SEN and first (and last) time application for 2022

Eleven Plus (11+) in Gloucestershire (Glos)

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charlotteb33
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2021 1:08 pm

SEN and first (and last) time application for 2022

Post by charlotteb33 »

Hi all,

I've noticed having had a good read of a various few threads there seems to be some members with a wealth of knowledge so I thought I would ask the questions I'm struggling to find the answers for myself.

DS currently in year 5 has SEN but is very academically able. He has Irlen's Syndrome which effects his ability to read and process information (in a similar way to dyslexia, he uses coloured filters and is awaiting some special filtered glasses) and as its a neurological condition it effects how his brain processes light so certain environments are too bright for him. He also is awaiting an autism assessment in the upcoming months. Currently subject to a My Plan Plus with school submitting an EHCP request this term.
On this basis on his application I have asked them to consider him for reasonable adjustments as it states you can, including the possibility or someone to read out the questions for him (to help with his issues with reading lines of text, he skips words/lines etc but has no issues with comprehension when he hears rather than reads), possible room on his own and he may qualify for extra time. Having never done this before, has anyone any idea as to what they would likely agree to?

Also, I've scoured the CEM website amongst other things, how are the scores collated? and how do they rank them? I was reading last year (current year 7's) thread from allocation day and from what I can understand, the scores are ranked in order of how well they do and those ranks than determine the school they may get offered? We are using an online tutoring programme called Atom Learning and it throws out all sorts of standardised scores so I'm trying to figure out actually how well he is doing.

Sorry for the long post! any pointers anyone could give would be greatly appreciated.
Glos18
Posts: 218
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 4:57 pm

Re: SEN and first (and last) time application for 2022

Post by Glos18 »

Hi. My DS has SEN although not diagnosed until after the 11+ so he had no extra adjustments. He passed well but it was a v stressful experience for me to get him up to speed!

From reading the SEN boards, people have asked for eg blue paper but have been allowed to use blue overlay instead which is a lot less useful, although if you are awaiting special glasses then that may not be an issue. I have also heard of people asking for their own room and ending up in a room with other SEN kids, which can often be more challenging than the standard rooms. Both of my kids sat their test at Pates where they usually put kids in classrooms with other kids from their school. I imagine they put kids with extra time in the same room.

The usual policy is that they try to accommodate your DS's usual way of working. Does he always have someone in the classroom reading to him? If not I dont think you would be able to have a reader, just extra time.

Re scores, the marks for each section are added up and the total score is then adjusted according to the child's age. Your child is then ranked against any other child who has chosen to share their score with each school. The only exception is Pates who require a minimum score in each section.
HTH.
charlotteb33
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2021 1:08 pm

Re: SEN and first (and last) time application for 2022

Post by charlotteb33 »

Glos18 wrote:Hi. My DS has SEN although not diagnosed until after the 11+ so he had no extra adjustments. He passed well but it was a v stressful experience for me to get him up to speed!

From reading the SEN boards, people have asked for eg blue paper but have been allowed to use blue overlay instead which is a lot less useful, although if you are awaiting special glasses then that may not be an issue. I have also heard of people asking for their own room and ending up in a room with other SEN kids, which can often be more challenging than the standard rooms. Both of my kids sat their test at Pates where they usually put kids in classrooms with other kids from their school. I imagine they put kids with extra time in the same room.

The usual policy is that they try to accommodate your DS's usual way of working. Does he always have someone in the classroom reading to him? If not I dont think you would be able to have a reader, just extra time.

Re scores, the marks for each section are added up and the total score is then adjusted according to the child's age. Your child is then ranked against any other child who has chosen to share their score with each school. The only exception is Pates who require a minimum score in each section.
HTH.
Really useful thank you. He needs a lot of adult support to stay on task, I'm not entirely sure how that looks day to day as covid has meant I haven't been into school this academic year to know how they support him with this, however even extra time will be an added bonus as he's struggling to finish reading the comprehension questions and answer them all in the allotted time. Do you have any idea how much extra time a child would be allowed?
Many thanks for taking the time to reply.
Glos18
Posts: 218
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 4:57 pm

Re: SEN and first (and last) time application for 2022

Post by Glos18 »

I don't know the answer to that but up to 25% is mentioned a lot on the SEN board. In theory he should already be getting extra time for sats etc in order to qualify for extra time for 11+.

