General Appeal Question

[faitaccompli]

At my son's school they chose 15 children to join a Latin club in year 6 - these were the children that the school felt showed an aptitude for languages. (Latin as in the language, not dancing!) My son was lucky enough to be selected and has been taking part in the club for 2 terms.

Is this something that would be worth mentioning in an appeal? It is not strictly academic, but does reflect on his academic ability indirectly.

Also, he did the "transition test" at his indie a few weeks ago to go into senior school. Although the results have not yet been issued, I have asked the senior school if they would be willing to use the test as part of the appeal process if his results were good enough. They have written back to say that they do not release the results to the parents, but he did well enough for them to be more than happy to speak to Langley directly with the results and that they feel he should be more than suitable for grammar school education. Again - how do I approach this - I am sure that Langley has no desire to speak directly to my son's indie, but what if they will not let me have the results? Do I lose the chance to use them in the appeal?

Thank you

[Etienne]

The answer to the first question is 'Yes' - ideally it would be in a letter from the school.

As regards the second question, even if they could speak to the appeal panel - which they can't! - the panel are unlikely to know exactly what the standard of the test is.

It would probably make more sense if the school were to include a brief reference to the transition test (with or without the results) as part of a letter of support for grammar school entry.

[faitaccompli]

Thanks Etienne - I will have a word with the HM of the junior school to see if she can extract some sort of statement from the senior school. If we are appealing for Langley, there is no specific form for the HM to complete - assume she simply writes a letter along the lines of feeling strongly that my son is a suitable candidate for grammar school, and then backs this up with reference to his KS2 predictions, his reading and spelling age, his latin club and finally the transition test?

As you say, it is a general test and therefore the panel cannot tell the standard - which is a pain as it is a very difficult school to get into and to do well in their tests is quite an achievement!

[Etienne]

assume she simply writes a letter along the lines of feeling strongly that my son is a suitable candidate for grammar school, and then backs this up with reference to his KS2 predictions, his reading and spelling age, his latin club and finally the transition test?

Yes - and any available test/exam results.

it is a very difficult school to get into and to do well in their tests is quite an achievement!

Let's hope the current head will make that point!