Should I Appeal?

[Worried Mum]

That's great Etienne, thanks. It does help having done it before too, at least we know what to expect.

I spoke to "admissions" last week and they told me to put GS as third choice as it wouldn't make much difference being as it would be turned down anyway?? Then we could appeal. Would the appeal panel see the choices I make?

It helps knowing the class teacher, he actually taught my son in y4 as well and had him on all level 4's by the end of term. Would it go in my favour that the school has been placed in special measures recently?

[Etienne]

I spoke to "admissions" last week and they told me to put GS as third choice as it wouldn't make much difference being as it would be turned down anyway?? Then we could appeal.

I can understand the point that Admissions were making (if you're not qualified, you're not going to be offered a place anyway), but equally - if the grammar school is ideally your top preference - you've absolutely nothing to lose by putting it first! All the LA will be doing for 1st March is working its way down your list to find the highest preference at which you can be offered a place. You will not be disadvantaged as a result of your 1st (or any other) preference being unavailable, because from the point of view of Admissions each preference is of equal weight and importance.

Would the appeal panel see the choices I make?

One can't be sure. If it's a LA appeal panel, then it's very likely. If it's a foundation school or academy appeal panel, it's uncertain - they might get the information from Admissions.
The advantage of putting the GS first is that at an appeal you don't have to worry about what the panel may or may not know. You can look them straight in the eye and can truthfully say "We put this school first on our CAF, even though we knew our son hadn't qualified, because we were following the advice that schools should always be listed in the true order of preference. This is the school we've always wanted and are totally committed to, and we very much hope you will find today that there is sufficient evidence for our son to be deemed qualified!"

Would it go in my favour that the school has been placed in special measures recently?

It's worth a brief mention that, what your son has achieved in the curriculum, has been despite the difficult time the school has been going through.

[Worried Mum]

OK, so if I put GS first, then our next obvious choice won't be jeopardised? It's a newly built, vastly improving school which is virtually on our doorstep!

One of the Ofsted points was that children were not making expected progress and I do feel strongly that my son was one of these, his maths is fine at 4A, but he is still on 4B for reading and writing, when these were his stronger subjects, he left year 4 with 4C maths, 4B reading and 4B writing.

[Etienne]

OK, so if I put GS first, then our next obvious choice won't be jeopardised?

No, it can't be.

See Mitasol's careful explanation in this thread:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 30&t=22726" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Worried Mum]

Thanks Etienne, I've had a read!

To be honest, I don't really think we stand a chance, but if we don't try we will always wonder. I'll submit my application this evening then I can try to forget about it for a few months!

Thanks for all your help.

[U400JB9]

We appealed successfully, using the fact the school was in special measures as our main argument.
Read the OFSTED carefully.....ours specifically stated the year 4 & 5 children were being failed by the school in maths. She failed on the maths paper.

The GS we apealed to were very interested, asked alot of questions, even said what she had achieved, under the circumstances, was excellent.

IF you can find anything specific in the OFSTED to support your appeal I`d highlight it. We were very fortunate as the HT also wrote a letter saying the school had failed DD1 in maths and she had no doubt this had affected her score. the HT was accepting full resposibility though and resigned.......if the HT at your school is staying they may not be so keen to say so.

[Worried Mum]

Thanks U400JB9, that sounds encouraging, I'll read the report again and see if I can find anything specific. I was told at my son's consultation last week that although he's doing well, he hadn't made the expected progress, which I believe is one of the school's failings. He should have been on level 5's by now if his progress had been as consistent as it had been up until year 5.

He did actually fail TWO papers though, so probably not as strong a case as your's, even though he met the 360 threshold.

I haven't heard anything about the future of the HT but I doubt I'd get support if they didn't appeal for him in the first place. I do have very good school reports right through for him showing good progress, up until Y5 but I guess I'll be going it alone!

[Worried Mum]

Just had another read, although there's nothing specific in mentioning Y5, there are several comments regarding pupils not reaching expected levels, I feel that he's been let down by this...

"Pupils leave school with low attainment in English and mathematics. This means that they are not adequately prepared for their next stage of education. The quality of teaching is inadequate overall. While there is some effective teaching which motivates pupils, there is too much which is satisfactory, and this is insufficient to accelerate pupils' progress in order for them to reach the standards of attainment that they are capable of achieving".

"As a result, too many pupils do not have the skills needed to be successful in their next stage of education".

[T12ACY]

My reaction from the comments in Ofsted report, and also from your comment:

HT didn't appeal as they couldn't provide a strong enough case with two scores being below 119.

is this. The HT will have been aware of the lack of progress the school has achieved and are probably right they couldn't provide a strong case. In fact I would include this in my appeal, the HT acknowledged further the lack of progress evident and was not in a position to appeal on the basis of these failings by the teaching standards. (this would need careful wording, and I have quite probably not worded it in a suitable way)

If the primary school will support your appeal and DC makes very good progress over the coming months which you can evidence I think you have a good chance at appeal, but add again much of your success will depend on the type of appeal (arguing against both oversubscription and non qualification is very hard with one failed KT let alone 2), and a reasonable panel. It is possible to achieve a GS with 2 failed papers, we did, so I really would put my all in to it but also be realistic. An appeal consumes your whole life and it's hard to take when the panel don't see what you are trying very hard to explain, that the school is right for your child. It's not all about GS status but also that the particular school is right. This is where I felt the most confident, at the second appeal when being able to get across the school was what DS wanted (not what I wanted and not only because it was a GS). The specialist status they held was perfectly matched for his interests and skills, evidenced of course. You've done it before so at least have experience of what to expect and that is a benefit imo.

Lots of time for improvement in grades and also to collate lots of good evidence

[Worried Mum]

Thanks T12ACY, I can see what you're saying. It's not going to be easy and I think we'll be very much "on our own" with this. I had very little support last time apart from level 5 predictions from class teacher, but as his scores were very close it seemed to be enough, the panel were very understanding and reasonable they were actually more interested in his school reports and his personality which is odd! So we were fortunate.

It's not the end of the world if it doesn't work out but I feel he's been let down over the last year.

I've put GS as first choice so he should get his next option if all else fails.

Thanks for your help.