BUCKS Appeals

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UpsetGuest

selection appeal

Post by UpsetGuest »

Dear Ettienne/others

My daughter took a late 11+ test as we moved into the Bucks area. She failed with 119 which seems unfair as she is very bright academically. She is a very sensitive and caring girl and I really feel we under-estimated the pressure of the move and sitting the 11+ test which all took place within a month. As my other children currently attend schools out of county, on the night before both tests they had to stay with relatives so that we could get to Aylesbury by 9:10am.

In hindsight I think this all added to the pressure. I want to appeal but am unsure if pressure and exam nerves will be considered extentuating circumstances.

Her school have agreed to support her but are unlikely to be able to quote an expected VR score as there are no Grammars in that county and she did the familiarisation at home. What should the Head give as evidence and is it worth appealing?

Any help gratefully received.
patricia
Posts: 2803
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:07 pm

Post by patricia »

Dear Upset guest

You would appear to have a good case.I am no expert. we need Etienne on the case.

If you and the school feel she should be in a grammar, you must appeal, get your papers in, then you can start preparing a case.

Hopefully Etienne will see your posting and advise accordingly.

Patricia
upsetguest

Post by upsetguest »

Dear Patricia

Thank-you for your words of encouragement. I realise it is just your opinion but they make me feel a whole lot better already.

I too await a post from Etienne with her great wisdom on the subject and I must apologise for spelling her name wrong in the previous post.

Looking forward to lots of help
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear UpsetGuest

Just catching up with the forum, having been away for a few days.

What follows is, I hope, a healthy mixture of realism and encouragement!

I’m afraid exam nerves and pressure are all too often put forward as extenuating circumstances, and probably won’t carry a great deal of weight unless there is some sort of objective evidence as opposed to supposition. Having said that, with a score of 119 you might just have enough in the way of extenuating circumstances to explain a gap of only two marks. If you could also point convincingly to previous occasions when your daughter’s sensitivity has been so extreme as to be a real problem, it would be something extra in your favour.

You don’t say what your daughter’s other score was. 119 + 119 would make a much stronger case at appeal than 119 and 110, and I think the outcome could then depend mainly on the strength of the academic evidence.

At least the head is being honest in saying that she cannot suggest an expected VR score. Does the school have the results of any alternative tests such as CATs? (Some schools do them, some don’t!)

Some really high SATs predictions (say, 5a or 5b) in English, Maths and Science would help your case, as would some favourable comments from the head about “very high ability” (panels, I suspect, tend to be more impressed with academic potential than conscientious effort!).

You could consider whether to go to the expense of getting an educational psychologist’s report. Of course, it may not come up with the results you want, and even if it does, there’s no guarantee that a panel would uphold the appeal, but a good assessment would certainly provide something extra for them to consider, especially if the rest of the academic evidence is rather thin.

I agree with Patricia that you should appeal. 119 is very borderline, and it’s well worth a try. Get your application in – you can always write on it “Full details of case to follow” to allow yourself more time to prepare. You can also cancel your appeal if you change your mind.

But if you don’t try, you’ll always wonder what might have been!

Let me know if I can be of any further help.

Good luck
Etienne
Guest

Post by Guest »

Dear Upset Guest. as a mother of a child who got through on appeal (with scores of 110 and 116) you have nothing to lose. My daughter was extremely nervous on both days and fell well short of the school predictions of 131-141. We had support from the school and took with us her English, maths and science books as 'real' proof of academic achievement. She is now off to Grammar which i feel she deserves. Good Luck.

Sara
upsetguest

Post by upsetguest »

Dear Etienne

Her other score was 116 and this was for the first exam when she was crying in the toilet before the exam.

I have taken on board what you say about pressure of exam alone not being enough but in hindsight I really feel the timing of the exam unfortunately fell wrong for my daughter. We had just moved (within 4 weeks), pressure from school for SATS revision and booster classes and on top of that her class teacher whom she has had since year 5 left over night about a week before the 11+ due to allegations made by a pupil which have now been deemed unfounded.

