SHS Appeal reply
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Re: SHS Appeal reply
Hi,
Anyone have any info on Ribston appeals? Still waiting for a letter.I didn`t know you got the answer sheets,thats really good.Wonder if they all do that or just SHS.
The schools are on their visits to new intake pupils,its a shame most of the appeal children will miss that.At this rate those successful for Ribston won`t even know by the induction day!Anyone know when that is?You wait all these months then if you do get in it will be such a mad panic
Best of luck to all appealing
Anyone have any info on Ribston appeals? Still waiting for a letter.I didn`t know you got the answer sheets,thats really good.Wonder if they all do that or just SHS.
The schools are on their visits to new intake pupils,its a shame most of the appeal children will miss that.At this rate those successful for Ribston won`t even know by the induction day!Anyone know when that is?You wait all these months then if you do get in it will be such a mad panic
Best of luck to all appealing
Re: SHS Appeal reply
I've not read any of the other replies to this message so I don't get side-tracked...
Reading the Appeals forum here, you'd think that the 'School Side' is The Enemy. They're not - at least for many of the grammars. They're not 'against' you, but are 'for' the whole school, including the new intake.
Some schools prefer smaller classes, some have had it forced upon them by the regular reviews of the requirements for school places through the county. SHS can (probably) cope with 128, especially when they split into smaller classes (22?) for most teaching in Y8 anyway. The PAN for the school will have been set at 30, and no school is allocated a larger PAN than that. They just happen to have class sizes that can accomodate 32, with enough seats, etc.
By law, and even when/if they become an Academy, the Admission Authority is not allowed to allocate more pupils than PAN; only an appeal panel can do so. Not ethat it is NOT obliged to allow 8 appeals. They may allow some, all or none, and quite often that will not be 8 in SHS's case.
The Presenting Officers tend to be ordinary people, often quite nice.
Answer sheets don't tell you much that can be used in an appeal - you can see if the child has misread the question & got a whole block wrong, or if it's randon mistakes, or they didn't finish, or just filled in the last few answers randomly. But that really doesn't tell us much - nor do we take much notice of it. I think it just satisfies the parents curiosity.
Reading the Appeals forum here, you'd think that the 'School Side' is The Enemy. They're not - at least for many of the grammars. They're not 'against' you, but are 'for' the whole school, including the new intake.
Some schools prefer smaller classes, some have had it forced upon them by the regular reviews of the requirements for school places through the county. SHS can (probably) cope with 128, especially when they split into smaller classes (22?) for most teaching in Y8 anyway. The PAN for the school will have been set at 30, and no school is allocated a larger PAN than that. They just happen to have class sizes that can accomodate 32, with enough seats, etc.
By law, and even when/if they become an Academy, the Admission Authority is not allowed to allocate more pupils than PAN; only an appeal panel can do so. Not ethat it is NOT obliged to allow 8 appeals. They may allow some, all or none, and quite often that will not be 8 in SHS's case.
The Presenting Officers tend to be ordinary people, often quite nice.
Answer sheets don't tell you much that can be used in an appeal - you can see if the child has misread the question & got a whole block wrong, or if it's randon mistakes, or they didn't finish, or just filled in the last few answers randomly. But that really doesn't tell us much - nor do we take much notice of it. I think it just satisfies the parents curiosity.
Capers
Re: SHS Appeal reply
I've not known it happen before. At the appeals I hear they can be produced, on request, during the appeal. We (the panel) don't often ask to see them, because as I said about, it doesn't add much to the case. We know that there were mistakes or missed answers because otherwise the parents wouldn't be in front of us at an appeal!shaann wrote:Anyone have any info on Ribston appeals? Still waiting for a letter.I didn`t know you got the answer sheets,thats really good.Wonder if they all do that or just SHS.
Which reminds me, everyone; please consider NOT bringing your children to the appeal. I know that you now have a legal right to do so, but it can make it harder to ask questions that may be upsetting or embarrasing to the child. We're not going to be swung by shiney, well turned out child beaming at us across the table (nor are we by photos placed in front of us). We would not 'mark the appeal down' if a child attends, but if there are avenues we would like to explore with you that could upset your child, it's just possible that subconciously we would refrain from asking.
I've never know an appeal be swung to success because the child attended (though nor has one been lost).
It could be of course, that the child is insisting coming - ah well, so be it.
Incedentally, some parents don't even tell the child that they're appealing or when the appeal is, others keep them fully informed on the process, and sometimes it's the child actually driving the appeal. That's down to you, there's pro's & cons for both approach.
Capers
Re: SHS Appeal reply
Capers
Can I ask one bit advice.
We have sent our written appeal off (not naming where for obvious reasons).
Is it OK to read a very short summary of your case and then refer the panel to your written submission so they can ask you questions?. Frankly, I think it would a be waste of time to read the thing out, but I am not sure whether panels want us to do this.
Is the school's representative able to answer questions or do they just stick to their script? Obviously I'm not talking about challenging the exam result.
Can I ask one bit advice.
We have sent our written appeal off (not naming where for obvious reasons).
Is it OK to read a very short summary of your case and then refer the panel to your written submission so they can ask you questions?. Frankly, I think it would a be waste of time to read the thing out, but I am not sure whether panels want us to do this.
Is the school's representative able to answer questions or do they just stick to their script? Obviously I'm not talking about challenging the exam result.
Re: SHS Appeal reply
We'll have read thoroughly your submission, so just reading it out again is rather annoying. Read a summary, and elaborate on any important points - even if you didn't write them on the docs.cheltgirl wrote:Is it OK to read a very short summary of your case and then refer the panel to your written submission so they can ask you questions?. Frankly, I think it would a be waste of time to read the thing out, but I am not sure whether panels want us to do this.
Is the school's representative able to answer questions or do they just stick to their script? Obviously I'm not talking about challenging the exam result.
The schools rep will stick to a script for the official reason for rufusal of a place. Then you, and the panel, get chance to question them; no two parents will ask the same questions, so they can't stick to a script for that. The panel will have some question that they ask of the school every time - unless you've asked them first.
Don't forget that we try to keep things as informal as possible (within the legal structure), so it can feel more like a chat at times rather than a formal event.
Capers
Re: SHS Appeal reply
Capers, thanks very much for that. Very helpful.
