Does it worth appealing
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Bexley Mum 2
- Posts: 851
- Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007 9:55 pm
- Location: Bexley
Alice
My honest opinion is that, in Bexley (I think that's the eleven plus your daughter did isn't it?) 30 marks is too far off to be successful at an appeal. If you look at the LEA website or the Admissions booklet for Bexley you will see that most grammar schools allow only 1 or 2 appeals a year - if that. I also think that the 11+ is heavily weighted towards children who are good at maths rather than English, which is very unfair I think. Every year I see girls who are very gifted writers fail the 11+ because they are not so good at maths. But I think your daughter's score of 3a for maths at the end of Year 5 is just not enough. At my sons' school the people who pass tend to be 4a or 5 in maths at the end of year 5.
I'm not sure how appeals work. If you could prove special circumstances and win your appeal, would the distance factor still apply? I'm not sure which grammar schools you applied to, but the qualifying distance for Bexley Grammar for example has gone down to 2.9 miles this year.
I am really sorry not to be more positive and wish you and your daughter the very best of luck. Sally-Anne's suggestion that you talk to your daughter's new school about the bullying is an excellent one.
My honest opinion is that, in Bexley (I think that's the eleven plus your daughter did isn't it?) 30 marks is too far off to be successful at an appeal. If you look at the LEA website or the Admissions booklet for Bexley you will see that most grammar schools allow only 1 or 2 appeals a year - if that. I also think that the 11+ is heavily weighted towards children who are good at maths rather than English, which is very unfair I think. Every year I see girls who are very gifted writers fail the 11+ because they are not so good at maths. But I think your daughter's score of 3a for maths at the end of Year 5 is just not enough. At my sons' school the people who pass tend to be 4a or 5 in maths at the end of year 5.
I'm not sure how appeals work. If you could prove special circumstances and win your appeal, would the distance factor still apply? I'm not sure which grammar schools you applied to, but the qualifying distance for Bexley Grammar for example has gone down to 2.9 miles this year.
I am really sorry not to be more positive and wish you and your daughter the very best of luck. Sally-Anne's suggestion that you talk to your daughter's new school about the bullying is an excellent one.
Sally-Ann and Bexley Mum 2, thanks for your opinions. Yes, maths is the subject that DD does not like. She scored: maths 91, VR 108, English 112, NVR 94. Distance from school is the big issue as well, yes. Even (only even!!!) if appeal is successful, we loose on distance as we live far-about 3.5 miles away. It's just painful, but I don't want to be like that mum in Little Britain, you remember, pushing her son for auditions. My DD is excellent at arts, writing, etc but just does not like maths. No matter what, we have to work on maths regularly. I still don't know....
Alice
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Bexley Mum 2
- Posts: 851
- Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007 9:55 pm
- Location: Bexley
Alice - well 4a is very good for maths at the end of year 5. That's what my eldest son got and he's in top sets for maths and english at his grammar school. In fact I don't think he got any level 5s at the end of year 5, although curiously he got a very high score in his 11+ - much higher than my second son who still passed but who had been level 5 in everything at the end of year 5. So, I think the school levels are an indicator, but not necessarily a completely reliable one.
As I said, I don't know much about the appeals process but it does seem to me that people in areas like Bucks and Kent are more likely to go to appeal as they stand a far greater chance of success because they have lots of grammar schools. In Bexley we have 4 and they are never going to be able to take more than one or two extra children. Have you talked to your daughter's head teacher? Would they support an appeal?
As I said, I don't know much about the appeals process but it does seem to me that people in areas like Bucks and Kent are more likely to go to appeal as they stand a far greater chance of success because they have lots of grammar schools. In Bexley we have 4 and they are never going to be able to take more than one or two extra children. Have you talked to your daughter's head teacher? Would they support an appeal?