Bham appeal for non qualification

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houseful
Posts: 69
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:40 pm

Bham appeal for non qualification

Post by houseful »

New to the forum so advice would be greatly appreciated.

DD missed out on Sutton Girls by 5 points and Handsworth by 7.
Grounds for appeal.
1.During summer family went through temporary separation. Lived in one bed room with 4 kids. Children very unsettled.
2. Grandfather very ill, getting worse from October onwards. DD distressed cause she understood he was coming to end of his time. Passed away in December.

Have letter from GP who agrees that she probably underpreformed due to anxiety and stress.
Head Teacher putting together letter confirming family breakup and academic evidence Maths expected 5b/5a. Literacy 4a/5c. On gift and talented register for Maths.

Do I have any hope of success??

All comments would be greatly appreciated
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Bham appeal for non qualification

Post by Etienne »

Welcome.

For general advice see:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 35&t=15025" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(scroll down to 13a)

If the school will be oversubscribed, 13b is also relevant.

You clearly have extenuating circumstances, but is there any evidence that they affected school work?

The range of academic evidence is usually important. See:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... cation#b11

Appeals can be unpredictable, and it's very difficult to assess your chances. People with local knowledge may be able to advise you about the previous success rate for appeals to these schools.
Etienne
fm

Re: Bham appeal for non qualification

Post by fm »

The number of admission appeals pursued to a final hearing was 84 compared to 96 in the previous year. Three appeals were allowed (five in the previous year).

Kenr has already posted this in reference to the King Edward schools. This refers to successful appeals for ALL of the King Edward's. So, statistically you have a 3% chance.

You have, however, more supporting evidence of reasons for underachievement than many appellants would have.

As far as academic evidence goes, many children with similar Sats levels will have failed to gain a place at a KE, there being such a limited number of places and the schools being open to any child within travelling distance of Birmingham. I think they would also argue that what they are testing in the exam does not really correlate with Sats levels. I have certainly had one or two pupils with similar Sats level who have failed due to lack of speed or lack of vocabulary which is not a requisite for doing well in Sats.

As to the G and T register, I am not sure how much weight that would carry either. As far as I understand it, children don't have to be at a standard to be on it--just be one of the best at their school.

What I don't know is the appeals procedure for Sutton Girls and the likelihood of success there. I would certainly do some investigation as to whether Sutton will be holding their own appeals or will be leaving it to the KE consortium. If they are doing it separately, then that would mean two different appeals for Sutton and Handsworth.

By all means pursue it if you have the energy and commitment to put together a strong, coherent case, but try to remain realistic about your chances. It is a very longshot.
thelight
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:53 am

Re: Bham appeal for non qualification

Post by thelight »

hi sorry to hear but your DD grandfather. it must have been a hard time for you all.

if fm is correct (which she usually is) then 3% chance of winning an appeal is better than 0%. i would appeal as you seem to have some good grounds of appeal with everything that was happening around of the time of the exams.

my DS was 3 marks of for Bishop vesey and i am appealing as i beleive that he is grammar school material. i am not pinning my hopes on the appeal though, however if i dont try then i wont know. they have already said no so what else can they say? im not telling my DS that i am appealing, it is up to you if you decide to tell your DD however it might just upset her again if the appeal doesnt work out.

i think the more evidence you have the more of a chance you have. i hope that you get through this difficult time and that if you decide to appeal i hope that you are successful.
houseful
Posts: 69
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:40 pm

Re: Bham appeal for non qualification

Post by houseful »

Many thanks for all the advice. Greatly appreciated.

Should I take along school work/ exercise books as evidence?

Confused about highlighting a drop in performance at school, will this not work against her?

Thelight. Thanks for the encouraging words. Hope you all the best in your appeal.
hermanmunster
Posts: 12815
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Bham appeal for non qualification

Post by hermanmunster »

Hi Houseful - the panel will want to see evidence that she is of high acedemic ability, however she did not show this in the exam for one reason or another.

If you are saying that it is due to the family upset then a panel would expect to hear that her overall work / levels dropped around about the time of all this happening.

If there is no change at all and the only surprise result was the 11 plus then they may wonder why the other work was not affected too by the events.
houseful
Posts: 69
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:40 pm

Re: Bham appeal for non qualification

Post by houseful »

Appeal date has come through for end of May.

Slightly confused :? in regards to basis of appeal. Is it a non-qualification appeal or over subscription? Can it be both? DD is on waiting list for both schools and both schools are referring to over subscription. I however need to argue that dd underperformed and thus failed to gain automatic entry.

Evidence collated to date includes:
* a letter from the Head confirming the difficult situation at home
* a letter from the GP giving his opinion (having seen DD diary entries) that she was suffering from anxiety and stress at the time with this impacting on performace.
* letter signed by both Yr 6 teachers confirming high ability / potential . They refer to her SATs targets as being 5c / 4a but state that she has often produced excellent work exceeding these targets in all areas. They state it was clearly evident that the circumstances at home were impacting on her schoolwork. Her attitude to work also changed and she became distant. They close the letter my stating that circumstances have had a profound effect on her and it was easy to see why her work suffered so much during this period.

Should I take along examples of work?
The schools I am appealing for were actually 2nd and 3rd choices on my preference form. Will the panel be aware of this and will it have an impact on my case?
I will be facing two different panels for each appeal. Will the panels be aware that I have submitted 2 appeals?

I intend to hightlight my case in the following format:
Reasons for wanting the school - highlighting our experience from the open day
DDs academic ability / potential - referring to letter from YR 6 teachers.
Extenuating circumstance - referring to GP, HT and Yr 6 teachers letter as evidence that dd under performed thus not successful in getting higher mark for automatic entry.

Any advice at this stage will be greatly appreciated
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Bham appeal for non qualification

Post by Etienne »

houseful wrote:Slightly confused :? in regards to basis of appeal. Is it a non-qualification appeal or over subscription? Can it be both?
It can certainly cover two things:
  • 1. not reaching the minimum qualifying score, or (if score is one of the admission criteria) not reaching a score high enough to gain a place
    and
    2. explaining why you want a place, even though the school is oversubscribed

DD is on waiting list for both schools and both schools are referring to over subscription. I however need to argue that dd underperformed and thus failed to gain automatic entry.
If the schools are oversubscribed, you also need to put forward a strong case explaining why you want or need a place.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... -school#c2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Should I take along examples of work?
See the Q&As, B11i & Note 1:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... cation#b11" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The schools I am appealing for were actually 2nd and 3rd choices on my preference form. Will the panel be aware of this and will it have an impact on my case?
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... es#p239328
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... es#p237071
I will be facing two different panels for each appeal. Will the panels be aware that I have submitted 2 appeals?
Probably not, although it's just possible someone could be serving on both panels, and could be scheduled for both these appeals. Dejavu faced this situation, but still managed to win both her appeals. She writes about her experience in the feedback section. Follow the link contained within this post:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... vu#p230842
Any advice at this stage will be greatly appreciated
You've a lot to get through, but try not to speak for too long (5-10 minutes would be fine). What matters is the evidence, and ideally the evidence should speak for itself. If the panel want to know more, let them ask questions about those matters they wish to pursue.
Etienne
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