Advice needed...

[capers123]

Hi,

PM'd!

[shaann]

Thanks for all the help.Capers has given some sound general advice.And thanks to the rest of you for the support.You never know I may get a good comp in the March allocations and then won`t have to worry.

However back on appeals I have just had a thought about something that may give me a better chance but its very specific to our dc so don`t want to put any potential panelists in a difficult position.Does anyone have good appeal panel knowledge but is outside Glos that I could pm and run this by?

Thanks

[Sally-Anne]

If you look at the top of the Appeals section you will see this line, containing a link:

"There is a facility here for keeping sensitive information private while seeking advice."

[shaann]

Thanks , have asked the question in the appeals box

[Etienne]

Thank you for your message in the Appeals Box. The issue you mention would be worth mentioning at an appeal.

[shaann]

Hi, just popping back in again for some more help!

Have been busy getting an appeal ready and its gone really well.I initially thought I had nothing but when you start to think about why you want that school and why it would be so suitable, all sorts of things jump out at you, some of which could be very useful in an appeal.

The problem I have now is something thats been eating away at me for ages and I am not sure if I should take it to the appeal table or not.Would it be a benefit or would it weaken our case......

DD has elements of genius in her brain,she gets to certain answers quicker than anyone in her class and has an ability way higher than her age for some things.She quite often makes me gasp at how she knew or worked out things.These are all the reasons why I want her in a GS so that they can bring on this evenmore.

Anyway the BUT......despite reading 5 to 10 books per week,being in the top reading ability group(at level 5b now), she has big difficulties with spelling and handwriting.She just doesn`t have that little voice in her head to say that looks wrong or thats too messy.I have brought it up several times over the years with the school and although they have aknowledged there to be a problem in those areas,because she is clever and has not fallen behind because of it,they can`t go down the special needs road.

I have spoken to a professional about this and they "suggested" a form of dyspraxia.

As regards the failed test I think it may have been possible that this was what brought her down.Her worst question types were picking similar and opposite words.If she had a paper full of complex maths questions,codes or those dreaded word problems she would have passed with top marks.Goodness only knows how but those problems ones,type 21 I think people call them, she could see the answers to in seconds.

So what do I do? Would this help the appeal by mentioning it.I am sure the school would write a letter to confirm but a diagnosis is out as I have already asked.

Do I take this to the appeal table?

Thanks

[mm23292]

Hi Shaan, Just read your last post and just wanted to say..that is exactly how my DD is. She is a great reader, like yours, currently 5b and max reading age tested in school. But her spelling is sporadic and she seems unable to edit her own mistakes. Every single ptm I have ever attended, I have raised my concerns, but I have always been reassured that she is doing well so there is nothing to worry about. Her comprehension is excellent, but she misspells simple words, and while she may spell it one way one time, it could be something else the next, even if she is copying it from somewhere. She can memorise 30 complex words and reproduce accurately, but she cannot phonemically break a word down. It has been very frustrating and has led me to many a little 'spat' with her..but when we had her tested a few weeks ago, the results indicated dyslexia. All makes sense in hindsight, but I always thought the school would spot things like that straight away, and started to think that perhaps I was just being over fussy. Please if you can, do get her tested. It didn't cost us as much as we thought it would, and while we lost our case, we are just so pleased we can do something to prevent it holding her back from anything else in the future. Good luck.

[gertie]

Hi Shaann and mm32392

Please if you can, do get her tested. It didn't cost us as much as we thought it would, and while we lost our case, we are just so pleased we can do something to prevent it holding her back from anything else in the future. Good luck.

Just wanted to say a friend of mine has a daughter who too was discovered to have similar difficulties...I still can't get my head round hers...it was a combination of things and I can't quite recall. In her case she struggled albeit inconsistently at school which caused lots of confusion (plus not much help from school), was eventually tested privately and was found to be bordering on genius! Only then did school start making special arrangements and allowances and together with techniques learned at home she is doing brilliantly, performing well above the majority of pupils in her year. Incidentally they do not have the GS system but fortunately got a place in a good school which they were just about in catchment for.

Incredibly they went through a not disimilar situation with their son, now 18, who recently achieved GCSE's 5A*'s (including maths, english and all sciences, 4 A's and 2 B's ....and expected to have outstanding results at A level. Can you believe it their 8 year old is now showing signs of discalculus....this will be a new one for them to tackle.

What I am trying to say is definitely have your DC tested; do as much research as you can to find ways to help them whichever school they may go to. Our friend's finances are not great, yes it was sometimes difficult, but with careful choices, determination and commitment on all their parts it is paying off..and their DD enjoys it.

I am sure your DC's will do very well, just keep being the supportive parents that you are. Good Luck!!

[shaann]

Wow thanks for your replies mm and gertie,that gave me a really strange feeling.I guess you will know that feeling all too well of trying to make yourself believe its all in your imagination.When you said you have the same problems with yours,that little voice in my head stood up proud and said"see you were right,there is such a thing".And the little voice that keeps telling me I am imagining it all in an attempt to make excuses for her,well he just got reduced in size!!

Thanks anyway,and I will go forward now and get some private testing done.

Still not sure whether I should bring it up in the appeal though? Any ideas?

[rubyrubyruby]

Hi Shaan

My DS has a dyspraxia/dyslexia/add type grouping diagnosed back in year 2. There is no doubt about the impact on how his school work has developed (particularly writing, although in his case spelling is not impacted) and it has been a long haul to get him the support and understanding he needs. I think until the appeal the HT was completely unaware of it, despite the fact that I have been sending notes in and speaking to his class teachers and the SEN co-ordinator every new school year. Go with your gut feel and get your child tested and review what help they need- in my case it was a long period of various home therapies and most importantly learning to type and switching onto a laptop. These all take a while to get into place, but are far from insurmountable and have made a huge difference- DS now enjoying english composition (!!!) for the first time ever. Those are all longer term though and for the appeal, if I have read Etienne and Sally-Anne correctly, a late diagnosis can be considered as an extenuating circumstance, but if the testing authority did not know in advance they cannot have been expected to make adjustments for it.

From reading peoples threads here (and I suggest you make your own judgement as the data is of course very partial) it seems to me that the panels are tending not to place a huge weight on late emerging issues- "if it is affecting their work so badly why was it not picked up before" could be a question that one might want to be able to head off in some way (it might be that until 11+ testing it was masked by otherwise strong academics for example which was a point we made). For what it is worth, and accepting that all cases are so different, we explicitly said that whilst DS has dyspraxia we were not asking that it be considered as an extenuating circumstance, simply that it was an important context for reviewing his academic record, which was strong anyway, but was therefore all the more impressive in the light of that. We tried not to get too bogged down in the dyspraxia in our submission and were asked no questions about it at all.

One of those who has sat on a panel will be able to advise better than me- but good luck with it all

RRR