Tolstoy's review

[BlueBerry22]

I want to add my comments about the review panel not considering evidence of problems if they weren't acknowledged by the school prior to the test.

I have been in & out of primary school saying to teachers 'something isn't right' only for them to say dc is well ahead of expected targets, everything is fine. The reality is if we lived in any other area other than Bucks we would not have sat the 11+ & therefore his problems would have gone undiagnosed. Bright children with issues do get overlooked.

The biggest barrier we had at appeal (not review) was dc had never sat any nationally standardized tests with extra time & therefore hadn't been able to demonstrate his potential. It was the absence of any test result showing Gs ability that did for us.

Good luck Tolstoy

Bb22

[Oblique]

I think everyone would agree that a child should be encouraged to reach their full potential. The problem is knowing what that is. Drummer expresses the problem very succinctly! Many children with SEN manage to keep up with their peers in junior school but start to fall behind as they move up through the system. It may be that your DC has reached the point where natural ability can no longer mask the SEN.

Alarm bells began to ring for my DS2 when he was in reception. I raised my concerns with the class teacher who dismissed them, making the observation that he was keeping up with the lower ability children in the class. The alarm bells were now ringing at full volume! I took DS2 to the GP who observed him while we chatted and she referred him for further assessments. DS2 was diagnosed and we were given a list of activities and interventions to help him. By this time, DS2 had moved into Yr1 and his new class teacher took on board the suggestions. I think she could see there was a disparity in his abilities. Clever children can often find ways of working around their problems but sometimes there just aren't different paths to take.

DD1 has multiple and complex needs and her disability masked her clever little brain. We had to got to Tribunal to get her the education she needed. Without this, she would have been throwing chairs around, whereas, DS2 is a chilled and accepting little soul.

You have nothing to lose from appealing and you are sure to gain, if only grey hair! As we are in Kent, I can't help with the review vs appeal argument but would urge you to get a diagnosis if you have concerns your DC has a SEN that is affecting his ability to progress. Having an officially diagnosed label is often the only way to open doors to funding, equipment, extra time and sadly, peoples attitudes and expectations.

Good luck!

[Tolstoy]

Sorry to read of your struggle Oblique and thank you for your advice it is very useful. I do hope your DC continue to get the support they deserve and reach their full potential.

[Oblique]

Thanks Tolstoy. Stay positive!

[Tolstoy]

Etienne

However, some appeal panels do seem ambivalent about where the burden of proof should lie.
This is why we advise:
Quote:
E32f. It would be advantageous for appeal purposes to include as many [Bucks] grammar schools as possible on the CAF form, provided of course these schools are logistically possible, and provided you have noted all the advice given here: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/school" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... n-form-caf
Different appeal panels can arrive at completely different decisions. If you appeal for, say, three grammar schools, then you get three separate chances. You might lose the first two appeals, but win the third (with exactly the same evidence!).
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... aneous#e32

_________________

I have taken this quote for another thread.

Can you confirm a couple of things

1. Am I right in saying that each GS will organise its own appeal panel and select lay persons for that panel and they tend to use the same people each year if they are available?

If this is correct..

2 Have you or S-A noticed, through your helping all of us lot, which GS panels tended to put the onus on the LEA for burden of proof making it easier on those appealing?

We can't edge our bets as we are only interested in one GS. Can any posters comment on this as well. I know Mamabear was successful as were a couple of other JHGS appeals, any others people know of?

[BlueBerry22]

I know of 1 successful appeal for SWBGS (2015) and 1 that tried for Challoners (boys) (2014) but was unsuccessful.

At our Stage 1 appeal the chair of panel said "I am very much looking forward to your arguments about why your review was not FCO"

As several people in the room pointed out the LEA must prove the opposite.

It is scary -

Maybe name 2 GS on your CAF since you are guaranteed your US and then you may get a practice run before facing JHGS panel (obviously depends on timing) - you can always pull out if dates don't go your way & you may have succeeded at Review (fingers crossed)

BB22

[MamaBear]

At the beginning of our appeal we had to state why the review wasn't F.C.O, we were prepared for that and the Rep stayed quiet, then we presented our case.

good luck with everything Tolstoy and hopefully you will pass on review.

