ID form needed for OOC testing - candidates turned away!

[Marylou]

Heard a report this morning of several children being turned away because they had not brought their signed ID forms, which were allegedly sent out with the test invitations ... BUT I've seen the e-mail my friend was sent inviting her child to the test, and there is no mention of this form whatsoever, nor any attachment! Has this happened anywhere else?

Is your friend OOC, though? If the forms are only required for OOC candidates, then there wouldn't need to be any reference to them in emails sent to IC parents?

Yes, OOC - it was the test today. It does not apply to in-county or partner schools - the question was really to other OOC parents.

FWIW, their invitation to test was only sent out last week!

[Etienne]

Heard a report this morning of several children being turned away because they had not brought their signed ID forms, which were allegedly sent out with the test invitations ... BUT I've seen the e-mail my friend was sent inviting her child to the test, and there is no mention of this form whatsoever, nor any attachment! Has this happened anywhere else?

Hi Marylou

The test invitation usually begins with the following standard wording:

• • Dear Parent/Carer
    
    MOVING UP TO SECONDARY SCHOOL IN SEPTEMBER 2021
    
    BUCKINGHAMSHIRE SECONDARY TRANSFER TESTING INVITATION
    
    1. Testing arrangements
    
    We are writing to invite your child to testing at .......
    
    Practice Test ..... October please arrive and register between .....
    
    Transfer Test ..... October please arrive and register between ......
    
    Attached to this email is important information about the test arrangements. Please read all information thoroughly.
    
    Also attached is an ‘Identification and Fit for Testing’ form. This must be completed and brought to the Secondary Transfer Testing session you are scheduled to attend on .... October. We will not allow your child to take the Test without the form. We do not offer an alternative test date if you do not bring the form. If your child is unwell on the day of the test, please do not take them to the testing session (NB this could be for suspected Covid issues or for any other illness).

I do note what you say about there being no attachment, but how was the email worded if different from the standard version above?

Regards

[Marylou]

Thanks for this, Etienne. Their e-mail was nothing like that - very short and to the point, and focused entirely on Covid precautions. It was, however, the first they had heard about the actual test date so they naturally assumed that's all there was.

Dear Parent,

[Name] has been invited to test next week at [xyz] School

Practice Test Tuesday 27 October register between 8.15 – 9.00
Transfer Test Thursday 29 October register between 8.15 – 9.00

What if my child is ill before the test?
You must not take your child to the testing venue if:

you child is feeling unwell
your child has tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 14 days.
your child or either parent has been told to self-isolate by the child’s school or by NHS Track and Trace
your child has had a Covid-19 test but has not yet received the results

My child has been told to self-isolate and has no symptoms and has just had a negative test – can we still attend?.... etc. etc.

[Etienne]

Thanks for this, Etienne. Their e-mail was nothing like that

This looks to me as if it may have been a reminder. (I believe that reminder emails were sent out late last week, but I don't know how they were worded.)

I do know that all the original invitations were emailed on 9th October.
Sorry to ask, but is there any possibility the original got buried in a spam folder?

[Marylou]

Sorry to ask, but is there any possibility the original got buried in a spam folder?

Yes, I wondered that too - they've looked, but no sign of it.

As this does indeed appear to be a reminder, you'd think it would be worded more along the lines of ... "further to our e-mail of 9 October... etc." Simply starting with"Your child has been invited etc." is a bit ambiguous. Since it makes no reference to the earlier communication, it was naturally assumed that this was the invitation e-mail they'd been waiting for.

E-mails have their place, but there's a lot to be said for a good, old-fashioned, paper letter for situations like this!