theknightrider wrote:
KentDad2 wrote:
I haven't posted on here before, but have just read your message. You can absolutely appeal, and have as good a chance as anyone. I know this because I successfully appealed for my son 2 years ago, when he missed the pass mark on Maths by 14 points! We too thought something must have gone wrong with the marking as all of his practice papers pointed towards a comfortable pass.
You are not appealing the result of the Kent Test. Instead, you are appealing for a place at a Grammar School, and need to present academic evidence to support that. The Kent Test scores are therefore irrelevant to a degree. You will need to demonstrate why your child is good enough, and the best way (and only way really) is to have strong academic evidence. Our son's school used CAT test scores that were taken a month or two before the appeal as evidence, where he scored highly.
The worst part of the whole process is how long it takes. It's a long wait, and you need to put it to the back of your mind as quickly as possible. Good luck!
KentDad2 : your post gives me hope.
Can you let me know how do we put up an appeal? Whats the procedure?
Also within how much time did you get a reply from the council?
First stop is the head teacher of your child's primary school. They will talk you through the process. From memory, you can't appeal until you get your offer of school places in March. Once you get that, you have a couple of months to build your case. You'll eventually be given an appeal date (unfortunately won't be until around June or July), and you then have to convince the panel. We put together a good letter and also had great support from our primary head teacher. I think that support of the head teacher is vital.
The whole process is soul destroying and long, but the time does go quick, and for us the outcome was great. Only other advice I can give is to mentally prepare for the worst. Tell your child they are going to the school you apply for, and that the appeal is an outside chance. You will then not set false expectations. Good luck!