Appeal now or later

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Tense

Appeal now or later

Post by Tense »

Apologies if this is a daft question.

My daughter sat the Herts consortium music test yesterday. She said she was very distracted as she was sat in front of a girl who had an adult with her to whom she was relaying her answers (presumably the child had a disabilty).

My question is - should I ring the school & complain about this now? Or wait until I hear whether or not my daughter has been invited back to audition? (that's the second part of the music entry). Assuming she is invited back but then doesn't get a place at the school obviously this wouldn't be grounds for appeal post allocation day.

Thanks.
Guest

Post by Guest »

Not daft at all - see my posts below ("marked paper"). Put it in writing and do it now, making a note of any phone conversations you have with the School. Hopefully your daughter will pass without you needing to appeal. Good luck.
Tracy
Posts: 1123
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:28 am
Location: Bexley

Post by Tracy »

Please put it in writing now and copy it to the school, admissions authority and anyone else you think might be interested!

This is an appalling situation.
Tense

Post by Tense »

Thank you for your replies (& sorry to hear of your experience guest). I am trying to draft a letter now. So far I have simply spelt out the facts & said that this affected our daughter's ability to concentrate during the test.

I don't want to ramble on, but should I also say something along the lines of - I wanted to make you aware of this now should I decide to appeal in the future.

I don't want to appear "threatening" or as if I'm making a fuss :oops:

I'm going to register on this site so I can receive PMs - if anyone can help me with wording the letter I'd be very grateful.

Thanks.
capers123
Posts: 1865
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:03 pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Post by capers123 »

Tracy wrote:This is an appalling situation.
For the children sitting behind, annoying and off-putting, but appalling? Every now and again, a question pops up on here asking how a child who has special needs can be assisted in an entrance test. There is provision for this to be done set out in the guidelines - say a blind child who is (in this case) musically talented wants to take the test - it's perfectly fair for them to have an adult assistant, and this would normally be done in the same room as others taking the test - although sometimes extra time may be given to allow for the time lapse in working out the answer & telling the adult.

Maybe the answer would to have put the child being assisted at the back of the room? Certainly not in a separate room, as then people would complain that they were either unsupervised or given 'special privaleges'.

I know nothing of this particular test - is it a music theory test, or academic? I would imagine that the pass rate from this test would be fairly low if they then go onto an audition, where they can filter out the average from the exceptional.

I failed my audition for the Royal Acadamy - perhaps I should have started learning my 2nd instrument a little more that 3 weeks before the audition - but I did pass the entrance theory exam, and assume that this is similar, but at a lower level.
Capers
Stroud Mum
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:57 am
Location: Gloucestershire

Post by Stroud Mum »

Register and I can email you the letter I wrote this week if that helps!!
tense
Posts: 679
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:02 pm
Location: Herts

Post by tense »

Thanks very much Stroud Mum - I have registered!
Stroud Mum
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:57 am
Location: Gloucestershire

Post by Stroud Mum »

Don't know if there is a problem with the site; have sent you a private email but it hasn't shown up in my outbox.
tense
Posts: 679
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:02 pm
Location: Herts

Post by tense »

Or in my in-box...

It would be great if you could try & send it again when convenient.

Thanks.
Stroud Mum
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:57 am
Location: Gloucestershire

Post by Stroud Mum »

Still can't send you a pm! Anyway, in my letter I started by saying I wanted to comment on aspects of the exam; I gave the facts of what happened (she was given a pre-used paper) together with a description of how my daughter was affected (loss of concentration, lost time rubbing out marks, etc).

I had spoken to the School admissions officer and I quoted her in the letter. I didn't mention a possible future appeal but asked the Head to comment on the points raised. I copied the letter to the Admissions dept at the County Council and to the other School (which she is also applying for and which will share the results with the School where she sat the exam last weekend). If it does come to appeal I feel glad to have put it in writing before we get her results!
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