[southbucks3]

Etienne

However, some appeal panels do seem ambivalent about where the burden of proof should lie.
This is why we advise:
Quote:
E32f. It would be advantageous for appeal purposes to include as many [Bucks] grammar schools as possible on the CAF form, provided of course these schools are logistically possible, and provided you have noted all the advice given here: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/school" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... n-form-caf
Different appeal panels can arrive at completely different decisions. If you appeal for, say, three grammar schools, then you get three separate chances. You might lose the first two appeals, but win the third (with exactly the same evidence!).
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... aneous#e32

_________________

I have taken this quote for another thread.

Can you confirm a couple of things

1. Am I right in saying that each GS will organise its own appeal panel and select lay persons for that panel and they tend to use the same people each year if they are available?


Unless things have changed hugely the schools have absolutely no involvement in selecting the panel, other than if a panel member has to declare an interest in one school they will be swapped to another set of appeals. The panel members are organised and trained by bucks county council.
The school and the la have a representative present at hearings but that is all.
Sometimes you get one panel member who will have a bee in their bonnet and make you as uncomfortable as possible about something, sometimes you will get a very friendly panel but they still turn you down.
We won the jh appeal two years ago, we were one of five from 22 appealing,,although I think only 20 attended both appeals. We lost the rgs appeal but this was subsequently voided due to maladministration and a few other things, this resulted in us having an offer to accept our son at rgs, probably also swayed our success at jh. We liked jh by then and our football loving boy had a change of opinion too.
This year I know of two boys who won places at rgs, but one didn't opt for it, my friend said of the panels they seemed most interested and friendly, so it deffo changes.



If this is correct..

2 Have you or S-A noticed, through your helping all of us lot, which GS panels tended to put the onus on the LEA for burden of proof making it easier on those appealing?

Both our panels very much expected us to prove our son was academically able to attend gs.
one silly lady also rattled on about whether our sons really got on well as she didn't like her siblings at school, (I didn't care a jot about her life) this was a defensive for not accepting on oversubscription which was a stupid and judgemental question as they had no argument for over subscription compared to his obvious needs. (Catchment, free bus, sibling, friends etc)
We didn't review so did not have to answer fco


We can't edge our bets as we are only interested in one GS. Can any posters comment on this as well. I know Mamabear was successful as were a couple of other JHGS appeals, any others people know of?

Apply for a few, we were pulled up over a few things at our first appeal that we were more slick about on at our second. (Helped by being given stats that the first forgot we needed )

However if you are truly happy with the upper, your initial idea of doing a review and then getting closure one way or another is probably the better choice. Appeals drag on and on into next summer, so that closure would be long coming for him. My son was adamant it was rgs or local upper, he had several friends and a bruv at rgs and loved the upper. Thankfully within two minutes of having a personal tour of jh by a very cool sixth former, he didn't give rgs a second glance. He still sees his rgs friends regularly but has a whole new set now too.

[thefirs]

I am in all most identical situation Tolstoy

Very low score, 2:1 , dyslexia diagnosed after being picked up on by me this summer while I was tutoring for 11 plus, I could see there was a problem, why has it not been noticed before, again a bright dc , no need to think there was a problem, I have a report from Ed phsy, which clearly states v bright but dyslexia holding back,but with the poor score I'm not sure this is gonna cut it.
One question on selection review form, disability , what does this mean ? Is dyslexia a disability or are they talking physical ?

[BucksBornNBred]

I think successful appeals for JHGS were in double-figures this year (2015 entry), but I am unsure how many of those had already been to review. I know one parent who was unsuccessful but don't know the details of score/case/review.

I would also say a practice run is no guarantee of perfecting your performance for later appeals. We presented some information in the wrong format at our first appeal and felt it had gone really badly, but that was the one we were successful at. I would also add that if you find yourself at appeal then hope you have different dates for stage 1 and stage 2, as a lot of information can be taken away from stage 1 which can then be used to tweak your case at stage 2 (we didn't get this luxury ).

I too didn't do review so can't offer advice on that side of things.