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Re: Getting prepeared

Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 12:07 pm
by Motherofdaughters
Fair point re time. I’ll blank out some personal identity info.

The GP has offered to do me a letter and depending what it says will depend if I put it in.

Re: Getting prepeared

Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 1:52 pm
by Motherofdaughters
The Head has looked over it for me and tweaked aspects. I know some areas are not provable and likely not going to help win an appeal on their own, (sibling being in school for example) Head felt is was important to pain an over all picture. I've never been very good at writing succinctly.




Dear panel, although we acquiesce that X's 11+ score falls short of the requirement we would be grateful if you would carefully consider the following points towards our case in appeal of a place at your GS

Academic Evidence:

*Firstly, please see the letters of support from both X's Head and Class Teacher, as you can see both are in agreement that her academic ability is more than at the required Grammar school standard.

*You can clearly see from the submitted STAR reading evidence, X is on track to achieve a mastery level in reading by the end of year 6, absorbing a vast quantity and diversity of material she secured a reading age of 14 years and a standardised score of 130 in December 2017. In fact, all her standardised scores have been between 112 and 130 in this last academic period showing consistently above average attainment.
*In writing, X is also achieving above standard persistently within her work. Please see attached examples. Due to her reading ability, X is able to seamlessly transfer this knowledge into her daily written skills cementing her knowledge and ability. She should leave school comfortably with a secure year 6 level.
*Once again, in Maths X is on track to leave school with a secure year 6 level. Her progress is far more consistent in 2018 and you can see from the submitted STAR Maths results, in January 2018, her standardised score was 118 placing her comfortably above expectations. Please also see work provided.

Extenuating circumstances:

*As you can see from the submitted appointment letters and the letter from her GP, X had been suffering from constant headaches that were unpredictable in severity throughout the period of the 11+ testing. Three days before the VR test, X had a consultant appointment in Sheffield 160-mile round trip away. At the appointment X was advised she needed an urgent CT scan which understandably caused her anxiety, uncertainty and concern. The appointment subsequently came through rapidly and four days before the NVR test X received an appointment for the CT scan, this was for the 27th September, 5 days after the NVR test would be sat. I believe it is a reasonable assumption that the stress and worry over the perceived urgency of the scan will have caused X to have been unable to perform to her capabilities in both tests with even greater worry in the NVR when she was aware of the date of the CT scan. In addition, X reported to have an exacerbated headache on the day of NVR test. The combination of these circumstances will have, without doubt, put X at a severe disadvantage to perform to her potential in both of the tests. Despite the episodes of headaches, X has admirably continued to overall perform well in school and as previously described, above age related expectations in many areas.

Hopefully you can now discern the reasons for the few areas of erratic test scores, this is when she suffers from an exacerbated headache and I am sanguine that the evidence from the GP, appointments and test scores prove the viability of circumstances around the time of testing and associated scores in the academic period.

Extra reasons.

*X is a fervent and diligent scientist with a genuine, avid interest in the subjects. She is attaining age related expectations with definable aspects of working at greater depth, specifically in scientific enquiry. We feel as GS is a school that specialises in the Sciences it would be far more educationally beneficial for X to attend here rather than the offered school, furthering her capacity to not only succeed but to master. The offered school simply does not afford the same facilities and advantages in this area. Please see example of work. Similarly, with the fact that GS is a specialist school in modern foreign languages, X is above age expected attainment in French, please see attached work, highlighting that GS is the preferable choice of school for her.
Lastly, X has an older sibling in the school and has already successfully and eagerly submerged herself in the community life of the school putting her at a considerable social and emotional advantage that she simply would not have with the offered school. Given the medical evidence submitted it would also be advantageous to have a safe face to hand should X need it.

We thank you for taking the time to read our appeal and look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Re: Getting prepeared

Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 5:33 pm
by Etienne
I won't comment further on the arguments, which we've discussed previously, because of course the arguments are what they are.
Every appellant is limited by their own particular circumstances and by what the evidence dictates.

This discussion is about presentation, and I think you've done quite a good job - the statement isn't too long, and the different parts are clearly set out and reasonably well-balanced.

I've pruned it a bit for you (see below), and cut out some of the flowery language such as "..... is able to seamlessly transfer this knowledge into her daily written skills cementing her knowledge and ability."
Flowery language might be all right coming from the school (assuming it does make sense), but sounds odd coming from the parent.

  • Dear Panel

    Although we fully acknowledge that X's 11+ score fell short of the requirement, we would be grateful if you could consider the following points in relation to our appeal.

    Academic Ability:

    *Firstly, please see the letters of support from X's Head and Class Teacher.
    Both are of the opinion that her academic ability exceeds the minimum standard required for grammar school.

    *You will see from the submitted STAR reading evidence that X is on track to achieve mastery in reading by the end of year 6.
    She secured a reading age of 14 years and a standardised score of 130 in December 2017.
    In fact, all her standardised scores have been between 112 and 130 in this last academic period, showing consistently above average attainment.

    *In writing X is also consistently above standard. Please see attached examples.

