Earliest date for appeals & other questions
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Earliest date for appeals & other questions
Hi !
Can anyone advise if it is at all likely that appeals could begin before Easter (late April next year) ? Our ht was advising that it was best to put in appeals as near to the deadline as possible to try and get a later appeal date..reasoning for this is to get an almost complete years worth of results inc sats. I have read several threads about the impact on dc's and as mine is naturally anxious anyway it is a concern. I assumed that appeal dates were decided once the deadline had passed but according to our ht that is not the case. If it makes any difference we are in West Kent.
Many thanks
Tigger
Can anyone advise if it is at all likely that appeals could begin before Easter (late April next year) ? Our ht was advising that it was best to put in appeals as near to the deadline as possible to try and get a later appeal date..reasoning for this is to get an almost complete years worth of results inc sats. I have read several threads about the impact on dc's and as mine is naturally anxious anyway it is a concern. I assumed that appeal dates were decided once the deadline had passed but according to our ht that is not the case. If it makes any difference we are in West Kent.
Many thanks
Tigger
Re: Earliest date for appeals
hi tigger as far as i know it depends on ther school when their appeals are held and it may also depend on if they are foundation or not.
Last year Rochester Grammar in the Medway had its appeals in April. But Fort Pitt was June.
I know oakwood in maidstone held theirs in june also. And each year the appeals for differnet schools seem to happen at a similar time to the previous year. Maybe this would help you if you knew when appeals had been heard before the summer?
Last year Rochester Grammar in the Medway had its appeals in April. But Fort Pitt was June.
I know oakwood in maidstone held theirs in june also. And each year the appeals for differnet schools seem to happen at a similar time to the previous year. Maybe this would help you if you knew when appeals had been heard before the summer?
Re: Earliest date for appeals
Most authorities will probably wait at least 2 or 3 weeks after 1st March for appeal requests to come in. They may have pencilled in possible dates for appeals, but they cannot finalise their plans until they know the numbers. They then have to get all the paperwork ready and give at least a fortnight's notice, unless parents have waived their rights.
This means most appeals relating to 1st March allocations are likely to be in the summer term, although it depends exactly when the Easter holidays are, and whether authorities prefer to hold appeals in term time only (most probably do).
Putting in a request as close to the administrative deadline as possible [by which I mean the authority's own deadline for inclusion in the main batch of appeals] might well give you a later appeal date, but how much later depends on how many appeals there are for a particular school, and how they are spaced out - for example, if there are a lot of appeals, 4 - 5 days might be needed, but are they consecutive days, or 1 - 2 days a week?
Even if requests are slotted in as they arrive, your plan is not foolproof - if someone were to withdraw promptly from an early appeal, that slot could be reallocated to you.
This means most appeals relating to 1st March allocations are likely to be in the summer term, although it depends exactly when the Easter holidays are, and whether authorities prefer to hold appeals in term time only (most probably do).
Putting in a request as close to the administrative deadline as possible [by which I mean the authority's own deadline for inclusion in the main batch of appeals] might well give you a later appeal date, but how much later depends on how many appeals there are for a particular school, and how they are spaced out - for example, if there are a lot of appeals, 4 - 5 days might be needed, but are they consecutive days, or 1 - 2 days a week?
Even if requests are slotted in as they arrive, your plan is not foolproof - if someone were to withdraw promptly from an early appeal, that slot could be reallocated to you.
Etienne
Re: Earliest date for appeals
Many thanks tiredmum and Etienne..I do not favour hanging on until the last minute and although I do appreciate ht view and we obviously want to be in the best possible situation to try and win our appeal we do not want it all to drag on any longer than necessary for our dc's sake. I understand that the ht thinks it a huge advantage to have actual sats results in though.....
Re: Earliest date for appeals
Not sure I agree that it's a huge advantage.
Most appeals are presumably heard before the official SATs results are out, so panels are used to dealing with predictions. What will help is if those predictions are backed up with evidence such as optional SATs, and a clear statement of support from the headteacher.
