Result of 118 (.75) - selection review? (Bucks)

Consult our experts on 11 Plus appeals or any other type of school appeal

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Result of 118 (.75) - selection review? (Bucks)

Post by Etienne »

Hi tamisara

(See post above - I've cross posted with Guest55.)
I'm inclined to include Y5's report, as it shows there are no scores
You may or may not decide to include the Y5 report, but don't include it for that reason. You don't want to get into an argument about there being no scores.
Would it be worth mentioning that her writing was improving, but at her last test she had a broken wrist (the one she writes with)? I do of course have medical proof of that.
Yes - and if the Y5 report has a favourable comment about writing, that would be a good reason for including it.
Plus a line or two about my dad (my friend reminded me that she is extremely close to them, so it's not like a grandparent who lives 100 miles away - we see them multiple times a week).
You could - but unless the school confirms that they were aware of the problem, it is very, very unlikely to count.

What is it you are trying to prove? If you are arguing that it has affected her school work, the panel will wonder why she has done so well in reading and maths, and why the head is giving such high predictions for the end of Y6.

If you are arguing that it affected her transfer test result, I think something significant needs to have happened around the time of the test.
I don't know what the dates were, but it's always difficult to argue that an ongoing situation has affected the transfer test result when most of the school work has been so good!
I do have some screenshots from Century, which I submitted to her teacher, showing she was doing KS3 work during lockdown.
Multiple screenshots that may not prove very much wouldn't be welcome, but if there's a single screenshot that provides clear evidence of KS3, it would probably be worth including. However, you cannot submit anything that looks like school work.
it does mention that she can be shy (which she is overcoming)
You really don't need to worry about this - the panel won't take shyness into consideration.
Etienne
tamisara
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:30 pm

Re: Result of 118 (.75) - selection review? (Bucks)

Post by tamisara »

Thank you both so much, it really has helped consolidate it in my mind.

The time she saw my dad, when he was extremely ill and bed-bound, was in the week before she took the test. She wet the bed and went to school crying. They have included this in their report.

I will look through the Century stuff, but unsure.

As the school has included the extenuating circumstances, and that they are providing her with emotional support, I think that will probably suffice. Including her report of when her arm was broken, along with Y5 report (not mentioning scores).

She is overcoming her shyness, she amazed me by standing for, and being elected as, a house captain, so she has really come into her own in the last year or so (I won't include that).

I will collate what I have, and write up a brief letter, ready to submit on Monday.

Your insight has been invaluable, and I am truly grateful.
tamisara
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:30 pm

Re: Result of 118 (.75) - selection review? (Bucks)

Post by tamisara »

Thank you both so much, it really has helped consolidate it in my mind.

The time she saw my dad, when he was extremely ill and bed-bound, was in the week before she took the test. She wet the bed and went to school crying. They have included this in their report.

I will look through the Century stuff, but unsure.

As the school has included the extenuating circumstances, and that they are providing her with emotional support, I think that will probably suffice. Including her report of when her arm was broken, along with Y5 report (not mentioning scores).

She is overcoming her shyness, she amazed me by standing for, and being elected as, a house captain, so she has really come into her own in the last year or so (I won't include that).

I will collate what I have, and write up a brief letter, ready to submit on Monday.

Your insight has been invaluable, and I am truly grateful.
tamisara
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:30 pm

Re: Result of 118 (.75) - selection review? (Bucks)

Post by tamisara »

Dear Members of the Selection Review Panel,
We would be grateful if you would consider my daughter **** for admission to Grammar schools. She achieved a score of 118 at STS, which I believe was lower than expected, based on her abilities.

Academic Evidence
⦁ Strongly supported by the school
⦁ Headteacher recommendation of 2.2
⦁ scores of 111-120 in Reading and Maths, and GDS at the end of Year 6.
⦁ During lockdown she won the school poetry competition
(Appendix 1)

Extenuating Circumstances
⦁ Her writing has improved signifcantly in the last year, hence the predicted score of GDS. There were no tests at the end of Year 5 due to Covid. The last tests she took, was in February this year. She broke her right wrist in this week (she is right-handed), so found writing with her left-hand very difficult. (Appendix 2)
⦁ Lost her uncle suddenly which has had impact on all the family and emotional support from school.
⦁ Her Grandfather has terminal cancer and she was very distressed when she saw him and he was particularly unwell. This led to her wetting the bed after a nightmare about him This was the weekend before the test was originally due to be taken (she couldn't see him or take the test on the supposed date, due to her class year isolating.

