Extenuating Circumstances

[Sweaty Palms]

Hello,

We are due to meet the appeal panel soon and have had meetings with our Son's teacher and Headteachers to discuss the actual test conditions, which we don't believe were carried out correctly. However, because we were not present, we can't do much else. However, we are certain that had the interruptions not taken place, our son would have sailed through. He got 118. We have been advised that this will not carry any weight.

There is also a discrepancy in the 1:1, 2:2's etc as our Son's grade was not listed on the accumulated sheet for the entire class. Can you shed any light on these two matters please?

Thanks!

[Etienne]

Any disturbances should have been noted by the invigilator, and the panel will take these into account. How much weight they get is another matter - it will probably depend on how serious they were. (If they were serious, one might expect other children to have been affected as well.)

There is also a discrepancy in the 1:1, 2:2's etc as our Son's grade was not listed on the accumulated sheet for the entire class. Can you shed any light .......?

Not really. This could happen if for some reason no recommendation was made at the normal time (late October/early November). I suggest you ask the LA representative when you are invited to put questions.

[Bougalou]

My daughter was disturbed in two out of the three tests that she took. She was mentioned specifically as being distracted by " a disturbance in the corridor" (according to the invigilator's report.) The corridor is open plan to the room where my daughter took the test and she sat adjacent to it during the whole time.
However, there was no other detail relating to the disturbance. We don't know what it was or how long it lasted, and so therefore proving its significance would seem impossible. How can that be fair?
Bouga

[Bougalou]

Sorry, got sidetracked onto my own problems........ what I meant to say is that it will probably be difficult for sweaty palms to prove the seriousness of the disturbance. Any ideas on how he could do this?
Would getting together with other appealers from the same school and comparing invigilators reports help? I know in our case another girl who appealed had also been disturbed.
Bouga

[Sweaty Palms]

Hello Again,

My son's test had several disturbances. The invigilator's notes mention that a child was removed due to a nose bleed. He was later returned to the test causing another disturbance. The teacher also present during the test told me that she had to reprimand several children for excessive muttering and tapping and my son says a laptop was 'springing into life' every so often, making musical noises. The Laptop is being denied by the teacher, the other invigilator is not being supportive, but the muttering and other noises are mentioned on the invigilator's notes. I am sure without these interruptions our son would have reached the necessary pass mark. We have been advised that to mention these things will make us appear 'sour grapes'. It seems we can't win.

Kind Regards, Sweaty Palms

[parent11]

I'm writing as a mum waiting for the result, so I'm not saying that I have the right answer.

My son has a lot of negatives and a relatively low score. In the appeal I focused on the wonderful things about him and gave a lot of anecdotal evidence of questions he asks and conversations he has etc. (None of which can of course be backed up by anything written by anyone other than me) I worked very hard to put across who he really was.

I did have extenuating circumstances but, although they are the reason he didn't get the pass mark I concentrated on his ability and personality.

When reading a lot of these posts it's very easy to get scared by the facts and figures. Trust in the ability of your child shining through through you.
Does that make sense?