Grilled but successful appeal! Our experience.
Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2014 1:08 pm
Just wanted to thank the board owners and participants for providing a fantastic resource for appealing.
Our daughter missed her Maths last Sept on the Kent Test by quite a margin, 7 points, and we didn't hold up too much hope even though she has made accelerated progression since then and was right on the cusp of not having to sit the test for another year due to her age.
We met some people coming out we knew who commented what a lovely experience they'd had and that the panel had been quite jokey in places!
Not for us! The appeal itself really felt like a grilling, my wife read out a wonderful 2 page opening statement making it very clear we weren't appealing on her Kent Test score but on the grounds of her rapid progress since then. They kept bringing up the low Maths score and we held firm saying we were not disagreeing with the mark, then was then and now is now!
It felt like we were being almost goaded in places to see how we'd react - comments like 'how will your daughter feel being bottom in everything at the grammar?' and 'clearly your daughter's Primary has low expectations' but we maintained pleasantness and had answers for everything, since obviously she won't be bottom in everything!
I summed up and we left after only 20 mins both saying what a nightmare it'd been and how confrontational the panel had been.
So we got the letter stating the panel agreed our daughter had progressed to a high enough level to attend the grammar school but goodness me what a roller coaster ride and I didn't see the parents and daughter of the people that said their appeal had been very pleasant at the induction day either!
And here's to think we only appealed on the last submission day thinking her maths score would make it impossible!
Lesson learnt from this board was not to fight the indefensible, i.e. her Kent test score since she was fit and well when she took the test and in good spirits. I did mention on the appeal that the school admissions lady herself had said nearly all their successful appeals have failed the Maths since that's the one that most Primaries don't fully cover by the time of the test.
Good luck all with the new Kent Test format this year.
Our daughter missed her Maths last Sept on the Kent Test by quite a margin, 7 points, and we didn't hold up too much hope even though she has made accelerated progression since then and was right on the cusp of not having to sit the test for another year due to her age.
We met some people coming out we knew who commented what a lovely experience they'd had and that the panel had been quite jokey in places!
Not for us! The appeal itself really felt like a grilling, my wife read out a wonderful 2 page opening statement making it very clear we weren't appealing on her Kent Test score but on the grounds of her rapid progress since then. They kept bringing up the low Maths score and we held firm saying we were not disagreeing with the mark, then was then and now is now!
It felt like we were being almost goaded in places to see how we'd react - comments like 'how will your daughter feel being bottom in everything at the grammar?' and 'clearly your daughter's Primary has low expectations' but we maintained pleasantness and had answers for everything, since obviously she won't be bottom in everything!
I summed up and we left after only 20 mins both saying what a nightmare it'd been and how confrontational the panel had been.
So we got the letter stating the panel agreed our daughter had progressed to a high enough level to attend the grammar school but goodness me what a roller coaster ride and I didn't see the parents and daughter of the people that said their appeal had been very pleasant at the induction day either!
And here's to think we only appealed on the last submission day thinking her maths score would make it impossible!
Lesson learnt from this board was not to fight the indefensible, i.e. her Kent test score since she was fit and well when she took the test and in good spirits. I did mention on the appeal that the school admissions lady herself had said nearly all their successful appeals have failed the Maths since that's the one that most Primaries don't fully cover by the time of the test.
Good luck all with the new Kent Test format this year.
