Advice re review

[Amber]

Here is the link in full:
https://apps2.buckscc.gov.uk/ecommerce/ ... Admissions

If you click on it, it ought to work!

Clicked on this out of curiosity. Wow. Slick. Nice little earner eh? Add remark to your shopping cart...what has become of us?

[Marylou]

I know - I thought the same thing when I saw it! I suppose it's the easiest and most convenient way of setting up a system for offering a service and taking payment online, but not everything fits the online supermarket model...after all, the fee is presumably only supposed to cover the costs!

[southbucks3]

Ah, but i am proud to say i am now a registered shopper, with a return password, and secret question, .so when my next child narrowly misses, i can have a speedy and hassle free transaction.

[mystery]

Hi Etienne, just had WISC IV test results back and I'm afraid they are solid rater than spectacular.

Verbal comprehension 104 Average
Perceptual Reasoning 110 High Average
Working Memory 113 High Average
Processing Speed 115 High Average
Full Scale IQ 114 High Average

On balance, we are happy that we did the test as it has thrown up some interesting insights into DD. As you suggested earlier, her good sats scores may be a result of application and environment.

What centile do each of these results fall in to and what is the confidence interval? Your full report should give you this detail. You are wanting to show that you all into the percentage that bucks selects for grammar, not a stellar iq. It does not take a stellar iq to pass the bucks 11 plus.

[Etienne]

Mystery, you can find the approximate percentiles by referring to the CAT scores in the Q&As B28. I'm not sure confidence intervals would help for appeal purposes. I think the issue has more to do with panel 'expectations'.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... cation#b57" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's a similar situation with SATs (where Dragonamp's daughter does well). Not all children join grammar school with straight level 5s, but appeals are not about giving the benefit of the doubt. Panels will normally expect level 5 predictions - and 5b predictions would be perceived as 'safer'.

[Dragonamp]

Hi Mystery, centiles fall generally in the high 70s to mid 80s.

I feel the test has confirmed that DD wouldn't struggle at grammar.

Etienne's point was that if they were higher, I would be able to use the results to counter any argument that DD's NVR score is low compared to her Sats results.

Bottom line is that I have a bright lovely daughter, who has all the tools to do well wherever she ends up.

[Dragonamp]

A quick update for what it's worth.

We went ahead and requested a review.

After visiting school yesterday for a parent's evening, we were so impressed with the standard of DDs work and an absolutely glowing assessment from her form teacher, that we decided to withdraw our request for review and will move straight to appeal later. At least her work and her teacher's opinion can be heard then.

Lord only knows if we have done the right thing!

All the best to those in the same boat

[Dragonamp]

Just received my appeal date for SWBGS and it appears that the system has changed. The letter states that it is a 2 stage system, the first stage being a general hearing of the schools case re admission of extra children in the case of oversubscription, the second stage is the "personal" part of the appeal.

Have just read through the green booklet that the council provided and there is no mention of a 2 stage process - Seems a little late in the day to still be changing things!

[hermanmunster]

Hi Dragonamp - there is a bit about stage 1 group hearings here: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... -school#c1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Sally-Anne]

As hermie's link explains, there has to be a two stage process to deal with oversubscription. Bucks has always had a group hearing for the first stage.

Unfortunately it has all become very complicated since Reviews were introduced, and I suspect that arranging Appeal hearings is a bit of a nightmare!

I think there are now (potentially) three parts to an Appeal:

1. Whether a review, if there was one, was FCO
2. Whether the child (if the Appeal is against non-qualification) is deemed qualified
3. If the school is oversubscribed, whether the parents' reasons for wanting a place outweigh any prejudice to the school.

Last year they combined the first two steps into an individual hearing, and then (later, depending on the outcome of the first hearing) followed the "traditional model" for over-subscription Appeals of a group hearing (the school's case) followed by individual hearings for the parents' case.

We had a lot of reports on the forum about delays to appeals because, during the first part of the process (FCO), every parent was making the same sort of arguments, prolonging the time for each Appeal quite considerably (and, presumably, the agony for panel members!)

If you could scan and send a copy of your letter to the Appeals Box, we may be able to work out what has changed this year?