Appeal: Non Qualification in Bucks 119 and 117

[tiredmum]

have a look at this - 100 is about average, thats why i said earlier the vr and english ooked better if you are trying to prove ability.
http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/research/ass ... scores.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tinabf]

I am wrestling with what to put into the appeal and not. Please can I have some help:
1 School Reports for Yr 4 and 5 : last school produced A5 pamphlets by subject with details by category: eg effort, comprhension, reading, spelling etc. Can I put in a summsary sheet by key subject English, Maths and Science and a few key pages photocopied? Otherwise the panel will be drowning in paper -or will it look selective? I was going to state that I would have the full reports avaiable at appeal
2. Medical Letter : I have one from my GP stating the pressures and my own medical issues arising due to my ongoing responsibilities for my parents complex medical and care needs etc. Do I also need to get ones from the doctors etc for my parents as my father was diagnosed with Alzheimers on top of evrything else in September and there were several other issues arising as a result of this etc. It just seems that I will have no proof otherwise but I don't want it to become overkill etc. I do not want to pull an X factor sympathy stunt but I do want the panel to understand the strains surrounding my daughter at the time of her 11+. This has been going on since May 2008 but it just gets worse as their situation continues to deteriorate and frankly I am finding it harder to cope under the strain of it all as time goes on.

Everything points to our having a strong academic case but ultimaltely she got 119 and 117. The only explanation for her results acc to teacher is what was happening outside school etc and her having to take her 11+ less than a month after joining a new school. But am worried about how much mitigating to include

AGH!!!!

[magwich2]

Having done personal injury work for years (albeit a while ago!!) and helped several people with appeals I would say the more medical reports you can muster, the better. It has always intrigued me how the most mundane or repetitive medical reports impress everyone. I would get reports from every Consultant possible as well as every GP involved. When asking for reports I would try to be as specific as you can as to what you want them to say - I find that many doctors are not , how shall I put this, quite as devious/thoughtful as I am!!!!
Good luck anyway I hope your appeal goes well for you.

[hermanmunster]

Hi Tinabf

Fully appreciate the stresses of family illness but I suspect that the panel are going to be more interested in the effects on your DD rather than members of the family themselves.

Children vary hugely in how they respond to family illness - some hardly seem affected and some actually need medical input.

The effectiveness of a report from your GP for your daughter based on family illness will depend on a couple of things,
a) did your daughter see the GP with problems associated with the family illness?
b) did you discuss the problems of your daughter with the GP before the exam (can be really useful if there is something in someone else's notes prior to the event.

If there is none of this then there is a risk that the report could be vague eg: Mrs Tinabf tells me that Miss Tinabf was distressed by her family illness and feels it may have affected her exam performance.

What may be better is if you can get some help from the school as to how DDs performance was over this time - did they notice any change?

Also need to concentrate on the academic side to ensure the right info is there - sorry will need one of the school experts to advise about that.

[Rob Clark]

Our personal experiences would lead me to completely and totally disagree with Magwich – our Appeal Panel paid little attention to medical extenuating circumstances or doctor’s reports, perhaps because they didn’t have the expertise which would enable them to quantify the affect this might have had on an individual child.

DD had (and has) a complex chronic medical condition, for which there is evidence of a direct adverse correlation on cognitive function, which we submitted along with letters from her 2 consultants. There is barely a mention of her medical condition in the clerk’s notes we saw. Of course that doesn’t mean it wasn’t discussed, but it doesn’t seem to have had much importance attached to it.

Would your DD’s teacher be prepared to state in a letter that she believes your family situation has had a direct impact on her 11+ results? That might be useful. Otherwise I agree with Hermann that you should concentrate on the academic.

[tiredmum]

What may be better is if you can get some help from the school as to how DDs performance was over this time - did they notice any change?

Also need to concentrate on the academic side to ensure the right info is there - sorry will need one of the school experts to advise about that.

I agree - ask the school - you never know what they may have noticed.

One of the experts will be along soon - but try and keep to the one "appeal" post that has all the details for your case in one place - makes it easier for them to comment.

[Etienne]

try and keep to the one "appeal" post that has all the details for your case in one place - makes it easier for them to comment.

Thanks, tiredmum. I've moved this to the main thread. Some guidance for everyone fairly new to appeals here: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... =35&t=8255" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

stick to using this one thread for everything to do with your case: it is your personal “Q&A section” from now on. Please do not start a new thread each time you post about your own case, even if you are moving away from your original question - it helps us to have all the information in one place. We can change the original topic title for you if it no longer seems appropriate.

No time at the moment, tinabf, but I'll try and give my view about the points you raise later today.

[tinabf]

thanks tiredmum and etienne and sorry for posting in wrong place and thanks for finding my 'bold'!

[hermanmunster]

thanks tiredmum and etienne and sorry for posting in wrong place and thanks for finding my 'bold'!

re: the bold!! you had the "bbcode" box (bottom of the post) ticked and hence it was disabled....

[tinabf]

What a techno-numpty I am! Oh dear...