Words of Wisdom
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Words of Wisdom
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.
Words of Wisdom
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.
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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
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
Words of Wisdom
Hi Lynsey
Thank you for sharing. It sounds like you did the best that you could. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.
Thank you for sharing. It sounds like you did the best that you could. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.
Words of Wisdom
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
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
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Words of wisdom
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
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- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
- Location: Buckinghamshire
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
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