Home-schooled and about to appeal - help!
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Home-schooled and about to appeal - help!
Aplogies for the longish post, but I'll try and summarise the facts as best I can...
Son's been homeschooled since mid-Yr4. The LEA school he initally attended was placed under special measures when he was in Yr3, and as his sister was in Yr6 we waited till the end of that year to move him. She got into grammar school that year, and because we couldn't get a school fo rhim we decided to go private. Unfortunately things did not go well at the private school and we had considerable concerns so we took him out. Having not been able to get an alternative school, we decided to homeschool him.
On the forms we put the same grammar school his sister's at, as first choice - when the letter arrived he hadn't got any of his 6 choices (including the grammar school and didn't make the waiting list). Instead he'd been given a school we hadn't even considered because of the poor ratings.
The letter from the grammar school stated that NVR score had been standardised with an average score of 100. My son's standardised score was 109, and was placed 415 out of 601 kids who went to the last stage of the admissions procedure
We're about to lodge an appeal, and would really welcome advice/feedback.
Grounds so far are:
- Sibling support at school to help settle in, after having been home-schooled the last couple of years because of experience at last school
- Has academic potential, which his out-of-date school reports indicate; and will benefit tremendously from the stretching regime at the grammar school in order to fulfil his potential. His sibling already benefits from the “stretchingâ€
Son's been homeschooled since mid-Yr4. The LEA school he initally attended was placed under special measures when he was in Yr3, and as his sister was in Yr6 we waited till the end of that year to move him. She got into grammar school that year, and because we couldn't get a school fo rhim we decided to go private. Unfortunately things did not go well at the private school and we had considerable concerns so we took him out. Having not been able to get an alternative school, we decided to homeschool him.
On the forms we put the same grammar school his sister's at, as first choice - when the letter arrived he hadn't got any of his 6 choices (including the grammar school and didn't make the waiting list). Instead he'd been given a school we hadn't even considered because of the poor ratings.
The letter from the grammar school stated that NVR score had been standardised with an average score of 100. My son's standardised score was 109, and was placed 415 out of 601 kids who went to the last stage of the admissions procedure
We're about to lodge an appeal, and would really welcome advice/feedback.
Grounds so far are:
- Sibling support at school to help settle in, after having been home-schooled the last couple of years because of experience at last school
- Has academic potential, which his out-of-date school reports indicate; and will benefit tremendously from the stretching regime at the grammar school in order to fulfil his potential. His sibling already benefits from the “stretchingâ€
Which part of the country are you in? What was qualifing score for the 11+?
You need to show academic ability - you have KS1 test levels - if these are mostly level 3 you have his potential - you could also take work he has done.
'Social' reasons are of secondary importance - read through the 'sticky' if you have not already done so.
You need to show academic ability - you have KS1 test levels - if these are mostly level 3 you have his potential - you could also take work he has done.
'Social' reasons are of secondary importance - read through the 'sticky' if you have not already done so.
As Guest55 suggests, you need as much academic evidence as possible.
It's not so easy to establish where he's got to in the last couple of years, having been out of the system.
You might wish to consider an EP report.
See also this thread:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... php?t=5735
It's not so easy to establish where he's got to in the last couple of years, having been out of the system.
You might wish to consider an EP report.
See also this thread:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... php?t=5735
Etienne
Thanks for the replies so far.
We're based in North London, and I've not seen any reference to a cut-off mark for entry. From the prospectus, it was stated that offer of admission is the governors' decision and the criteria they use would be distance from school, musical ability and NVR score. Recently, they stopped allowing the sibling factor as one of the admission criteria.
There were two rounds of exams, and he made it to the second round.
The letter from the school states over 1500 children took the NVR in the first round and 500+ were invited to the second round - to compete for the 180 available places.
Etienne - How does one go about arranging an EP test?
Thanks.
We're based in North London, and I've not seen any reference to a cut-off mark for entry. From the prospectus, it was stated that offer of admission is the governors' decision and the criteria they use would be distance from school, musical ability and NVR score. Recently, they stopped allowing the sibling factor as one of the admission criteria.
There were two rounds of exams, and he made it to the second round.
The letter from the school states over 1500 children took the NVR in the first round and 500+ were invited to the second round - to compete for the 180 available places.
Etienne - How does one go about arranging an EP test?
Thanks.
See some further comments here, in B3:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/11plus ... nswers.php
You can search for someone qualified here, specifying "education":
http://www.bps.org.uk/e-services/find-a ... ectory.cfm
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/11plus ... nswers.php
You can search for someone qualified here, specifying "education":
http://www.bps.org.uk/e-services/find-a ... ectory.cfm
Etienne
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Sally-Anne
- Posts: 9235
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
- Location: Buckinghamshire
Hi akpanto
You can search for a Chartered Psychologist in you are here:
http://www.bps.org.uk/e-services/find-a ... ectory.cfm
Just check "Educational" in field of work and put in your postcode.
The cost of the report will be around £400, although it could be more expensive in London.
Sally-Anne
You can search for a Chartered Psychologist in you are here:
http://www.bps.org.uk/e-services/find-a ... ectory.cfm
Just check "Educational" in field of work and put in your postcode.
The cost of the report will be around £400, although it could be more expensive in London.
Sally-Anne
Just beginning to complete the appeals form, and wondered if anyone could advise what would constitute good academic grounds for appeal. His KS1 results were a mixture of 2s & 3s, but his reports right up till Yr 4 when he left the system made references to academic ability. In fact his Yr4 report stated he was performing at the equivalent of an 11-yr old.
I'm just concerned that we may not convey this properly, particularly as the GS has a record of very limited admissions on appeal (between 1-5 per year).
I plan to include copies of all reports since KS1, but would welcome some suggestions on what sorts of things to concentrate on in demonstrating academic ability.
I'm just concerned that we may not convey this properly, particularly as the GS has a record of very limited admissions on appeal (between 1-5 per year).
I plan to include copies of all reports since KS1, but would welcome some suggestions on what sorts of things to concentrate on in demonstrating academic ability.
