Appeal question

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Bucks Mum

Appeal question

Post by Bucks Mum »

Hi there, this is the first time I have posted on the forum but have been reading for a while.
My daughter scored 120 and 115 in the test, but her 3 previous VR scores were 126, 132,127. She was listed 3rd on the OoS and she was recommended as a 1 for academic and a 1 for attitude. Her teachers have said that her predicted KS2 SAts are Maths and Science 5b and English 5c and we have strong support from the school. Her reading age, as tested Oct 06 was 14 years 3 months.
We have our appeal date at the end of the month and are now trying to prepare our presentation. We did not send any of her work in as evidence, will it look bad if we don't take her books or should we? We have her Year 5 books at home and they look pretty good but I have seen her Year 6 books and think that although the content is good they do look a little messy in places, not as neat as her Year 5 books.
Also this week they did a practice Science SAT paper and she scored 37/40 which gave her a 5b, 38 would have given her a 5a. Do I mention this or is it no good without written confirmation from the school? If I do get a letter should it be from the Head or is it sufficient from a teacher?

Any advice will be very greatfully received.

Thanks

Bucks Mum
Guest55

Post by Guest55 »

I would take some books and you don't need to send them in beforehand. As has been mentioned elsewhere put 'post-its' in particularly good bits. Could you take in the practice SATs paper? - presumably the mark and level would be on the front.

You have got good recommendation 1:1 - how many pupils reached 121? When you get the paperwork you will see how accurate the Head was in the order - does your daughter 'stick out' like a sore thumb that something just went wrong!

Read through some of the other threads for questions you might be asked.

Stick to academic evidence - quote the Head or her teachers and GOOD LUCK.

Let us know how you get on -
Maggie
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 12:23 pm
Location: Bucks

Post by Maggie »

Hi Bucks mum
We just returned from our appeal and our child had some pretty similar academics to you eg 3rd in OoS, 1:1 grading, good SATs predictions etc.
The panel seemed pleased to see that we had brought books to look at and the chairwoman said she was looking forward to reading her literacy book! (we had emphasised the strength of her literacy skills). As others have mentioned, post-its to mark the highlights are good, in fact the clerk commented when she returned the books to us that the panel had found that very helpful.
We also took SATs papers the class had done under exam conditions (this was just written by the teacher on the front of the booklet) and for which she scored level 5s - this was to back up the predictions of 3 level 5Bs and show that these are realistic. They seemed happy to accept that.
Questions were much as others have described, though one that threw me was how teaching in the school might have changed following the 11+ results (not many passed in our school). Had the teachers and children given up trying, or were they spurred on to work even harder? Strange question which I really didn't know how to answer!
Finally would just reiterate what others have said, though daunting experience the panel were very pleasant and tried to put us at our ease.
Good luck with your appeal!
Bucks Mum

Appeal question

Post by Bucks Mum »

Thanks to Guest 55 and Maggie for your replies.

When the results came out the Headteacher said that they were v surprised with her scores as they felt confident that she would score higher. He did also say that there were other surprises both ways, so am not terribly copnfident that his OoS was accurate and now worried that this will dilute our case. I have not asked the Head for this info, wasn't sure if we needed it but now I realise it will come with all the other paperwork a week before the appeal. I know the child who was ranked 2nd also did not get the required mark although there are strong extenuating circumstances there. There were 6 in the school that got through.
I was interested that you, Maggie, said you took in practice SATs papers, just hope our school will let us have them. I'm hoping to show that 5b is very achievable but that 5a is a real possiblity as still 4 mths til SATs.
I would be interested to hear what Etienne or Sally-Anne especially feel about this.

Thanks for you help.

Bucks Mum
Guest55

Post by Guest55 »

In 2006 you needed 62/80 for level 5 in Science - so 74/80 is about a 5a [these are not 'officially' awarded]

Remember many children - over 50% in Bucks get level 5 in Science - a practice paper in Maths or English [espeically writing] would carry more weight.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear Bucks Mum

Personally I wouldn't recommend taking SATs papers in for the panel. A letter on school notepaper updating the original predictions would be much better. Otherwise the predictions on the headteacher's summary sheet are likely to stand.

Regards
Etienne
dissapointed mum
Posts: 116
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:05 pm

pratice SATS mark

Post by dissapointed mum »

Hie Etienne,
My son got 37/40 for a school practise maths SATS exam. He is predicted 5's for maths, science and English. I was thinking it would be a good idea to take it into our appeal aswell. Do you not agree to this then. The actual mark of 37/40 is a high level 5 isnt it, so would this not show his academic ability??
Thnaks
DM
Guest55

Post by Guest55 »

As a teacher I am surprised by Etienne's comment - it supports the predictions so I would take it.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear DM

I don't think most panels would be happy to interpret SATs marks, and to accept that a "practice" was done under exam conditions, without confirmation from the school. The view is likely to be "If the school wishes to change its predictions, it should notify us officially".

Regards
Etienne
Maggie
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 12:23 pm
Location: Bucks

Post by Maggie »

We didn't make over much of the SATs papers - this was just something that our child's teacher had offered (along with a lot of other stuff - they were very keen to help) so we thought we might as well take it along. Our headteacher's 11+ predictions were way out so we just presented it as an indication that his other predictions might be more realistic. The SATs papers were only presented at the end along with school books and reports and in total the material was only examined for about 5 minutes, so don't think it played much part in fact.
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