    *In Maths X is on track to leave school with a secure year 6 level.
    Her progress has been encouraging and far more consistent in 2018. As can be seen from the STAR Maths results, in January 2018 her standardised score was 118, placing her comfortably above expectations.
    Please see the examples of her work.

    Extenuating circumstances:

    The attached appointment letters, and a letter from her GP, explain that X was suffering from continual headaches - very unpredictable in severity - throughout the period of 11+ testing.
    Three days before the VR test, X had a consultant appointment in Sheffield, a 160-mile round trip.
    At the appointment X was told she needed an urgent CT scan, which caused anxiety, uncertainty and concern.

    The appointment came through rapidly and four days before the NVR test X was asked to attend for a CT scan on 27th September (5 days after the NVR test would be sat).
    The worry over the urgency of the scan meant that X was unable to perform at her best in both tests - and the stress was even greater in the NVR when she was mindful of the impending scan, and suffered an exacerbated headache during the test.

    We would ask the panel to consider that the combination of these circumstances would have put any 10-11 year old at a severe disadvantage in performing to their full potential.


    Reasons for seeking a place:

    *X is passionate about science and has a genuine interest in the subject. She is working at greater depth in some areas, specifically in scientific enquiry.
    We feel that as GS is a school noted for its science department it would be far more educationally beneficial for X to attend here rather than the allocated school which simply does not offer the same facilities and advantages.
    Please see example of work.

    *Similarly, we are aware of GS's reputation for MFL. X is working above age expectations in French, and is keen to pursue to a high standard the study of modern foreign languages.
    Please see attached work.

    *Last but not least, there is an older sibling at the school, and X is desperate to join her and to try and match her achievements.
    Given the medical circumstances it would also be reassuring for her to have the support of an older sibling.


    We thank you for taking the time to read our appeal and look forward to meeting you in due course.

Reminder .....
    • “What really matters is the evidence, not what you write or say”. [Q&As]

Re: Getting prepeared

Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:37 pm
by Motherofdaughters
Thank you.

Re: Getting prepeared

Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:38 pm
by Motherofdaughters
That's genuinely how I write though. :shock:

Re: Getting prepeared

Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:46 pm
by Motherofdaughters
Oh and I put in about the erratic test results to show that it wasn't a one off thing and could be seen in her previous accademic progress, On track to leave above ability but can be seen that on other days she's suffered from a severe headache her test results have dipped.

Re: Getting prepeared

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:28 pm
by Motherofdaughters
When you submit your supporting documentation, is it best to scan and upload, highlighting any points you want attention drawn to? Our school has forwarded attainment reports with standardised scores on, should I highlight these or assume thy'll know and just upload them as a doccument?

The class teacher and Head have emailed me a letter too. Should I get it signed and then scan it in or will attaching it suffice? They' re on headed paper.


The examples of work i'v been given. Shall I just scan and send or highlight teachers comments?

The Consultant, GP, Appointment letters, should I highlight dates etc or just scan?

Lastly, my letter to the panel is over 2000 Characters so I cannot add it to the 'reasons for appealing box' I'm 800 characters over using your amended version. Would it be ok to put a short
*We are appealing on none qualification, we feel we can prove E is academically capable and can also prove their were extenuation circumstances that meant she did not perform as expected in the tests. Please see attached letter for more information.

Thank you muchly.

Re: Getting prepeared

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 11:15 pm
by Etienne
We are appealing on none qualification ....
You're appealing against non-qualification, and against the prejudice to the school.

I suggest .....
    • Our appeal is based on strong alternative evidence of academic suitability, extenuating circumstances, and reasons for wanting a place at this school which we hope the panel will consider sufficient to outweigh the prejudice to the school.

      Please see:

      Appendix 1: ..............
      Appendix 2: ..............
      Appendix 3: ..............
      Appendix 4: ..............

      etc.
You could use the previous letter of appeal as the basis for your speech at the hearing.
Plan ahead and think what you will want to say. It’s a good idea to refer to the supporting evidence as you go along, but make it easy for them to follow: “If you turn to such-and-such document, the first page, second paragraph …….” (pause until you see that everyone has found the right place) ”…… you’ll see that …..”

It's really helpful if you've already highlighted anything you will particularly want to draw the panel's attention to at the hearing - but don't use a highlighter!
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals/general#a53" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Email evidence is usually fine.

Re: Getting prepeared

Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:58 pm
by Motherofdaughters
And it's gone. All sent off. Thank you for your help.

Appeal results. (Lincs)

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 9:17 pm
by Motherofdaughters
We verbally found out today our appeal was unsuccessful (not surprised at all, I’m
a total realist). Do you find out in the letter they subsequently send, why they upheld the decision? I’m interested to find out why. We had a strong case and there were potentially 6 places and 13 appeals. The head of the grammar school put no case forward and said to me afterwards 'well that's pretty definite' I said, Hmm, do you think? and she said, the fact I asked no questions and put no case forward or summary will speak volumes' She definitely meant this in a positive way.
I did take it as just polite chitchat and still expected to be unsuccessful given that even the head felt we had a very strong case, I'd like to know why they didn't offer her a place.