How much pressure can one child take? Also she did have an occurrence of eczema between the two exams which she only gets when she is worrying about something. We didn't need to see a doctor however as it is usually remedied by applying eczema cream.

I have taken your advice and will definitely appeal and thank-you to the previous poster for being so encouraging.

Forever hopeful.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear UpsetGuest

The extra details you have given all help your case.

I appreciate that you did not feel the need to consult the GP re eczema, but I assume that the doctor has been involved before, so do get written confirmation from him that your daughter suffers from eczema, particularly when under stress.

Glad to hear that you will appeal. Of those Buckinghamshire appeals that are successful, the vast majority are for scores in the range 117-120.

My feeling is that your extenuating circumstances will probably be sufficient, and that it's the academic evidence that will be crucial.
Etienne
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

13+

Post by Etienne »

Jackie wrote:
My friend's daughter got a mark of 117 for 13 plus and not 113 as I quoted originally. Etienne, I have looked the advice given in 'appeals' section - thankyou.

We feel we have a strong case because -
1) a sibling is already offered a place
2) child has a very strong report from current school
3) child was under presure as family had to fly abroad straight after her exam on the same day as family member was not well
4) taking the exam later was not a possibility
5) child was also taking GSCE earlier, and had piano exams
6) sending the child from private to secondary will disadvantage her education
7) child needs to be in same school as sibling due to possible health condition of sibling (though the doctors are reluctant to give this in writing)

Please can you advise on this matter - any help will be much appreciated. Especially any questions that the panel is likely to ask.

Many thanks,
Jackie
Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:48 am

Dear Jackie

I think the basis of the appeal needs simplifying. I would advise your friend to take out the irrelevant points to focus attention on what really matters - namely, what is the evidence that the child is of well-above average ability, and if she is so bright, why didn't she pass?

1. Your friend is not appealing at the moment for admission to a particular school. It is an appeal against non-qualification. The sibling link is therefore not relevant.
2. This will be crucial evidence, but difficult to comment without knowing exactly what it says. I hope it focuses on very high academic ability rather than character and extra-curricular activities.
3. Your friend should provide evidence of the flight time and of the illness. Was this a very close family member whom your friend's daughter saw very frequently? How is your friend going to demonstrate that the child was so distressed that her reasoning ability was affected? Does she have a history of being very sensitive? Can this be proved?
4. Why? Parents are specifically told that if the child is in no fit state to sit the test, it should be postponed.
5. When exactly? Does she find it difficult to cope with academic pressure?
6. Not relevant.
7. Not relevant.

Some of the questions above would not necessarily be put, but they might possibly be going through the mind of panel members.

Hope this is of some help.
_________________
Etienne
jackie wrote:Thanks, once again Etienne. Just a quick question. My friend has
1)school report, projects and other work done by child at school, plus exam results from piano exam done same month as 13+. - this will be to show her academic ability

Can you give examples of what is accepted as evidence of academic ability?

2)evidence of trip abroad to visit grandfather who was seriouly ill and the impact this had on her ability to concentrate on the test.

Thank you very much for your all your advice, this is very helpful.
Jackie.
Dear Jackie

For academic evidence at the 13+ I would suggest:

* a. Good test score (i.e. as close to the passmark as possible.)
* b. An excellent headteacher report. His/her words will probably be scrutinised to see whether there is some sort of reference to “very high academic ability”, and any indication of something exceptional about the case.
* c. Encouraging SATs predictions (e.g. level 7-8 in English, Maths, Science at KS3). - I realise this may not be possible at private school.
* d. High standardised test scores from school (the higher the better, e.g. 90th+ percentile). Many schools use CATs.
* e. A very good educational psychologist's report (the higher the scores, the better, e.g. 90th+ percentile).
* f. Good routine academic work, in the child’s own handwriting, that has not been specially selected (e.g. exercise books for Maths, English and Science). Projects done on a computer might be viewed with a degree of suspicion!
* g. School reports showing excellent attainment grades.

Not everyone is likely to have all of the above, but the more indicators of very high ability, the more convincing the academic case will be.

Just my views
Etienne
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