Trafford appeal

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Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Trafford appeal

Post by Etienne »

i'm finding the whole process quite intimidating
You are not alone! :)

I think everyone finds the process intimidating.
Etienne
Cupcake
Posts: 68
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:13 pm

Re: Trafford appeal

Post by Cupcake »

Well we were not successful at our appeal. The letter stated that the internal review had been carried out, our Dc's creative writing (a 20 minute part of the exam given after the first 2 papers) was not of a standard to be recommend and therefore a reviewed pass was not given. The panel considered what we said but didn't seen any reason to overturn the decision of the internal review. We didn't contend the FCO argument as it was mentioned in the school's case briefly and there was no real attempt to try to prove FCO, the panel didn't mention it or ask any questions about it at all. We concentrated on presenting our academic evidence and extenuating circumstances but it was clearly a wasted exercise. It would seem if your DC has gone through a review process the appeal is little more than going through the motions.

Moving on now but for anyone going through an appeal in the future they need to be aware that the focus has to be on trying to disprove FCO first otherwise all the supporting evidence in the world will not make any difference.
Cupcake
Posts: 68
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:13 pm

Re: Trafford appeal

Post by Cupcake »

I wondered if I could get some opinions on the appeal process as we experienced it as regards the internal review proces and Fair, Consistent and Objective.

Prior to our appeal I did read a lot on the FOC on this forum. I can see that in areas other than Trafford this has become a big issue as it now clearly is here. In other areas the governors case go to some lengths to defend the review and establish FOC and indeed the reviews seem quite in depth. I also interpret that in some cases a review is not compulsory.

In this case the review is done automatically, you do not even know your DC has fallen into the review group until you receive the results letter which tells you it was carried out and they did or did not raise the DC's score to a reviewed pass. You are not told at that point that the fact that the review has been done severely limits the scope of any subsequent appeal.

The review itself is simply a review of the papers from the exam and an assesment of the creative writing that I mentioned previously. They write to the DC head teacher for a written submission but this is little more than requesting projected SATS for yr 6 and any previous NFER scores. There is no commentary allowed.

At the appeal the schools case mentions the review was carried out and the exam mark was not raised to a reviewed pass. There was no effort to prove FOC and, in contrast with comments here that any panel worth it's salt should ask the school to prove FOC as its not the parents job to do this, they never mentioned it or raised it at all.

Parents have spent a lot of time and effort preparing for this and really it feels like evidence of academic ability or extenuating circumstances were irrelevant as there was an automatic exceptance of the review. If my and other DC's had scored lower and been outside of the automatic review the panel would have had to listen to the other evidence

Sorry this is somewhat lengthy but I am left feeling like we, with other parents, were quietly manoeuvered into this position of not getting access to a fair appeal.
Alex
Posts: 1097
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Re: Trafford appeal

Post by Alex »

Cupcake wrote: The letter stated that the internal review had been carried out, our Dc's creative writing (a 20 minute part of the exam given after the first 2 papers) was not of a standard to be recommend and therefore a reviewed pass was not given. The panel considered what we said but didn't seen any reason to overturn the decision of the internal review. .
I do not think it is absolutely clear what actually took place. It could be interpreted that "didn't see any reason to overturn the decision of the internal review" means that they considered the academic evidence and then came to that conclusion or that they did not consider the academic evidence because they considered the Review had been carried out properly (in a FCO way).

I think if you were to send a copy of the decision letter to the Appeals Box someone would cast an expert eye over it and advise further.
Cupcake
Posts: 68
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:13 pm

Re: Trafford appeal

Post by Cupcake »

Many thanks Alex I will do that.
Cupcake
Posts: 68
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:13 pm

Re: Trafford appeal

Post by Cupcake »

I have sent a copy of the decision letter to the appeals box
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Trafford appeal

Post by Etienne »

Hello, Cupcake

Alex and I have discussed the decision letter, and are inclined to think it meets legal requirements.

It does state that the review was FCO, but it looks as if para. 3.13b of the Code (which says that no other matters will be considered if there's already been a 'fair, consistent & objective' review) was not in practice used, since the panel apparently did go on to consider your case.

You could try to get hold of the clerk's notes which might possibly shed more light on what happened. We'd be willing to check them for you to see if everything appears to have been done correctly.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals/ombudsman#d4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The instinctive reaction of some admission authorities is to refuse the notes, but our previous experience is that the Information Commissioner would (eventually) insist that you are allowed access.

There is, I'm afraid, no guarantee as to how detailed the clerk's notes are, or what they might reveal.
Etienne
Cupcake
Posts: 68
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:13 pm

Re: Trafford appeal

Post by Cupcake »

Many thanks Etienne and Alex for the taking the time to look at my decision letter.

Your answer reassures me and I am relieved its all over and we can move forwards and be grateful our DS is going to a great school even if it isn't what he wanted initially. I know he is grateful to us for doing the appeal, he knows we really fought for him and that has been very valuable in helping him to handle his disappointment.
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