To Appeal or not to............Bucks

[loli34]

We had a fail in our house 118 and 114.

Trying to decide what to do for the best we are going to make an appointment to speak to head and take it from there.

Would love to hear from anyone with advice to offer or anyone that has or is in a similar situation.

Loli34 xx

[hermanmunster]

Hi Loli

sorry to hear about the results, if you are considering appeal you have to decide if you have the answers to 2 questions:

1) Have I got (or can get) evidence of academic ability and demonstrate that the result score would normally have been higher.

2) evidence of reasons (if any) why the score was not as high as expected.

have you read the FAQ on appeals (top of the appeals page)

[Sally-Anne]

Hi loli

I noticed that you hadn't reappeared on Bucks yesterday, so I was fearing the worst for you. I am very sorry about the result, but I am so glad that your son is taking it all in his stride, as you mention on your other post in Bucks.

Were the scores in that order for the 2 papers? On a high score of 118 your chances of success are roughly 50/50, so I would say it is worth a shot. If the school is strongly supportive then I would say you should give it a go, but it depends on what the alternative school would be and how satisfied your and your son would be with that outcome. An appeal is stressful, and it will be on your mind 24/7 for the next couple of months, I'm afraid.

Before you see the Head, please read sections A, B and E of the Appeals Q&A, and pay particular attention to point E9 - the Bucks Head Teacher's recommendations. When you see the Head you need to ask what his recommendation for your DS was. It is also worth asking how many of the recommendations were accurate on each of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 2:1, 2:2. The Head will have that information already, and it will be sent to you in the pack of appeal evidence that you receive around 7 days before the hearing, so it is not confidential. Some Heads can be a little shirty about disclosing it to parents because they feel they are laying themselves open to criticism if their guesswork wasn't up to scratch, so do make it clear that you know you will be given the information anyway, and it would simply be helpful to have it now rather than just before the appeal.

Also make sure that you ask for test results and facts and figures - CATs, predicted SATs, current "working at" levels, reading tests, etc. That is all very valuable information that will allow us to help you more effectively.

Best wishes
Sally-Anne

[loli34]

Thank you for a speedy response.

I am about to comply all the evidence - CAT's and school reports etc, we recently had parents eve and she was predicted 5's accross the board for the end of year 6.

First test was 114 and second 118 -.......... wish there was a 3rd tet.

I promise to post with all the statistical information in the next few days and let you know the outcome of our meeting with the head.

Thanks again for all your support I have a feeling I am not going to get through the next months without this forum.

Loli34

[Sally-Anne]

Hi loli

First test was 114 and second 118 -.......... wish there was a 3rd test.

That is why I asked the question, because an appeal panel might well think that a third test would have produced a qualifying score.

The predictions of Level 5s are very encouraging so I wish you good luck for the meeting with the Head.

S-A

[hermanmunster]

As Sally-Anne says encouraging re the SATS .. and the order of the tests!!

I suspect there are quite a few kids in North Yorks grateful for the practice (unmarked) test followed by the 2 real tests (of which only the higher counts).

Good luck with all this and keep posting!

[loli34]

A few stats that I would be interested to hear your opinion:-

CATS:-
age when taken 9y 11m

VERBAL 123
Quantitavive 122
Non verbal 115

English 76% inidcated level 5c
Maths 93% indicated level 5b
Science 93% indicates level 93%

I hope I am interpreting these correctly from the sheet?

Also from year 5 report:-
English :- 5
Maths:- 4a
Science:- 4b
Reading age 14y
Spelling age 12y
Age when tested :- 10

Sally-Anne, Ettienne would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Many thanks

Loli xx

[Etienne]

Hi, Loli

I wouldn't want to read too much into a single set of figures, but
CAT VR & Q look to be borderline
& NVR relatively weak.

The indicated levels suggest English is slightly weaker than maths, but this is contradicted by the year 5 report.

Reading age is good.

To be honest, I think a lot will depend on the strength - and credibility - of the school's support.

she was predicted 5's accross the board for the end of year 6

Good - but sound level 5s would be even better!

Let's see how your meeting with the headteacher goes.

Stay in touch with us.

[loli34]

Thanks for your opinion Etienne.

English has always been DD strongest subject so CAT's are very contradictive.

Appt with Head tomorrow, will let you all know how we get on.

Thanks

Lolixx

[heartmum]

'loli34' ... we were in this position last year, DC missed qualifying score 120/118 and we had the decision whether to appeal or not - so really do feel for you x x x

We decided to go for the appeal as in our hearts we knew our DC was right for the grammar school and after getting the Headteachers support set about obtaining as much information as possible to prove our DCs academic ability. Our school doesn't do CATS, so we had to show the level our DC was working at and what they were predicted to obtain for SATs. It you can, get the school not just to show predicted L5s for SATs but also what predicted sublevels they are working to, i.e. 5a English, 5b Maths etc. this would show your DC is working at a higher L5 and not just within the L5 limit. Appeal is not the easy option however if you feel that your DC is right for a particular type of school then you go for it!!

We did ... and won - after the initial disappointment of the test score the joy at being successful at appeal was second to none!!!

As for our DC ... they have been at their grammar school since September, loves every minute of it and is doing really well in all their subjects!