There is life after an appeal.............

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totally_gutted
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2011 12:53 pm
Location: Gloucester

There is life after an appeal.............

Post by totally_gutted »

I have already posted my good news in Glos regional forum, but just wanted to say to all of you going/gone through appeals process that even if you don't win at appeal it may not be the end of the road.

DS missed out on qualifying score for GS last year and our appeal was unsuccessful so he took up his place at the local (and vastly improved) comprehensive. Top sets, great target grades, ATL marks etc - decided he wanted to try for in-year admission for Y8 so took the school's own tests in English, Maths and Science at the start of May.

7 long weeks later he has been offered a place :D :D :D :D

We are so proud of him for giving it a go and putting himself on the line once again, and really proving to everyone that actualy, yes, I deserve that place at GS and I've done it through proving myself on the basis of "real" subjects - not a VR test where I was tutored to death

Thanks to Etienne and everyone else for their support over the last years
CarpeDiem
Posts: 208
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:35 pm

Re: There is life after an appeal.............

Post by CarpeDiem »

Very well done to your DS. I do think that you have had even more to prove as it is soo much harder than the original 11+. Just as it is trying to prove at appeal that you should have passed if circumstances had not intervened. All the best for year 8. :D

One day the system may just realise that judging children on the basis of one single days performance is not a just or fair way and they may look at other methods to find the correct students.
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U400JB9
Posts: 778
Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:29 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: There is life after an appeal.............

Post by U400JB9 »

Well done to your DC, perseverance pays off.

Must be a great feeling for you all
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: There is life after an appeal.............

Post by Daogroupie »

Well done to your ds and your family. I am sure he will appreciate his place more and work hard and do well. At our school many of those who languished on the waiting lists came storming in and aced it, beating those who came in the top ten in the original exam! Our school judges by what you do when you get there, not on one exam on one day. DG
agmgacgg
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 5:44 pm

Re: There is life after an appeal.............

Post by agmgacgg »

Well done on your success this year - we too had an appeal this year for yr 7 - we were not successful - not sure if I could do it again next year for Yr 8 entry.

I truly believe that the system for entry to grammar schools needs to change. Our dd was deemed of the correct academic ability by the appeal panel - but her entrance test score let her down! I can totally sympathise with your 'totally gutted' frame of mind.

In Germany children are monitored through their primary school years and assessed over the years with tests etc. The school then recommends the children to the grammar school based on their ability and their attitude towards education. Not just based on a 'one day' test. This to me seems the far better option all round.

Congratulations to you again.
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: There is life after an appeal.............

Post by Amber »

agmgacgg wrote:In Germany children are monitored through their primary school years and assessed over the years with tests etc. The school then recommends the children to the grammar school based on their ability and their attitude towards education. Not just based on a 'one day' test. This to me seems the far better option all round..
In Germany there is an even closer correlation between social class and entry to grammar school than there is here, with ethnic minority and migrant children being hugely under-represented at the grammar schools, and the widest disparity of attainment between top and bottom achievers of anywhere in the world. The Germans are currently hotly debating carrying out reforms of their system (not easy as each region, or Land, has autonomy over its own schools) and removing at least one layer of the three tier system, which is widely recognised as failing many. German parents have the final say and can override a teacher's opinion, but as the curriculum in each of the three tiers is different and only 5% ever move up, contrasted with 25% down, from the grammar school, it's a risky strategy. A move to the German system would be a step backwards - and happily it's not one any other country seems to aspire to, partly because Germany has famously not done so well on the celebrated international comparison studies - largely because many of their weaker students leave school unable to read and write.

The only fair systems are truly comprehensive ones such as will never happen here.

Nonetheless congrats to you and your son, TG- my son also entered grammar after in-year tests at the end of year 7. We hadn't appealed. He's doing very well and while I hate the system and would celebrate its demise, if that meant going to the German system I think we'd have to jump off the planet!
Slogger
Posts: 48
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 6:46 pm

Re: There is life after an appeal.............

Post by Slogger »

I wnet to GS in the 1970s - Earls Colne in Essex - which closed when I was in the third form. At the time its was the third oldest GS in England - founded in 1520. It was one form entry and during its last 3 years the head boy went to Oxbridge. In those days if you were broadly in the top quartile academically you got a GS place. The secondary modern schools were quite patchy - my sisters both went to the local SM - one did very well and one not so well there. In Essex the small GS's were closed but those in big towns remain. The Southend schools, if you live in the catchment area are reasonably accessible if you can pass the test but the super selectives really do set a high bar and for many able children would not be a good fit. Having been to both a GS and new comprehensive which struggled to find its feet I've come to the conclusion that schools that can provide a good academic education for the top third or so of the population are what we should aim for with first class technical and vocational education for the less academic. The top third would broadly match the proportion of people going into higher education. But there needs to be a way of enabling people to move between those strands and not just a cliff edge test early in year 6.
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: There is life after an appeal.............

Post by Daogroupie »

I would not want our local primary school to have anything to do with selecting those students who would benefit from selective education. They overestimated some very average students and ignored others that went on to do really well. It should be decided by termly exams with the top ranked students securing the slot for the next term. Too many students are tutored into selective schools and then sit back once they get there. Others narrowly miss out and would have made much more of the opportunity. It is lovely that the OP gets that opportunity that he just missed. DG
neveragain*
Posts: 580
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:05 am

Re: There is life after an appeal.............

Post by neveragain* »

totally_gutted wrote:I have already posted my good news in Glos regional forum, but just wanted to say to all of you going/gone through appeals process that even if you don't win at appeal it may not be the end of the road.

DS missed out on qualifying score for GS last year and our appeal was unsuccessful so he took up his place at the local (and vastly improved) comprehensive. Top sets, great target grades, ATL marks etc - decided he wanted to try for in-year admission for Y8 so took the school's own tests in English, Maths and Science at the start of May.

7 long weeks later he has been offered a place :D :D :D :D

We are so proud of him for giving it a go and putting himself on the line once again, and really proving to everyone that actualy, yes, I deserve that place at GS and I've done it through proving myself on the basis of "real" subjects - not a VR test where I was tutored to death

Thanks to Etienne and everyone else for their support over the last years
Thrilled for you both - see you there! :D
DC17C
Posts: 1197
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:34 pm

Re: There is life after an appeal.............

Post by DC17C »

Totally gutted -You must have really gone through the mill last year. Fab news that you mananged to get a place this year. I have been through the appeal procedure this year and just had news last week that we succeeded :D.
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