Drawing to a close?

Guest7 · Post by **Guest7** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 8:07 pm

Succinctly put Maggie. Well done.

Post by **Etienne** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 8:16 pm

When the system changed to distance rather than score, there were certainly some upset parents who would have got their first choice grammar school under the old system, but didn't under the new, whose comments made clear they thought they themselves ought to have been given preference as "first class citizens".

In my view, if you've qualified via the 11+ or via an appeal, you're qualified .....

I think things have settled down now.

I'm sure Sally-Anne didn't mean it that way.

Guest55 · Post by **Guest55** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 8:30 pm

I agree with Etienne - I'm sure Sally-Anne didn't mean it like that.

I have also commented elsewhere that the nightmare students at a Grammar were those who came in with VR 141 who thought this meant they didn't need to work!

The most successful students tended to have 3 level 5s - the VR really wasn't important it was attitude to work and benefiting from the excellent [not my opinion - Ofsted's] teaching.

Mary · Post by **Mary** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:24 pm

I'm in an area where score does matter. The higher the score the more chance you have of getting into the local grammar school. We have no option of appealing on score but may appeal after places have been allocated - we really are at the bottom of the barrel. Shouldn't there be a national policy? It's all laughable really - well, it would be if we weren't dealing with our children's future.

Sally-Anne · Post by **Sally-Anne** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 10:48 pm

There is no national policy because the government prefers to pretend that Grammar Schools, and their attendant success, do not exist.

To put it bluntly!

Sally-Anne

Sally-Anne · Post by **Sally-Anne** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 10:57 pm

Hi Maggie - I missed your earlier post.

I'm sure you don't mean it that way but using the word 'usurped' makes it sound like the (hypothetical) child who got 141 has more right to the place than the successful appellant! Since the places aren't allocated until all the appeals have been heard, a child who passed the 11+ doesn't actually have a place at a school at this time. Having your appeal accepted means that the panel consider your child to be suitable for grammar school, just like a child who passed the test. Surely no one would resent a 'appeal' child having a place or consider they were less deserving in some way?

Absolutely - some quotation marks should have gone around the word "usurped" in that instance! Up too late (although not as late as Etienne) and trying to answer too many posts in a hurry.

However, a wry thought. I for one would have been very glad to "usurp" a place from an out-of-county child (as we live on one of the borders of Bucks) if my son's Appeal had been successful! But that just isn't how the system works.

Sally-Anne