appealing for Essex school - child has Attention Deficit

[daz]

Our DS did not get into any Grammar Schools, KEGs 1st choice,WHSB 2nd choice,SHSB 3rd choice. We are appealing on grounds of following extenuating circumstances:
1) Few days prior to his exam he was diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) this means it affects his concentration and with medication, he would have done better. His psycologist was carrying out further test and subsequently he has been prescribed medication after his exam. We have psychologist letter supporting this. Also our older children with same condition went to the grammar schools and with medication did well at these schools.
2) He was ill on the day of his exam (i know thats no excuse, he had very bad cough,sneezing, his eyes were watering and it was quite noticeable he was ill), but the alternative date that was on offer, we would be out of the country. should we submit photocopy of his passport showing that we were out of the country?
3)We have a detailed letter from his school, which his head teacher and form teacher both signed -he is working at level 5+ for all his subjects and his school will support us. He is a very bright boy and his results does not reflect his true ability. Also going to put a copy of latest excellent school report .
Is that enough or anything else i need to submit?
What chance do we have of being successful considering he had a low score and has anyone else had similar experience and who was successful?. Should we appeal to all three schools or just SHSB as that is the one our DS got closes to? Any help and advice would be appreciated. please reply soon as deadline is on Monday -:( Thank you.
The following were his results:

English Score 28/50
Mathematics score 18/40
Verbal Reasoning Score 43/80
These three results are adjusted to take account of any variations in the difficulty of different papers each year and combined to produce your child's overall, standardised, weighted score of: 299.409

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King Edward VI Grammar School
Total Applicants: 851
Your Ranked Position: 600
Applicants on your ranked list: 851
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Southend High School for Boys *
Total Applicants: 782
Your Ranked Position: 262
Applicants on your ranked list: 403
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Westcliff High School for Boys *
Total Applicants: 906
Your Ranked Position: 377
Applicants on your ranked list: 572
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* For Southend/Westcliff Grammar Schools there are two offer lists, one for children attending primary school within the ‘Southend Priority Area’ and one for children attending primary school outside the ‘Southend Priority Area’. There is a minimum 'passmark' for places awarded within the 'Southend Priority Area' of 303.00, below which your child will not appear on a school's offer list. However, a score above the passmark is not, in itself, a guarantee of a grammar school place.



I have moved this to the appeals section, where you are more likely to get an answer.
yoyo
moderator

[hermanmunster]

Our DS did not get into any Grammar Schools, KEGs 1st choice,WHSB 2nd choice,SHSB 3rd choice. We are appealing on grounds of following extenuating circumstances:
1) Few days prior to his exam he was diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) this means it affects his concentration and with medication, he would have done better. His psycologist was carrying out further test and subsequently he has been prescribed medication after his exam. We have psychologist letter supporting this. Also our older children with same condition went to the grammar schools and with medication did well at these schools.

Have the teachers noticed a difference since he started the medication? Have they mentioned this in the letter?

2) He was ill on the day of his exam (i know thats no excuse, he had very bad cough,sneezing, his eyes were watering and it was quite noticeable he was ill), but the alternative date that was on offer, we would be out of the country. should we submit photocopy of his passport showing that we were out of the country?

Don't really think this would help. You are not supposed to send them if they are ill. Presumably the back up date was in term time ?? Not always great to admit you were taking the kids out of school in term time...

3)We have a detailed letter from his school, which his head teacher and form teacher both signed -he is working at level 5+ for all his subjects and his school will support us. He is a very bright boy and his results does not reflect his true ability. Also going to put a copy of latest excellent school report .
Is that enough or anything else i need to submit?

there is quite a bit of info on academic evidence and alternate evidence in the FAQ
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; If you feel that your son has improved considerably since starting the medication it may be worth considering an Ed Psych report - even is this does not help favourably with the appeal, it may be useful with him starting a new school etc.

[daz]

Thank you for your reply, please see back ground information sent via email for further clarification.

[Etienne]

Hello

Thanks for your message to the Appeals Box.

Please follow Herman's link, because some of your questions suggest that you really need to read the Q&As first - especially sections A, B, C.

if you’re not ready, there’s nothing to stop you sending off the form saying “Evidence and details of case to follow”.

[daz]

Thank you, I have just read and re read everything again and was very helpful. One other question comes to mind, our DS score is more closer to SHSB (3rd choice) so how can we justify that our son is keen or indeed we really want that school? Could we be asked as to why we put this school as 3rd choice? Our older DSS went to Kegs and WHSB thus we were familiar with these two schools well and easier to commute. Would this reason be good enough or not. Please help just going round in circles

[Etienne]

Could we be asked as to why we put this school as 3rd choice?

A panel may or may not know what your preferences were.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals/general#a21" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You could argue that they are 'equal preferences' and that you would be equally happy with any of the three grammar schools.

You could also argue that your son is keen to go to this school - but the next question is going to be 'Why?'!

I'm afraid only you can say why you think this school would suit your son.

Typical reasons are set out here:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... -school#c2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;