Advice needed

Consult our experts on 11 Plus appeals or any other type of school appeal

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BoysMummy
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 3:39 pm
Location: Bucks

Advice needed

Post by BoysMummy »

Dear Forum,
I am now getting into a panic regarding our up coming appeal and wonder if it is worth the bother. DS got 116 and 115 in 11+ - Is predicted for 5 in SATs for Lit and Science and now has been predicted 5 for Maths and moved up to top group. Has always been in top for all other subjects. Has been give 2.2 by HT and very good letter by Yr 6 teacher saying that he challanges himeself and other in his learning and would benifit from a GS. His recent CATs were 126 for VR 109 for QR and 111 for NVR.

He is a very young 10 year old and the head has put in his recommedation that he has not demonstrated all he is capable due to hie age and lack of maturity. He was deemed a very high level thinker in the school philosphy club in year 5.

We do have extenuating circumstances but still think we are too far away to make it, have spoken to others who have failed and passed at appeal and can't fathom what they are looking for. Please let me know what you think - I am confused that the school tells you to appeal but I feel that we don't stand a chance.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Advice needed

Post by Etienne »

The broad guidelines are clear:
In all cases, and even if your child’s score is very close to 121, the IAP will first want to understand why your child did not perform as expected in the tests. You will be required to demonstrate your case and provide evidence to back it up. The IAP will consider any factors which may have affected your child’s performance in the test (e.g. illness, bereavement) and whether you made the admission authority aware of these before your
child sat the test. Secondly, the IAP will then consider any clear evidence from you to support your claim that your child is of the required academic standard. Examples of this might be a recent school report or a letter of support from their current or previous school, clearly indicating why your child is considered to be of the required academic standard. Marked school work may be shown on the day of the appeal.
It's much harder to say exactly what will determine a panel's decision, because appellants turn up with all sorts of different evidence (some of which is contradictory!), and panel members have to form a view about the case as a whole.

Just a few observations:
Is predicted for 5 in SATs for Lit and Science and now has been predicted 5 for Maths and moved up to top group.
Good - do you have this in writing? Is there any hard evidence for the improvement in Maths? (an optional SATs test result? or clear signs of progress in Numeracy exercise book?)
"he challanges himeself and other in his learning and would benifit from a GS."
A nice comment, but it's not what the panel will be looking for. Being of the "required academic standard" is the test.
His recent CATs were 126 for VR 109 for QR and 111 for NVR.
Very good VR. Q and NVR not so good, even though above average.
He is a very young 10 year old and the head has put in his recommedation that he has not demonstrated all he is capable due to hie age and lack of maturity.
Very important then to establish what recent progress there's been (see Maths above).
He was deemed a very high level thinker in the school philosphy club in year 5.
Good, but it would be interesting to have some hard facts that substantiate this.
We do have extenuating circumstances but still think we are too far away to make it
It depends how strong and how relevant those circumstances are.
have spoken to others who have failed and passed at appeal and can't fathom what they are looking for. Please let me know what you think - I am confused that the school tells you to appeal but I feel that we don't stand a chance.
I really can't say what your chances are. I'd need to see exactly what is in the school summary sheet, what his school work looks like, and how persuasive the extenuating circumstances are. If the argument is lack of maturity, then there needs to be good evidence to show recent rapid progress.

The best line to take is probably just to give the panel all the facts, and ask them for their judgement. You are going to the appeal to get an independent opinion about whether you have a strong enough case. You can never be sure what the decision will be.
Etienne
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