12+ appeal

[Kata girl]

Quote : 13. Psychotherapist report to say that not being stretched at her current school is having a detrimental effect on her emotionally. Sent to psychotherapist by me because of school refusal as she wants to go to GS and not her current school.

Eccentric as you have gone to the trouble of sending your Dd to someone because of schooling issues I'm wondering if advice would carry more weight if it came from an Educational Psychologist. I understand not all psychotherapists have to be licensed.
Educational psychologists assess for learning preferences and barriers to learning. They understand how the mind works and they can assess each child's cognitive ability.

[Etienne]

Interesting point, Kata girl. I assume, though, that Eccentric would be using the psychotherapist's report as evidence for wanting a place at the school (to counter the school's case for prejudice).

An EP report, on the other hand, would relate more to the qualification part of the appeal, where it could be useful if there were insufficient evidence of high ability, or in checking possible reasons for underperformance in test situations.

Eccentric has quite a good list of academic evidence - although one can never be 100% certain what will or won't be sufficient!

[Eccentric]

[Eccentric]

[Etienne]

Would it be reasonable to use class disruption in the case against prejudice? DD is having to rest her latest French listening test because she couldn't hear the CD due to disruptive behaviour in her class. She has been moved class already because of disruptive behaviour so I don't thin moving class again would help.

Difficult to get evidence for this (I'm assuming the school won't put anything in writing about disruption?).
Worth mentioning, though, as you have some very specific details, and I think the panel would probably accept what you say.

On that subject too. I know you said that things like the school council etc wouldn't help Etienne but surely that shows that she would be an asset at the GS?

This is to misunderstand the process. The criterion is not whether she would be an asset to the school - it's whether your reasons for wanting a place outweigh the prejudice to the school.
To introduce irrelevancies risks distracting from your valid points.
See "How not to win an oversubscription appeal", C21(j):
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... school#c21" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Plus in regards to the differentiated work - She is meant to be given differentiated work but despite 4 emails being sent out by the head of lower school the head of year and the most able co-ordinator the teachers don't give it. I suppose they are overworked and forget and simply don't have the time to cater for an individual child. Doesn't this show that the school cannot cater for her needs?

Looks like a good point. Do you happen to have any evidence?

I have also discovered now that DD will not be set for English next year and as she has a 137 VR CAT score, is finding English mind numbingly boring and needs far more depth in the topics that they study would this also be a good argument for her to be with other more able children? Would it also be worth saying that DD should be doing 2 languages because of her score. She has started to learn Spanish out of school but she is struggling to fit in extra curricular stuff because she is having to compensate for missing curriculum material?

Yes, worth a mention.

I know this sounds strange but would it help to have a letter from the bookshop who have been nurturing her through her reading since the age of 4? They know far more about what she reads and her reading capabilities that the school.

Interesting idea!
If they know her, and what she's been reading, it sounds more credible as evidence than a reading list compiled by the child's own parents!

[Eccentric]

[salsa]

Hi Eccentric,
Please remember that you could request all the information kept on your daughter by the school under the Data Protection Act. This includes all emails where your daughter is mentioned.
I mention this in case you think they may have mentioned the differentiated work, the disruption or anything that supports your case.
Good luck.

[Eccentric]

[Guest55]

My Dd was taken off the accelerated reader scheme because she is such an advanced reader and the school and I and Dd felt that it was too restrictive for her reading tastes and ability. At the time Dd said she wanted to do reading tests still so as not to lose points for her tutor group. The school said it was best if she was removed from the scheme completely. They are now saying they have no reading age for her and do not have staff available to test her. Grrrr .

Can't they at least say that her reading level is above those they can cater for?

Wait for the levels until you need them but make it clear you Do need them ... you can send them 10 days before the appeal.

Hang in there ...

[Etienne]

Wait for the levels until you need them but make it clear you Do need them ... you can send them 10 days before the appeal.

Agreed - in fact this sort of evidence is so brief, I think you'd get away with taking it to the hearing (and not submitting it in advance).

Please remember that you could request all the information kept on your daughter by the school under the Data Protection Act. This includes all emails where your daughter is mentioned.
I mention this in case you think they may have mentioned the differentiated work, the disruption or anything that supports your case.

See B20(c):
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... cation#b20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have email evidence of the fact that differentiated work should be set. I don't think I have evidence that it is not being set except DD could write a statement.

I wouldn't do that. Parental involvement will be suspected!

I could try and manipulate an e-mail trail by asking what is happening with the differentiated work.

Worth trying.

Oh and another thing DD has a Syson test today for which she has spent the entire weekend rehearsing a very well put together story. She is brilliant at it as she does drama out of school however she has said that in class she won't be able to perform as she has at home because all the others will be so rubbish and it will be embarrassing to be better - she has said she will have to dumb down. I videoed her at home and am going to show the video to her teacher but is it worth mentioning that she keeps dumbing down because she is embarrassed? I am not sure I can prove that except I can show that she refused to hand in a homework in front of the class once because she was mortified that it was so much better than anyone else's. The head of yer put it in the teachers tray for her.

Worth a brief mention.

I think it's important to draw up a list of negative points (points 1-6, or whatever the number happens to be), and explain each point very concisely in just a sentence or two, adding "I'm happy to go into more detail if you wish."
If the panel want to know more, they can then ask.
Unless you do this, there's a risk that negativity will drown out the positive points about the school being appealed for.

It would be a good idea to introduce this part of your appeal with some such statement as "I really didn't want to come here to be negative about the current school, but I think perhaps you should be aware of the following background ........."

I am in despair…

You can add the school's attitude to your lengthening list of negative points! (Fortunately, the panel will probably be familiar with the fact that some schools don't go out of their way to co-operate.)

You do need to end on a positive note about the school being appealed for.