Words of Wisdom

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

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nibbee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:42 pm

Words of Wisdom

Post by nibbee »

Thankfully, I have just come across this site and on reading the many postings now feel that I am not fully prepared for our forthcoming appeal, which is in early Feb. Our child scored 115/120 and is being strongly recommended by his Head, who ranks him 29th out of a year group of 90 children. OoS 2:1. Unfortunately I do not yet know where that puts him in terms of who has qualified above and below him. He has been predicted level 5 Sats, having already achieved that level in English by the end of year 5. His Cats scores last year were VR 131, English 118 and Maths 113. I am not sure if this is enough academic evidence of his ability or aptitude? There are mitigating circumstances which I am happy to share via PM. At this stage I am just looking for any advice and reassurances as to the best way forward.
Lynsey
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:29 pm

Words of Wisdom

Post by Lynsey »

Very sensible of you to find this site before your appeal...its absolutely full of really great advice - unfortunately I didn't find it until the evening after my appeal! I only searched around because my appeal was so much more negative than I had been led to expect and I was looking for reassurance. My son scored 120, had some mitigating circumstances, a very strong letter of support from the head placing him in the top 25% in both English and Maths in a very high performing school, so I figured that we were virtually home and dry. Although the panel were endlessly patient, kind and encouraging they were also very focussed on the issues. I found myself having to answer questions about his first test paper which was a rather low 111. I had understood that it was only the highest score that counted. I was also asked about internal setting arrangements and groupings in his year group - another opportunity for me to flounder and waffle! Anyway, I have not yet heard the news, although I am now preparing myself for the worst. When we have our result I intend to post more detailed and lucid advice about the panel experience.
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi nibbee

That sounds pretty good, all round. On 120 you don't have to prove a huge amount, but you have some reasonable back-up there. Level 5s, one very good CATs score and the other two aren't bad.

A 2:1 ranking but 29th is interesting - all will be revealed on the OoS, but it is a high-achieving school. I just hope that the Head was reasonably accurate. You will get a copy of the OoS with the appeal papers, which you should receive any day now for an early Feb appeal.

On Lynsey's point about the lower score: Where there is a big gap such as 9 points between the 2 scores the panel will be trying to assess which score represents the child's ability most accurately and which one was the fluke. A gap of 5 points will probably be raised by the panel, but not as intensely debated as it was with Lynsey's case.

I am happy for you to PM me to discuss the mitigating circumstances.

Sally-Anne
nibbee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:42 pm

Words of Wisdom

Post by nibbee »

Hi Lynsey
Thank you for sharing. It sounds like you did the best that you could. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.
nibbee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:42 pm

Words of Wisdom

Post by nibbee »

Hi Sally-Anne
Did you receive my PM? Being new to this site I am not sure whether I have actually sent it to you or it has gone astray.
Thanks
mummalea01
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:48 pm

Words of wisdom

Post by mummalea01 »

Dear Nibbee, good luck with the result of your appeal. Sometimes you can just put too much into this and come out with worry and confusion on the other side. I hope and pray that the postman is as good to you as he has been to us today. Get some sleep and have a good weekend :?
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi nibbee

No - I was wondering why I hadn't heard from you! The usual problem is my ridiculous hyphenated user name.

It is not my real name, and I am very grateful for that! The old school friend whose name I stole for this Forum must suffer complete miseries with banks and building societies, etc.

Please re-open the message and copy and paste the text into a new one. Then use the "search for user name" facility and enter Sally*. Or just add the hyphen if that was the problem!

Sally-Anne
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