Does this warrant an appeal?

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Manana
Posts: 710
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:22 pm

Does this warrant an appeal?

Post by Manana »

My niece took her 11+ yesterday in Essex. It seems the school she chose to take the test at was far busier than expected. She was dropped off at 9am and the parents told by letter to collect at 12.30.

On arrival, this was changed to a 1.15 collection and when arriving at 1.15, they were told by the very irritated deputy head that there was at least 20 minutes more to wait and parents should go home for a coffee and come back.

When my niece finally came out at 1.40-she was very dizzy, saying they were supposed to have biscuits but lots of girls were grabbing handfuls of them and they'd all gone. When she asked the teacher if she could have one, she was told tough, they were all gone! As the children weren't allowed to bring their own snack, this seems really harsh.

She'd had breakfast at 7.30-to still be working with no snack at 1.30 is a very long time. She has felt v dizzy before when she's not eaten-we never imagined they would run out?! It is hard for her to hear from friends at other local schools who registered at 9am and were out at 12 (the format is two x one-hour long papers) -surely she is at a disadvantage??
Stressed?Moi?
Posts: 1844
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 11:28 am

Re: Does this warrant an appeal?

Post by Stressed?Moi? »

Pretty poor organisation. Not sure how it compares with elsewhere but one of the schools here took 630 kids and the day and I understand it went fine. I don't know about this as being a grounds as I haven't gone through the appeal horror (hopefully won't have to, but it's possible). I would definitely email the school to register your concerns. That way any appeal panel will officially be aware of the circumstances, rather than just leaving it months until the appeal process commences. One of the other boys in my ds's group kept chatting and finally burst into tears and was angry with himself because he had gotten something wrong poor chap. He was relocated to another room, but ds's concentration was really rocked. We've registered it as it definitely affected his performance. Having said that, I spoke to an invigilator here (in Gloucestershire) who said that absolutely everything is written down, right from "pencil dropped", "sneeze", "cough" etc. Not sure if all areas are like this? Presumably allowance would be made for all the children she sat it with and comparison made with each other, as they will all have been disadvantaged and not just her? Having said that, from what I can gather, an appeal is only ever successful if there is proof of good academic achievement leading up to the exam, not just when something happens on the day, so you will stand a much better chance if this is the case. Over to someone who knows what they are talking about now..................
Manana
Posts: 710
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:22 pm

Re: Does this warrant an appeal?

Post by Manana »

Yes, I agree all those whose exams were delayed at this school were at a disadvantage, but it was only her and a couple of others she says (none of her friends there were affected) who weren't given anything to eat. I think I would struggle to perform at my best if I hadn't eaten for six hours.

I doubt either that any of this was recorded by an invigilator because there were no adults to be seen when 'Biscuit-gate' was going on otherwise they might have actually stopped girls taking great handfuls of them!
hermanmunster
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Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Does this warrant an appeal?

Post by hermanmunster »

I think all you can do is highlight this with the school and then the fact is on record, it maybe that other people have commented too.
Hopefully you won't have to appeal but in cases where people do appeal we advise that it is always better to have noted any concerns at the time rather than when the result comes through
Manana
Posts: 710
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:22 pm

Re: Does this warrant an appeal?

Post by Manana »

hermanmunster wrote:I think all you can do is highlight this with the school and then the fact is on record, it maybe that other people have commented too.
Hopefully you won't have to appeal but in cases where people do appeal we advise that it is always better to have noted any concerns at the time rather than when the result comes through

Thank you. The school have been informed via email already-no reply yet.

What would happen if it did go to appeal? Would it be a potential reason for non-qualification?
DC17C
Posts: 1197
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:34 pm

Re: Does this warrant an appeal?

Post by DC17C »

I think this could be regarded as something that could be used as mitigating reasons for not getting a better score on the day possibly but even then you might have to be careful- if say the first paper was a really high score and then the second paper massively lower and you have other good academic evidence to back you up then that might point to the lack of snack /upset having an effect.
If both papers were similar scores or the first score was not so good then then argument is not persuasive as she would have been in a same position to the rest of the cohort in the first paper.

I am no expert other than surviving a previous appeal and being a mum but that is how I see it.
Manana
Posts: 710
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:22 pm

Re: Does this warrant an appeal?

Post by Manana »

DC17C wrote:I think this could be regarded as something that could be used as mitigating reasons for not getting a better score on the day possibly but even then you might have to be careful- if say the first paper was a really high score and then the second paper massively lower and you have other good academic evidence to back you up then that might point to the lack of snack /upset having an effect.
If both papers were similar scores or the first score was not so good then then argument is not persuasive as she would have been in a same position to the rest of the cohort in the first paper.

I am no expert other than surviving a previous appeal and being a mum but that is how I see it.
Yes, I see what you mean. Unfortunately, the first paper was her weaker subject but the second one was her best (strong level 5 at the end of y5) so she might come unstuck in an appeal?
DC17C
Posts: 1197
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:34 pm

Re: Does this warrant an appeal?

Post by DC17C »

Manana wrote:
DC17C wrote:I think this could be regarded as something that could be used as mitigating reasons for not getting a better score on the day possibly but even then you might have to be careful- if say the first paper was a really high score and then the second paper massively lower and you have other good academic evidence to back you up then that might point to the lack of snack /upset having an effect.
If both papers were similar scores or the first score was not so good then then argument is not persuasive as she would have been in a same position to the rest of the cohort in the first paper.

I am no expert other than surviving a previous appeal and being a mum but that is how I see it.
Yes, I see what you mean. Unfortunately, the first paper was her weaker subject but the second one was her best (strong level 5 at the end of y5) so she might come unstuck in an appeal?
I guess it would depend on the school - there seem to be some where it is worth appealing with the right evidence and other where it seems no amount of evidence seems to be enough.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Does this warrant an appeal?

Post by mystery »

Grrrr. Feel sorry for your daughter whether it affected her result or not. Why don't they let children take their own snack? It seems so silly spending public money on a biscuit grabbing exercise. What's this silly rule about?
Stressed?Moi?
Posts: 1844
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 11:28 am

Re: Does this warrant an appeal?

Post by Stressed?Moi? »

For me it's the inconsistency throughout the country that is annoying. Here for example, the dc's had to bring their own snacks and drinks, which suited everyone fine. Presumably they had an emergency stash there as well!! I'm guessing some schools don't allow external food to be brought in as an allergy precaution? It's a bit off that there weren't any adults around to supervise biscuit sharing - dc's aren't famous for magnanimous gestures where snacks are concerned are they?!!

To the OP, the chances are if the second paper is the stronger of the two, then she should be fine and she won't need to appeal in any event. The key really is the strong supporting evidence of academic ability. As far as I'm aware, issues in the exam are taken into consideration, but certainly wouldn't be the deciding factor. I know it's awful but the other thing that springs to mind is there is only her word that this happened - proving it may be tricky? As such, it may be worth encouraging the other dc's to flag it up as well if they haven't already done so. It will be more plausible if a few do it.
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