Try not to panic too much about timings. The CEM is very fast and most neuro typical children will struggle with timing and won't finish. My DS has tracking issues and doing tracking exercises has definitely improved his reading speed, so you can work more on that prior to the exam.

He is not going to get any adult support to stay on task. However, the sections are short and if he is motivated and wants the school, that will help keep his focus.

You need to book him in for at least 2 real life mocks at test centres to get him used to it.
charlotteb33
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2021 1:08 pm

Re: SEN and first (and last) time application for 2022

Post by charlotteb33 »

Glos18 wrote:I don't know the answer to that but up to 25% is mentioned a lot on the SEN board. In theory he should already be getting extra time for sats etc in order to qualify for extra time for 11+.

Try not to panic too much about timings. The CEM is very fast and most neuro typical children will struggle with timing and won't finish. My DS has tracking issues and doing tracking exercises has definitely improved his reading speed, so you can work more on that prior to the exam.

He is not going to get any adult support to stay on task. However, the sections are short and if he is motivated and wants the school, that will help keep his focus.

You need to book him in for at least 2 real life mocks at test centres to get him used to it.
I have a lot to learn! Thats good to know about the not potentially finishing not being the end of the world, we are getting about 75-80% of the way through the English ones at the moment and I'd been allowing him 20% extra time, so that wasn't a bad guesstimate!
Absolutely wasn't expecting anyone to sit there purely to motivate him, he has no issues with motivation if he is keen and focussed, my only concern will be If he panics as when he panics he tends to go to bits, but hopefully with lots of practise we will overcome that.
I shall have a look for local test centres that he can possibly sit mocks at, we are doing Gloucestershire CEM specific tests on ATOM at the moment and his scores are well above average on the numeracy, we just need to work on the verbal and English side of things.
mini.me
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2020 9:11 pm

Re: SEN and first (and last) time application for 2022

Post by mini.me »

I believe it's up to 25% additional time, but it will depend what his individual access arrangements are. I believe you have to specify additional needs during registration for the test, then the schools consider it and let you know.

One thing I didn't realise is that the test this year was weighted towards verbal. The scores were standardised for each of the 3 sections, but verbal made up 50% of the overall standardised score, with 25% for non verbal and 25% for numerical. I'm not sure whether that's always the case, but it was this year.

Our DC was diagnosed with dyslexia after the test, so no extra time and the verbal weighting was also a huge disadvantage as it's the weakest area.

Practice tests are definitely worth it!
charlotteb33
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2021 1:08 pm

Re: SEN and first (and last) time application for 2022

Post by charlotteb33 »

mini.me wrote:I believe it's up to 25% additional time, but it will depend what his individual access arrangements are. I believe you have to specify additional needs during registration for the test, then the schools consider it and let you know.

One thing I didn't realise is that the test this year was weighted towards verbal. The scores were standardised for each of the 3 sections, but verbal made up 50% of the overall standardised score, with 25% for non verbal and 25% for numerical. I'm not sure whether that's always the case, but it was this year.

Our DC was diagnosed with dyslexia after the test, so no extra time and the verbal weighting was also a huge disadvantage as it's the weakest area.

Practice tests are definitely worth it!
Thats interesting, I was reading something today on another website about the standardised scores being weighted 50% Verbal (English and Verbal Reasoning), 30% numerical and 20% Non-verbal so that doesn't surprise me. Like you DC, my DS struggles the most with the Verbal topics so we shall be focussing more and more on them as the weeks go on to ensure we do all we can to get the most marks possible.
We have declared his SEN on his application so we shall just have to wait and see what is said, thanks for replying!
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