Maladministration?
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:49 pm
Hi,
Having failed the appeal for our local Girls Grammar School we are considering contacting the Ombudsman on maladministration grounds. The panel, stated that their decisions would not be quick and that none would be made until all cases had been heared. This would be at least 4 working days due to the sheer volume of cases (very high with 2 extra days awarded for hearings). Our friends (who thankfully passed) were told at their hearing on the last day that it would take at least 7 working days until they would recieve the news. However as if by majic they decided within a day and a half ! We are certain that they simply passed those nearest to the 11+ required scores to fill the schools available places, which is not the purpose of appeals as a computer could do that. We believe that they did not allow for the evidence from our Primary school Headteacher. He stated in his supporting letter that our daughter's 11+ results were a disappointment, did not reflect her true ability, that she is working to the required standard with level 5's in all SATS revision papers, and would make good use of a place at the school.However we know that children have passed the appeal with level 4's and 5's. We also believe the mitigating circumstances were dismissed entirely as they weren't prepared to take the time or effort to fully appreciate their value in our case or how and why they affected our daughters performance over the 11+ period. The types of questions they asked in regard to this were very basic, not allowing for proper explanation and this is because in reality they weren't interested.Whilst answering questions raised we also noticed panel members reading information in our submitted evidence (pages not relevant to the question we were answering) and this means that at times they were clearly not listening to important evidence. We were very disheartened by our meeting with them particularly as the LEA and the Grammar School have treated us with the utmost respect and courtesy at all times. We expected full attention to our case by the panel both during the hearing and in their decision making process and this clearly did not happen. We would appreciate any views on this. Many Thanks.
Having failed the appeal for our local Girls Grammar School we are considering contacting the Ombudsman on maladministration grounds. The panel, stated that their decisions would not be quick and that none would be made until all cases had been heared. This would be at least 4 working days due to the sheer volume of cases (very high with 2 extra days awarded for hearings). Our friends (who thankfully passed) were told at their hearing on the last day that it would take at least 7 working days until they would recieve the news. However as if by majic they decided within a day and a half ! We are certain that they simply passed those nearest to the 11+ required scores to fill the schools available places, which is not the purpose of appeals as a computer could do that. We believe that they did not allow for the evidence from our Primary school Headteacher. He stated in his supporting letter that our daughter's 11+ results were a disappointment, did not reflect her true ability, that she is working to the required standard with level 5's in all SATS revision papers, and would make good use of a place at the school.However we know that children have passed the appeal with level 4's and 5's. We also believe the mitigating circumstances were dismissed entirely as they weren't prepared to take the time or effort to fully appreciate their value in our case or how and why they affected our daughters performance over the 11+ period. The types of questions they asked in regard to this were very basic, not allowing for proper explanation and this is because in reality they weren't interested.Whilst answering questions raised we also noticed panel members reading information in our submitted evidence (pages not relevant to the question we were answering) and this means that at times they were clearly not listening to important evidence. We were very disheartened by our meeting with them particularly as the LEA and the Grammar School have treated us with the utmost respect and courtesy at all times. We expected full attention to our case by the panel both during the hearing and in their decision making process and this clearly did not happen. We would appreciate any views on this. Many Thanks.