Mitigating circumstances

zorro · Post by **zorro** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:37 am

My DS is being considered for an academic scholarship ( they are doing the exams this week and did some last week before the snow disrupted everything).
However, for 8 days over Christmas we had no gas hence no central heating. And for periods of up to 12 hours we had no electricity 3 times too!

We had to go and stay in a hotel twice to get warm and have a shower. Of course this completely mucked up DS's revision.
I contacted the admissions lady at DS's school and she was very sympathetic and said that I should put all this in a letter to the headmaster which I have just done. But - does it seem whingey or as if I am trying to excuse him if he doesn't do well enough?
Looking for opinions before I post the letter- thanks!

Freya · Post by **Freya** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:47 am

I don't think you are being whingey at all! What you family went through is complete disruption and discomfort in addition to the practical problems of sufficient light for revision. Making the school aware of these (very) mitigating circumstances is a sensible idea. If you don't and then your DS performs less well than expected you could be kicking yourself. go for it!

T.i.p.s.y · Post by **T.i.p.s.y** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:47 am

What I would do is right a letter saying DS is very stressed about sitting the exams because of the situation during the holidays. Act as if you think it wouldn't make much difference but if they could be aware that he is working himself into a tizzy which in turn will probably not help him concentrate during his exams. That way they may give him the benefit of the doubt and you won't look like a neurotic parent!

I would also send it in email format as this makes it look less like a big deal but the seed will be sown in their mind if he doesn't do as well as expected.

zorro · Post by **zorro** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:51 am

I didn't mention that he was stressed in the letter( he isn't !

) just that his revision was severely disrupted.

T.i.p.s.y · Post by **T.i.p.s.y** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:55 am

I'm sure he's not stressed but it's always easier to say that your kid feels a certain way as they tend to listen more.

zorro · Post by **zorro** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:59 am

He gets annoyed with me when I contact the teachers so if I told the school he was stressed I think he'd kill me!

FirstTimeBuyer · Post by **FirstTimeBuyer** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:29 pm

Best of luck with all that.

zorro · Post by **zorro** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 1:20 pm

FTB,
What's your advice then?
Letter or no letter?

T.i.p.s.y · Post by **T.i.p.s.y** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 1:36 pm

Was he asked to revise Zorro? If not then they may say that there are no mitigating circumstances as he was not expected to revise. If he was asked too then send the letter, if not it is better to say he is stressed. It's not as if they are going to ask him. I would still send it as a friendly email because you are a current parent and this would be a more relaxed, rather than formal, approach.

zorro · Post by **zorro** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 1:50 pm

The Head gave a talk on the last day of term saying how important it was to revise for the forthcoming exams and the parents received a letter which mentioned this too.
The children were given a detailed revision guide too so yes - revision was expected!
I think I will stick to a letter as that is what the lady who deals with admissions and scholarships advised me to do.