11 Plus Exams Forum

I have my son's appeal hearing for Bucks on 1st Feb. He scored 120 & 119 and is predicted level 5 in SATs (and indeed was working to level 5 in Maths and Science at the end of Year 5). His birthday is in November. We are OOC and so the Headteacher did not complete an OOS, but has ranked him as a 2:2. The Headteacher has also provided information about a previous NVR test taken in Sept 2007, where he scored 115; and information about the Suffolk Reading Test, where he was assessed at 12:08. As far as I am aware only 3 other children from the school passed. My son did pass the Herschel test, but only with 111 and so is unlikely to be offered a place.
We have no other mitigating circumstances.
I have a meeting with my son's Headteacher on Monday to pick his brains and pick up examples of his schoolwork. I am sending a copy of his Year 5 school report, which was glowing.
I have read through Etienne's lovely Q&As and I think I have gathered all of the right evidence, but I would welcome advice. My question is…have I covered all bases? Is there anything else I should have thought of?
Thank you in advance!

Hi Cookie

It sounds as though you have everything covered. Just concentrate on finding every scrap of academic evidence you can. Do you think that the class teacher would write a good letter in support?

You will also need to decide which school books to take in. I usually suggest Eng/Math/Sci, and possibly History and Geography if they are of high quality.

The NVR test is not really relevant, so the 115 doesn't much matter. Has he taken any previous VR tests or CATs tests?

Don't worry about not having mitigating circumstances. They are not compulsory, and panels do sometimes find it refreshing to have someone say that frankly and honestly.

On scores of 119 & 120 your chances of success are probably somewhat higher than 50/50.

Good luck
Sally-Anne

Thanks for your advice.

I'm not sure I know what a CAT score is? I assume I can ask the Headteacher for that.

With regards to his school work, I was anticipating taking the three core subjects and a History book as he has shown a great aptitude for History and this was highlighted on the Headteacher's report.

I haven't had the appeal paperwork yet, but I expect I will get that any day now.

Thanks again!

Hi Cookie

Not all schools use CATs, but there is an explanation of them here. You are likely to come across them at Secondary School anyway.

http://www.gl-assessment.co.uk/educatio ... 3/cat3.asp

The book selection sounds fine, especially the addition of history.

Sally-Anne

Thanks Sally-Anne.
I've just got back from the seeing the Head. The school do not administer CATs nor VR (other than 11+).
The Head suggested I take along his SATs results from October 2007 and December 2007 to show how he has performed in this last term. He is also in the top 25% in Maths and English, and the Head says this will count as the school is a 'high performing' one. How will I be able to present this to the panel, is there anywhere I can get evidence to show e.g. league tables, or would you not recommend this?
Do I need to send all of this evidence in advance or will it be acceptable to take some on the day? For instance, the letter of support from his current teacher?
Sorry for all the questions, I just keep thinking of more, so thank you for your patience!

Cookie

Hi Cookie

The panel may well know that the school is a high performing one, so you probably need to present very little evidence of that. However, as it is a claim that seems to be increasingly common at Appeals, it is probably worth putting a couple of numbers forward to support it, without teaching the panel to suck eggs.

A comment to the effect that "the school achieves x% Level 5 SATs in Maths and English" would be ample. I am sure that the Head would provide those figures for you, along with some evidence of where that ranks the school in the County. You will not need to present that in writing, because the figures can easily be checked if anyone wanted to do so.

You can take further written evidence with you on the day (6 copies), but try to keep it to the absolute minimum. If there is too much evidence for the panel to absorb in the time allowed for your Appeal they might ask for an adjournment to another date, and you wouldn't want that to happen, I'm sure!

Sally-Anne

go to this link and type in the name of your school :-

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/performancetable ... y_07.shtml

This will give you the SATs results and performance against County and National levels

Thank you for that link, great information. I have found out so much since looking at this forum, it is amazing how much information is out there and how much other people know!

Thanks.

I am so worried about this appeal! I hope I have done my son justice with the evidence I have gathered, but the more I read the more I doubt myself. For instance I thought a reading age of 12:08 at 10:10 was excellent, until I read that a reading age of plus 2 years is considered GS material and so many kids have got higher than this... would the 2 months rule him out and should I have not included it in my evidence?

Roll on next Friday, I just want to get it over with now!

Cookie ( in the throes of a nervous breakdown!)

Hi Cookie

I have just had my appeal today and if it is any consolation the panel were LOVELY. They put me and my husband at ease straight away (I was very nervous) and I relaxed instantly.

I found going through my case beforehand with a critical eye and preparing answers to anything negative really helped. It meant I was prepared and some of the questions came up, some didn't. Our case was slightly different in that my son goes to an out of county independent school.

You cannot magic up academic evidence out of thin air, you just have to do the best with what you have got. I didn't take in his exercise books for instance, because I didn't want a few negative comments to spoil the positive facts I had. My husband and I came out feeling we had given it our best shot without blathering on for hours or constantly driving the same points home. I hope that helps a little bit....