Fairly desperate - appeal to over-subscribed comp
Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:04 pm
Dear Etienne
Where to begin - I am sure this is a familiar tale!
Our son is a 5A SATS achieving child with a special gift for history. He is certainly no genius (can be lazy and sometimes does not focus) but is "very able" and always has been. DS had minimal tutoring (our fault) for the 3 London Borough of Sutton grammar schools (hugely competitive, any boy in the country can apply – these schools are in the very top tier for results etc.). DS failed to get a place but did fantastically well, just failing to make the waiting list each time. The 2 boys from his year who got places at the grammars were tutored from age 7 (please take note other parents of naturally clever children!).
Needless to say, on 2nd March, DS was not offered a place at any of the local comprehensives we listed due to huge over-subscription, and we are barely 2kms away from these schools! He was offered a place at a boy’s secondary school which is just out of special measures. We have declined this offer as the school is wholly unsuitable for him. It is a definite non-starter. My husband and I were absolutely distraught for 24 hours, followed by anger that a child with so much potential could be casually thrown aside as part of some social engineering experiment.
Therefore, no school for September. We have started the appeal process for our first choice comprehensive, a school we liked enormously at the Open Evening (my husband preferred it to the grammar schools). My husband and I made a reasoned, informed choice based on visiting schools etc. Why did we ever bother when we had no choice to begin with?
Our specific appeal query is that the newly acquired Humanities specialism of this school, together with our son's particular academic inclination in history, is obviously a perfect fit. This will be the main grounds for appeal but do we need to get any proof?
For example, should we ask a secondary school history teacher to independently assess DS (we don’t know any!) or will a letter from his school be enough? We are still furious with his primary school as no-one has bothered to call us or offer to help and they are aware of the situation.
The other grounds for appeal are the usual: feeder school, good pastoral care for sensitive child, easier to walk to etc. But these appear to be arguments common to most appeals and I am not sure they will make much impact with an appeals panel. I should mention that last year only 3 out of 33 appeals were successful in our area.
Any advice much appreciated.
Yours, in desperation.
Where to begin - I am sure this is a familiar tale!
Our son is a 5A SATS achieving child with a special gift for history. He is certainly no genius (can be lazy and sometimes does not focus) but is "very able" and always has been. DS had minimal tutoring (our fault) for the 3 London Borough of Sutton grammar schools (hugely competitive, any boy in the country can apply – these schools are in the very top tier for results etc.). DS failed to get a place but did fantastically well, just failing to make the waiting list each time. The 2 boys from his year who got places at the grammars were tutored from age 7 (please take note other parents of naturally clever children!).
Needless to say, on 2nd March, DS was not offered a place at any of the local comprehensives we listed due to huge over-subscription, and we are barely 2kms away from these schools! He was offered a place at a boy’s secondary school which is just out of special measures. We have declined this offer as the school is wholly unsuitable for him. It is a definite non-starter. My husband and I were absolutely distraught for 24 hours, followed by anger that a child with so much potential could be casually thrown aside as part of some social engineering experiment.
Therefore, no school for September. We have started the appeal process for our first choice comprehensive, a school we liked enormously at the Open Evening (my husband preferred it to the grammar schools). My husband and I made a reasoned, informed choice based on visiting schools etc. Why did we ever bother when we had no choice to begin with?
Our specific appeal query is that the newly acquired Humanities specialism of this school, together with our son's particular academic inclination in history, is obviously a perfect fit. This will be the main grounds for appeal but do we need to get any proof?
For example, should we ask a secondary school history teacher to independently assess DS (we don’t know any!) or will a letter from his school be enough? We are still furious with his primary school as no-one has bothered to call us or offer to help and they are aware of the situation.
The other grounds for appeal are the usual: feeder school, good pastoral care for sensitive child, easier to walk to etc. But these appear to be arguments common to most appeals and I am not sure they will make much impact with an appeals panel. I should mention that last year only 3 out of 33 appeals were successful in our area.
Any advice much appreciated.
Yours, in desperation.