Bucks appeal next Thursday

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JustUnder
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:16 pm

Bucks appeal tomorrow

Post by JustUnder »

Our son scored 118/119, is 8th on the Head's OoS and is given a 2:3 on the Assessment. His predicted SATs are 5A for Maths & Science and 5B for English. He achieved CAT scores of 123 for VR, 122 for Quant & 132 for NVR, with a reading age of 15y3m at chronoligical age of 9y10m & top 25% for both Maths & English.

We have not yet received our pack, but know from the headmasters comments that one person above our son did not pass. We don't know for sure how many below him did, though we have guesstimated there were 10 passes in total from those we know or have heard about in his year group.

We have no mitigating circumstances in our case, so are relying purely on prior acedemic results and the Head's summary (which is very very positive).

Having read through a lot of posts here on this forum, we think the only area for concern is probably the "3" in Attitude to Work. We're not really sure how to approach this at the appeal. We have talked about mentioning there are some disruptive children in his class who cause a distraction, but are not sure how to approach it at the time.

We're obviously quite nervous about the whole thing & would welcome any suggestions from those of you who have been through the process already :)
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear JustUnder

I wouldn't worry much about "Attitude". In all the appeals I heard, I can't actually remember it ever having been discussed!

The criterion is academic ability/extenuating circumstances.

Good luck
Etienne
mummalea01
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:48 pm

Post by mummalea01 »

Good luck for next Thursday JustUnder, hope it all goes well for you! :P
JustUnder
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:16 pm

Post by JustUnder »

Thanks both :)
JustUnder
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:16 pm

Post by JustUnder »

Well, we received our pack this morning and these are the first 25 from the OoS :

Code: Select all

Rank  VRTS  HTR Attitude
1     137   1   1
2     141   1   1
3     125   2   2
4     123   2   1
5     126   2   2
6     129   2   1
7     117   2   2
8     119   2   3  <<
9     113   2   1
10    117   2   1
11    110   2   2
12    115   2   2
13    112   2   1
14    111   2   1
15    115   2   2
16    110   2   2
17    110   2   2
18    116   2   2
19    117   3   1
20    119   3   1
21    115   3   2
22    108   3   2
23    116   3   3
24    111   3   3
25    107   3   2
Our son is ranked 8. We're now a little more concerned about this as we thought there were more passes below him. We know at least two children in his year group have had successful appeals, but not which they are on the list.

Being so high on the list with a 3 for attitude, and the next child below him with the same is at 23, obviously we are hoping our particular panel take a similar view to Etienne, and will not focus too much on the Attitude mark.

Another surprise for us having read through the details in our pack is that only 6 children passed out of 64 in the school. At 9%, this only a third of the national average of 30%. We're now considering options for our daughter who is at the same school, 3 years lower....
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Nicely set out, JustUnder. :D

The "1"s are fine. Realistic.

The "2"s are below average for accuracy. Over-optimistic. However, numbers 7-8 are on the borderline, with respectable scores, so quite well-placed.
Etienne
JustUnder
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:16 pm

Post by JustUnder »

It seems I made a mistake when retyping the OoS which I've just noticed as we've been going through the paperwork for the appeal tomorrow... The top 10 actually look like this :

Code: Select all

Rank  VRTS  HTR Attitude
1     137   1   1
2     141   1   1
3     125   2   2
4     123   2   1
5     126   2   2
6     129   2   1
7     107   2   2
8     119   2   3  <<
9     113   2   1
10    117   2   1
With a 107 at place #7, it seems the OoS isn't as accurate as I had originally posted...

Also, we now have some of our son's schoolwork to go through & decide what to take along as academic evidence.

We have all the worksheets from his classwork in challenge maths, but are not sure whether or not to pick out the better (marked) sheets, take the whole pack, or not any of it. Does anyone have any insight to which would be best here?
camden
Posts: 65
Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2007 1:13 pm

Post by camden »

Hi Just Under...

We have our appeal tomorrow too.....the very best of luck to you!

Camden
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear JustUnder

Exercise books are sufficient, unless there's a worksheet somewhere with a particularly helpful comment (e.g. "level 5 standard").

While I wouldn't worry much about the "3" for attitude, I suggest you do confront the issue briefly. Wait and see whether you get asked about it in the question and answer session. If not, try and slip in somewhere: "Typical boy. There are some disruptive children in the class, and he can get distracted."

Pity about number 7 on the list. Taken as a whole I don't think the OoS will advantage or disadvantage you.

Very best wishes to you and Camden for today ........
Etienne
JustUnder
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:16 pm

Post by JustUnder »

Thankyou both for your well-wishes :) And good luck to you today Camden.

I just collected a science CAT test which was done this week, where our son scored 33/40, which is a Level 5 score. His teacher was kind enough to write that on the paper, so I think it would be a useful piece of extra evidence today...
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