11 Plus Exams Forum

Hello

Our son was injured after a fall in the school playground back in March. As a result it eventually turned out that he had chipped and fractured his kneecap and partially torn his AC ligament. This injury resulted in huge amounts of pain and due to the hospital failing to treat the ligament injury for over 8 weeks he has now developed Reflex Symapthetic Distrophy (RSD) which in very basic tems means some of his nerves have become reprogrammed to only send pain causing him to experience great pain.

He missed basically the whole of the summer term at which time the school sent home no work for him to do despite us requesting it - we subsequently found out that after the first 15 days of absence he should have been referred for home tutoring but this was never done. Basically the school did very little to support him even on his return. They didn;t even send him home of the day of the injury - there weren't any cuts or grazes. He spent many months on crutches and at first a wheelchair. He has returned to school this new school year but the school are finding it very hard to cope with his pain and he is still experiencing pain but now randomly - he averages approx 1 day a week on crutches which he quite often has to stay off school - really hard for him to get around, especially as his classroom is up two f lights of stairs.

Previously he had always been expected to pass the 11+, he has been given a 1:1 by the school who are very happy to support him. His CATS scores have always been very high with NPR scores of 96 for non verbal reasoning and he is predicted to have mid to high 5's in SATS.

Unfortunately he didn't sit his SATs in year 5 due to the illness but in year 4 he scored 4's.

We have letters from both GP and Consultant confiriming the condition. I am very concious however that this is a rare condition particulary in a child.

Any recomendations as to our chances, and how to deal with the medical issues - do I hit them with the details in the letter or try and keep it simple?

Sorry it's soooo long!

Many thanks - great site by the way

J.

Hi jfield

What a horror story. These are strong mitigating circumstances, you have a 1:1 recommendation, the school are supporting you.

Just one question really - what were his 11+ scores?

We'll be happy to help you once we know!

Sally-Anne

Sorry I knew I'd miss something - He scored 117 and 116 but on the first day he had been off for the 2 days prior in pain and was sent home about 2 hours after the second test due to pain.

We understand they could say we shouldn't have let him sit it on those days, however as the condition is highly unpredictable and after a discussion with the head we were told we would only have a couple of chances to catch up if he missed it and it couldn't be a day we picked - (i.e. a day where we knew medically he was good) so we knew the other days could be worse.

And which county are you in?

Certainly there is plenty that would make me put this into my mental 'good reasons' pile, rather than 'no real reasons'.

Sorry (again) - We are in Bucks

Hi jfield

Those scores may not be the highest, but they are consistent, which is good.

You did absolutely the right thing in discussing whether to allow your son to take the tests on time with the Head, and the Head will need to confirm this in writing. It must be have been a difficult decision to make, with no crystal ball available!

Your mitigating circumstances are clearly going to carry a lot of weight with a panel. Although a panel would always tend to want to know "what went wrong on the actual days of the tests", I think it would be hard for them to demand specific reasons relating to just those two days in this situation.

The Head's support is going to be crucial to your appeal, especially the basis on which s/he decided upon a 1:1 ranking. Do you know where your son was on the Head's Order of Suitability? How many children above and below him passed?

I think the panel will also want to understand how your son has coped since returning to school. They will be looking for reassurance that he will be able to cope at a Grammar school, despite the disruption to his eduation.

You will need to find every scrap of academic evidence from before the accident to support your case. The high CATs scores and predicted Level 5 SATs are certainly going to help.

A panel would normally expect to see a child's most recent school books, and if they contain work of a high standard, that would be great. However, I am sure that a panel will also be very glad to see books from before the accident as part of the evidence.

I somehow don't think that your hearing is going to be the shortest this year.

So, my that's my two-pennorth worth for now - Capers123 is already circling, and I am sure the cavalry in the shape of the redoubtable Etienne will also be along soon.

Good luck, not just with your appeal, but to your son for a full recovery.

Sally-Anne

The support from the school seems very poor - have you complained to the Local authority? Work should be set for him and access to a classroom should be sorted by now even if it means changing the rooms he is in.

I agree with what Sally-Anne has written, and would reserve judgement until the O. of S. is available. I also think that it would be very helpful indeed to have a letter from the head confirming exactly what was said about whether or not the test should be postponed.

One would expect ongoing problems like this to affect the curriculum, and yet I note that the school is predicting good level 5s. In any case, reasoning ability should not be affected in the same way as progress in the curriculum, - but there is the issue of pain "on the day". Bear this in mind in how you present your case.

I note that you single out the CAT NVR. The CAT VR would be of more relevance for a Bucks appeal.

Regards