Most appeals are presumably heard before the official SATs results are out, so panels are used to dealing with predictions. What will help is if those predictions are backed up with evidence such as optional SATs, and a clear statement of support from the headteacher.
Etienne
Re: Earliest date for appeals
We are in NW Kent and between myself and others who i am aware of that were appealing there seemed to be no logic with the timings. The boys and girls GS appeals in our town were not anywhere near close together in time. One of the schools we appealed to held appeals over 5 days but not consecutive because one of the panelists wasn't available on one particular day.
However for both our appeals i did ring KCC and they were very helpful in telling us, if they knew, when the dates were and for our second appeal they actually asked me to pick a date (choice of 2) and time (our HT was attending and preferred an afternoon slot).
Also the HT was able to give us an official (colourful) looking one page summary of CATs and predicted SATS. Our second appeal was very late and the HT told me that SATs results may be with us in time (she marks SATs papers) but in fact they weren't.
Fluffy
However for both our appeals i did ring KCC and they were very helpful in telling us, if they knew, when the dates were and for our second appeal they actually asked me to pick a date (choice of 2) and time (our HT was attending and preferred an afternoon slot).
Also the HT was able to give us an official (colourful) looking one page summary of CATs and predicted SATS. Our second appeal was very late and the HT told me that SATs results may be with us in time (she marks SATs papers) but in fact they weren't.
Fluffy
Re: Earliest date for appeals
All of our appeals were heard in last week of June 1st week July. We didn`t have any SATS results and it wasn`t a problem.
Re: Earliest date for appeals
You can wait until after the SATS results are out - your appeal would be an ad-hoc one - so in other words, out of sequence.
The very big risk is that as all the other appeals had been heard, any that had been allowed will have added to the numbers in the school. Therefore the prejudice to the school of the panel allowing your appeal would be greater - ie, your chances of winning would be lessened.
Panels are used to seeing predicted SATs scores. It is possible for the actual SAT scores to be lower than the predicted ones (if the teachers has been - err - overenthusiastic in the predictions, which they may be just in case of an appeal!). I have seen this happen a few times when we're re-heard appeals & the actual SAT scores are presented.
The very big risk is that as all the other appeals had been heard, any that had been allowed will have added to the numbers in the school. Therefore the prejudice to the school of the panel allowing your appeal would be greater - ie, your chances of winning would be lessened.
Panels are used to seeing predicted SATs scores. It is possible for the actual SAT scores to be lower than the predicted ones (if the teachers has been - err - overenthusiastic in the predictions, which they may be just in case of an appeal!). I have seen this happen a few times when we're re-heard appeals & the actual SAT scores are presented.
Capers
Re: Earliest date for appeals
Many thanks everyone! I was aiming to have my appeals (regrettably looks like 3) submitted at the earliest possible date in March. As I said in my op I want them to be the best possible appeals full of the most up to date accurate info so that we can really do justice to our sons case but it would be very hard for him,as would it any dc,if it dragged on. Appreciate now why some parents give up and opt for non selective in order to spare their children any further angst. So glad that I have this forum to consult the experts..our ht also insisted that the schools still knew the order of preference on your caf
Re: Earliest date for appeals
You don't have to tell your child that you're appealing. I'd say that about 25% of parents don't tell their children (we sometimes ask as a filler question - it makes no difference to the outcome of the appeal).tigger2 wrote:Appreciate now why some parents give up and opt for non selective in order to spare their children any further angst.
Of course, it won't cut down on your angst.
Also, you can apply for the appeal as soon as possible, but you don't have to submit all the paperwork until a couple of weeks before the appeal date, so you could wait 'till then to get 'up to date' info from your primary school (if they've not been asked to submit it by the clerk). CAT's are done in Y5, so they'd be up to date & the SATs won't be out till after the appeal.
Capers
