Fair selection review for OOC children?

[Deb70]

Hi, I've read on here that recommendations from out of county head teachers don't carry as much weight as those from Bucks heads which were completed before the transfer test. Surely this is unfair to OOC children? Parents from outside Bucks entering their children for the Bucks test seem to be quite badly thought of - I certainly don't agree with "test tourism" but I entered my children for just the Bucks test, knowing that I would definately send them if they passed.

[Sally-Anne]

Hi, I've read on here that recommendations from out of county head teachers don't carry as much weight as those from Bucks heads which were completed before the transfer test.

That is not what I wrote, and please do not put words into my mouth.

I wanted to make it absolutely clear that there are two categories of recommendation:

a) Those made before the test, which might be for Bucks state schools, Bucks Partner schools or out of county partner schools, and

b) those made after the test, with the benefit of hindsight, which are, indeed for out of county schools.

The former must be objective, although not necessarily accurate, because they are made before the test results are known.

The latter may be objective because the Head takes care over them, and ensures that they accurately reflect the child's ability but there is a much greater risk that the Head unwittingly and unconsciously reflects the test score in producing their recommendation.

Unfortunately there is also the risk that an OoC Head takes little or no time over the recommendation, possibly even giving in to parental pressure just for the quiet life, and that then compares very unfavourably with the actual academic evidence provided to the Review Panel. (If you look at the statistics I published, the OoC HTRs have almost no nuances - they are effectively just 1-2-3.)

That isn't an "anti-OoC agenda", it's just how the system inevitably works. I am sure that if all Heads were asked for recommendations before the test, both groups would look far more similar, but the waste of public funds in processing that data for nearly 5,000 Ooc testers, most of whom don't even name a Bucks school on their CAF, would be ridiculous.

[Etienne]

Hi, I've read on here that recommendations from out of county head teachers don't carry as much weight as those from Bucks heads which were completed before the transfer test.

My wording would be a bit more cautious because it's entirely up to the panel to decide how much weight to give to any piece of evidence:

• • The panel won't normally know whether an out of county school understands the standard required, and cannot judge the accuracy of the recommendations - so I'm afraid it could mean that the 1:1 wouldn't get as much weight as a 1:1 from a Bucks/partner headteacher whose recommendations in advance turn out to be realistic, e.g. ten pupils with a 1:1, eight of whom qualify.

It really has nothing to do with the problem of "tourism". There are out of county schools which apply to become "partner schools", and they then operate in the same way and follow the same rules as a Bucks primary school.

There is, of course, no guarantee that a panel will give any weight to recommendations from a Bucks or partner school. It depends how realistic they think the recommendations are.


X-post with S-A

[Deb70]

PK- I asked that because the HT recommendation won't carry as much weight as it was completed after the test

Ok - was just asking - thanks for reply

[Deb70]

Hi - looking back at those replies, how can a review ever be either consistent or objective? There are a lot of "may" and "might" there!
(Getting stressed now the results are looming)...

[lea2124]

Deb70

I too am getting stressed! I feel if my DS isn't successful I can't see how the selection review was in any way fair, consistent or objective.

Fingers crossed for us both.