.

jingle · Post by **jingle** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:53 am

Hello Tracy, Am so sorry you are in this position. How are you and your daughter?
Don't know much about appealing to schools not on your caf, but there is lots of info in the kent 2010 admissions booklet on page 24 about it. KCC can SOMETIMES be helpful to contact.
Am thinking of you both and hoping for a positive outcome to this.

Post by **Etienne** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:58 pm

does anyone know how you go about appealing to a school that's not on your caf? It's normally undersubscribed.

As far as I know, it depends when the local authority will allow applications to schools not listed on the CAF. In Kent I think this is after 31st March. Don't know about Bexley.

If the school is undersubscribed anyway, then there shouldn't be a problem once you apply.

Technically, you have to apply for a school, and be refused, in order to appeal for that school.

Tracy · Post by **Tracy** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:38 pm

Thanks Jingle and Etienne,

Well we've kind of settled into the results, other parents with strange results will know exactly where we are coming from.

Having sat both Bexley and Kent and got nonselective decisions twice, you would tend to think that 'that is that'.

We have been thinking for a while now that dd2 might actually be better off in a good comp, and she'd probably do very well there.

But guess who's made a leap in maturity? And too late.
Her work at school, since she took the 11+s, has gone from very good to excellent and the attitude and maturity is unrecognisable. I've a feeling that bringing those tests forward discriminates against those who are able but immature.

But it really didn't occur to me that by the time the appeals would come through that I'd could almost be talking about a different child.

I think that maybe, for the time being, I'll wait to see what news the caf brings. If we get prefs 1or 2, then that'll be great and she'll do well at either. But by March I could have a stronger 'grammar candidate' on my hands, she's already saying she's bored at school.

What makes me think that something's not right is that there's another 12 easy in the school that should have passed, so she's not alone. How can they all by grammar material in some people's eyes one day, yet the next they're not. Just very strange.

As it's not superselectives we're after, I'll just keep an eye on the situation and reassess in March.