Should we push for 12+

sian brown · Post by **sian brown** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:12 am

We were unsuccessful at Bucks 11+ appeal, with 2x117, an ed psych report stating our son is on 98th percentile for VR and 95th for General Ability, reading age of 16.4 months and mild Dyslexia affecting processing speed. We really thought we had a good case. When do you know to let go and leave your child to just succeed at an Upper School or to keep going and subject to 12+? His Head Report highly recommended him with 3x5 predicted at Sats and we are all gutted but drained with the whole experience. Any advice for the disheartened? Also with 2 identical scores, would a request for a recount be petty?

Guest55 · Post by **Guest55** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:15 am

Hi Sian,

You must be feeling disappointed - some of us have been where you are now. I trust you have a good alternative for Y7 entry?

The details about 12+ are on a 'sticky' in the Buckinghamshire section.

Your child really needs to get 2 level 5s in the NC tests and be doing well - remember there is no guarantee of a GS place. If you PM me I'll tell you which 'normally' have places but we'll have a clearer picture in September.

The good news is that 12+ entrants to GS usually do well ...

Post by **Etienne** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:15 am

Dear Sian

So sorry to hear your news.

I suggest you write to the Appeals Team at County Hall enclosing a cheque made payable to BCC for ten pounds, requesting a copy of the clerk's notes "under the Data Protection Act". (It has to be done precisely in this way.)

This should at least enable you to find out why the panel arrived at the decision it did.

If you disagree with the panel, then I'm afraid there's absolutely nothing you can do about that. (They may have decided, for example, that the dyslexia was not significant enough to explain the gap between 117 and 121 - but I'm speculating.)

On the other hand, if the panel did something wrong (failed to take account of the EP report, for example), there might be grounds for taking matters further.

camden · Post by **camden** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:49 pm

Hi Sian,

Very sorry to hear your news! We go to our appeal next week for our son, and have almost identical stats (+ Ed Pshchs report + mild Dyslexia! ) - tho' he only scored 116/117 so we're feeling even less optimistic about our chances now than we were before hearing your news!

I'm not sure when we'd "let go". My son made it clear that he doesn't want to sit 11+ - tho' we last talked about "it all" before Christmas. We haven't involved him in the appeal (tho' he knows we are appealing) & have just been evasive when he's asked questions.

Maybe the letting go depends on your alternative to a GS, and how happy you feel with that? Perhaps if you get the minutes, as Etienne suggests, that would help you to make the decision to either persevere or to accept the panels decision.

So sorry....and thinking of you!
Camden

camden · Post by **camden** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:14 pm

...meant son didn't want to sit 12+!!!

Camden

mummalea01 · Post by **mummalea01** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:48 pm

Dear Sian, read your post with a heavy heart...and some degree of disbelief in terms of the evidence you had mustered, but it seems it's just impossible to second guess what an appeal panel will do. You seem to have an excellent case. Whilst our own appeal for our daughter was successful this year, I felt as we prepared and presented our case that, despite feeling anti-12+ should our appeal fail, that my opinion changed completely during the process itself. I guess what I mean is, if we hadn't succeeded, the business of proving to the panel how great we thought her efforts were convinced me even more that she needed to be around high academic achievers to reach her potential - and that we'd have a crack at the 12+ if the appeal failed. To the question 'when do you give up?' - I think you know that the answer is probably 'never', and that's why we're having this discussion. Tough call. Good luck.

Sally-Anne · Post by **Sally-Anne** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:09 pm

Hi Everyone

As a veteran - alongside a number of friends - of the 12+, I would strongly recommend that you give yourselves time to recover from the entire process of the 11+ results and the Appeal before deciding on the 12+.

The Appeal decision will still feel hard to take for some while, but you have nearly a year now in which to rebuild any damaged confidence in your children and encourage them to view the immediate future positively.

That also gives you time to find out how the alternative is working out for your child and to make a more informed decision. The children develop and change incredibly rapidly at this age, both socially and academically, and what makes sense today may seem completely irrelevant in a year or more from now.

I wish you all luck and I will be happy to answer any questions on the 12+ over on Bucks in due course.

Sally-Anne

sian brown · Post by **sian brown** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:40 pm

Thank you to all your replies and advice. Our letter from appeal stated that mild Dyslexia was not strong enough to bridge the deficit between 117 and 121, regardless of his ability shown in Ed Psych Report and other school evidence. I don't know how you can quantify Dyslexia but the panel spent the first 15 mins of our appeal discussing 'mild' and possible discrimination/disability areas generally. I shall be positive and ensure the 3x5's for Sats are achieved and follow the 12+ appeal route. Sickening thing is he only had a total of 5hrs tutoring in total and I now have to live with the possible realisation that he could have bridged the gap if he had had more!! I requested a recount and admissions have acknowledged the request. Who knows, we may be that 1 in a million!!

Post by **Etienne** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:34 pm

I don't know how you can quantify Dyslexia

There are a range of EP scores that point to mild dyslexia. Deciding exactly where to draw the line is a real problem.

A different panel on a different day might reach a different conclusion by the smallest of margins. No comfort to you, Sian, I know. It looks to me as if you presented the best case you could have done, and that the panel considered it very carefully.

I'm afraid panels have to take almost impossible decisions, especially with extenuating circumstances.

mummalea01 · Post by **mummalea01** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:10 am

Dear Sian, don't beat yourself up about the tutoring thing - that's a whole minefield in itself and seems to attract highly polarised views in these pages...all the very best with the 12+ and the SATS...scarily, they don't seem so far away now, although last October they seemed a lifetime away!