Dyslexia, time allowances and points

[mum23*]

sorry.. I meant unfair ON your Dcs for not getting 11+ time not unfair of you. I didn't really write it properly just came out how I was thinking it

[mum23*]

G55, better punctuation on my part would probably help. I'm really tired today and my writing skills are suffering. Sunshine I have replied to your PM....with some punctuation but might be somewhat rambling.

[Sunshine 11]

Thank you so much mum23 I feel so much more prepared now. She is only year 4 so lots of time to go but I really feel RHHS would be perfect for her

[mum23*]

Yes Y4 is still pretty early but have a chat with your senco and see if your school is giving your DD extra support for any class work. I think ou would need them to agree DD has dyslexia and be supporting her at school with an IEP in place to ask for extra 1+ time. No hurry for you though you've got a while yet.

[sarajtb]

Hi there,

My DD took the 11+ last year at SHS. She was diagnosed with mild dyslexia when she was 9. Following diagnosis, her primary school placed her on the SEN register at School Action. When investigating the possibility of extra time I spoke to the admissions officer at SHS and was told categorically that extra time is only given to children in the School Action Plus status and regardless of her SEN status of School Action, she would not get extra time. The Glos Grammars meet ever year to decide the parameters they apply to the 11+ and I was informed that they were highly unlikely to change that particular rule.

I was told that should my DD not get offered a place, I could appeal and her dyslexia would be taken into consideration. Unfortunately that is exactly what happened. Thankfully, I did win my appeal but it was obviously something I would have rather avoided.

Sorry to have to tell you all of that but that was my experience.

[Sunshine 11]

Thanks sarajtb.

My DD was put on SEN from reception and was on school action. After I paid to have her assessed myself £500 later, we realised she had dyslexia. The school would not have her tested themselves, they said she was making too much progress. She then had tuition through the gloucestershie dyslexia association and now she is no longer on SEN as is classed as average for her year. Having the assessment demonstrated she had a lot more potential than she was showing. Also, being a July birthday is a bit of a disadvantage in infants. She is now a good speller and has been free reading since the beginning of year 4.

Her dyslexia assessment indicates an above average VR hence my quest for grammar. She really likes RHHS and I went there too after originally going to a comp for 3 years, the difference was vast and ultimately I won all of the academic prizes in sixth form. Some people just excel at different times and so I'm not necessarily a fan of VR at age 10 but its the system we have and so I will have to go with it.

Great to hear your experience, all knowledge helps

Many thanks
Sunshine 11

[capers123]

Hi there,

My DD took the 11+ last year at SHS. She was diagnosed with mild dyslexia when she was 9. Following diagnosis, her primary school placed her on the SEN register at School Action. When investigating the possibility of extra time I spoke to the admissions officer at SHS and was told categorically that extra time is only given to children in the School Action Plus status and regardless of her SEN status of School Action, she would not get extra time. The Glos Grammars meet ever year to decide the parameters they apply to the 11+ and I was informed that they were highly unlikely to change that particular rule.

It's probably because there are different degrees of dyslexia and different teachers at primaries may assess the same child differently; the grammars have to be consistent and 'fair' in their approach.

It's in the interest of a primary school to allow 25% extra time in tests to children with any degree of dyslexia or special need, so the schools SAT's results are as good as possible. At intake into secondary schools (grammar or otherwise), the schools interests would be the opposite - they need as few pupils with mild special needs as possible - there is no extra funding for them, yet they will take up more teaching time (or put another way, take teaching time away from all the other pupils).

Sometimes I wonder if the schools prefer to subcontract 'difficult' decisions out to the Appeals Panel who will look carefully at each and every appeal in front of them, rather than make different decisions for different children and be accused by parents of favouritism.

I was told that should my DD not get offered a place, I could appeal and her dyslexia would be taken into consideration. Unfortunately that is exactly what happened. Thankfully, I did win my appeal but it was obviously something I would have rather avoided.

Pleased to hear that you were successful. The panel will have taken all of the evidence into account, not just the SA statement, and have seen that your daughter was of grammar ability.

[Rob Clark]

Sometimes I wonder if the schools prefer to subcontract 'difficult' decisions out to the Appeals Panel who will look carefully at each and every appeal in front of them, rather than make different decisions for different children and be accused by parents of favouritism.

This might well be true. The problem comes, of course, when a schools appeal panel isn't remotely qualified to pass judgment on a SEN or medical issue which they are being asked to quantify.

[capers123]

This might well be true. The problem comes, of course, when a schools appeal panel isn't remotely qualified to pass judgment on a SEN or medical issue which they are being asked to quantify.

At least parents would be able to present all the evidence they wish to to the panel. They often submit very detailed evidence. Would the 11+ SEN panel have detailed medical knowledge?

At least one of the panel must be an 'educationalist', which can mean a teacher (not connected to the school), recently retired teacher or head, governor or a parent of a child currently in a school in the area. None of which necessarily qualifies us to be a SEN specialist, but more often or not at least one of us will have a working knowledge of SEN, and panel members are usually bright enough to grasp difficult concepts.