Where to post my questions?

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ariella_ballerina
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:05 am
Location: London

Where to post my questions?

Post by ariella_ballerina »

hello all,

I am a total newbie to all this & am finding it all rather daunting.

My daughter is partially deaf & a friend recommended contacting Mary Hare school. To cut a long story short, it looks highly unlikely she will be able to attend, as her school will not do a SEN for her because she is on the gifted & talented list :roll: Although the Mary Hare school has stated they would like her to apply.

So the other option is Latymer (edmonton)

We have got her a tutor so she can train for the 11+ exams.

Now where is the best place to post about Latymer & what practise papers I should get?

Many thanks in advance for any help
:)
1401
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:52 pm
Location: Midlands

Post by 1401 »

I posted a question re Enfield on the 11plus thread about Enfield and received some really good advice re Latymer. There is also some excellent advice on the Hertfordshire thread. Unfortunately thats all I can tell you as I was enquiring on behalf of my sister who has recently started looking - I'm not in that area at all.
1401
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:52 pm
Location: Midlands

Post by 1401 »

I meant the 11plus exams thread - good luck!
ariella_ballerina
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:05 am
Location: London

Post by ariella_ballerina »

Thank you so much for your help & well wishes 1401. :D
capers123
Posts: 1865
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:03 pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Re: Where to post my questions?

Post by capers123 »

ariella_ballerina wrote:as her school will not do a SEN for her because she is on the gifted & talented list
Unbelievable. I would consider taking this higher within the current school and possible up to county level. Just because a child is G&T doesn't mean they don't have Special Educational Needs - the two are not mutually exclusive. Aspergers would be another case where both G&T and SEN can apply to the same child.

It makes me angry.
Capers
perplexed
Posts: 490
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 1:18 pm
Location: kent

Post by perplexed »

Sorry I am not quite up to speed with the original question. Is it the current primary school or Mary Hare that won't do "a SEN" for her? What do you mean by a "SEN" - do you mean a statement of special educational needs - I thought these were drawn up by statementing officers at the LEA following a formal assessment involving other specialists from the LEA ? Or do you mean something which gives her different treatment in an 11+ entrance exam - again is this really something that only the current primary school can do.

Sorry not to be able to answer your questions about Latymer. Can the school or LEA admissions section give you some further guidance?

Good luck
KenR
Posts: 1506
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Birmingham

Post by KenR »

Hi

I agree with capers SEN and G&T are not mutually exclusive.

I would read the following material on the Equality & Human Right Commission (EHRC) web site and speak to the head again and explain that you believe they are in breach of Disability Discrimination Act (DDA):-

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/y ... 20practice

If necessary you can approach LEA with a complaint or if necessary use the SENDIST Helpline

Hopefully a further call to the Head and/or LEA should resolve this.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Ken
ariella_ballerina
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:05 am
Location: London

Post by ariella_ballerina »

Hello everyone,

Capers, thanks for your interest & reply.

I agree totally with everything you have said. I put that point across to her headteacher.

My daughter really wants to go to Mary Hare as they have fantastic facilities for deaf children. She was amazed at the headphones kids have. She said to the lady "I would love to be able to hear everything"

Although her hearing aids help her most of the time, some of the time they hinder. When there is lots of background noise, she finds it very difficult. Plus she has already been bullied for "being disabled" as her bullies so kindly stated. :evil:

My daughter is bright & inquisitive. Very keen to learn, which is the attitude required of pupils at Mary Hare.

Perplexed thanks for you reply. My daughter wishes to go to Mary Hare. To be able to go there you have to have a SEN as well as pass their exams. It has to be funded by the LEA you cannot pay the fees yourself.

KenR, thanks for that, I have lots to learn :) This forum is already proving to be a wealth of knowledge.

It makes me mad too as it seems like the LEA are more keen to help difficult kids (thieves, joyriders etc) than nurture a good kid who needs a bit of extra help.

I often wonder how much more she could know/learn if she has the right environment.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Post by Guest55 »

There should be an SEN adviser at the LA - ring them up - there are statemented children at GS and there is no reason why your child shouldnot be assessed.
loulou
Posts: 445
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:05 am
Location: LONDON

Post by loulou »

Now where is the best place to post about Latymer & what practise papers I should get?
All postings about Latymer are in the Hertfordshire section.

1st round is NVR set by NFER (even though the school sells Athey papers)
4 sections of 20 questions with 10 minutes allowed for each section. Plenty of practice questions given before the paper. This year just under 1800 sat the first round.

2nd round sat by about around 500 of the top scorers from the 1st round. Papers in English (combination of VR paper followed by an English paper) and Maths (50 questions in 1 hour) set by the school and sold at the open day or from the school website.

Maths questions range from
- I made a model boat using 103 matchsticks, which was two full boxes plus an extra 13 matchsticks. How many matchsticks are there in a box?

to;
cycling at 10km/hr a journey takes 6 min 50 secs. How long would the same journey take walking at 5km/hr?

All maths questions are based on logical thinking rather than the standard sort of stuff your child is going to meet in years 5 and 6. My son scored around 50% the first time he did a paper but by the end was scoring 88-90%. so practice clearly does help alot.

English written paper is a mix of short comprehension questions andd a slightly longer piece expected to take about 15 mins. For example a piece about 'being green' and using energy wisely was followed by three short comprehension questions and a longer section asking the children to write an article for a school magazine about 'being green' and including reasons why energy should be used wisely and how energy could be used wisely at school. All this to be done in 30 minutes.

In my opinion they are very tough papers for 10 and 11 year olds but at least they are tough for all the children. If you have a tutor used to dealing with Latymer exams they should be able to give your daughter lots of support in these papers.

To cap it all Latymer expect you to live within a hours journey by public transport and you have to be able to demonstrate this by attaching a transport for london journey planner to your application form.

With regards to the pastoral care at Latymer I have no idea what that is like. It might be worth posting in the Herts forum regarding this to see if some current parents can shed more light.
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