Thank you for your consideration.

Enclosed - headteacher's form, Year 5 report, letter from orthopaedic surgeon.


Would something like this be OK?
tamisara
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:30 pm

Re: Result of 118 (.75) - selection review? (Bucks)

Post by tamisara »

I'm aware of the bad grammar, this isn't the final text, I just wanted to draft something, to consolidate things and to ask whether I was on the right track.

I did wonder if I should mention her high VR in the STT - I don't know how that relates to writing?

The only copies of the screenshots from Century are on Class Dojo, so I'd have to download the images from there. They say she scored 93% in both KS3 English Language and SPAG, but not sure how helpful that would be, or if they are even aware of Century.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Result of 118 (.75) - selection review? (Bucks)

Post by Etienne »

tamisara wrote:Dear Members of the Selection Review Panel,
We would be grateful if you would consider my daughter **** for admission to Grammar schools. She achieved a score of 118 at STS, which I believe was lower than expected, based on her abilities. [Only things that the school "believes" are likely to count!]

Academic Evidence
⦁ Strongly supported by the school [Where does this come from? Does the head mention strong support on the review form? Or are you referring to the 2:2?]
⦁ Headteacher recommendation of 2.2
⦁ scores of 111-120 in Reading and Maths, and GDS at the end of Year 6.
⦁ During lockdown she won the school poetry competition
(Appendix 1)
⦁ Her writing has improved signifcantly in the last year, hence the predicted score of GDS. Please note the comment in her Y5 report. [This point comes under academic evidence]

Extenuating Circumstances
With regard to her writing, there were no tests at the end of Year 5 due to Covid. The last tests she took, was in February this year. She broke her right wrist in this week (she is right-handed), so found writing with her left-hand very difficult. (Appendix 2) [If she underperformed in the February test, what was the favourable comment in the Y5 report - followed by the GDS prediction - based on?]
⦁ Lost her uncle suddenly which has had impact on all the family and emotional support from school. [Are you arguing that it affected the transfer test? If so, when was it?]
⦁ Her Grandfather has terminal cancer and she was very distressed when she saw him and he was particularly unwell. This led to her wetting the bed after a nightmare about him This was the weekend before the test was originally due to be taken (she couldn't see him or take the test on the supposed date, due to her class year isolating.

Thank you for your consideration.

Enclosed - headteacher's form, Year 5 report, letter from orthopaedic surgeon.


Would something like this be OK?
It's nice and concise, and well structured.
Not sure about a couple of the arguments.

I did wonder if I should mention her high VR in the STT - I don't know how that relates to writing?
I wouldn't. They will see the individual scores.
The only copies of the screenshots from Century are on Class Dojo, so I'd have to download the images from there. They say she scored 93% in both KS3 English Language and SPAG, but not sure how helpful that would be, or if they are even aware of Century.
If it says "KS3 English and SPAG 93%" it might be worth including, but the panel may not be aware of Century.
Etienne
tamisara
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:30 pm

Re: Result of 118 (.75) - selection review? (Bucks)

Post by tamisara »

Thank you so much Etienne.

In regards including evidence of her broken wrist to show it may have led to lower scores...well unfortunately that is unknown, as the school have not included scores for Year 5 at all (I know that they included it on the head's summary sheet, but there is nothing on the school report, there was no parent's evening after the test, so there is no way of knowing how she scored).

Her Year 5 school report says that she has "worked consistently hard in English, and fully deserves the good progress she has made." It goes on to say how good she is in reading and interpreting from challenging texts, then, as regards her writing - "she has begun to explore her own writing style and is able to express her thought clearly and confidently on paper." That is literally the only reference to writing on the Year 5 report, no grades. That is why I was thinking of including it, not sure how convincing it is, but I thought it stated she had made good progress in line with their predicted Y6 results?

The school wrote that she "is well-suited to a Grammar school environment. She works diligently across the
curriculum and applies herself well in all contexts. Family are spportive of her progress and a
pleasure to have at (school)" So if I change the 'strongly supported by the school" to the school believe that she is well-suited to a grammar school, that would be better, or at least factual?

I wasn't going to labour the point about her uncle, but the school mentioned it on their report, so although it happened in July, I will have to say something as they've included it. I think that it's affected her as although she lost her little sister, she was still tiny and had no idea of death. This affected her more as we are extremely close (she's with him on his FB profile pic), and has also hastened my dad's deterioration as he cannot get over it. She wrote a list to Father Christmas and asked him to either bring her uncle back, or let him be happy with her sister. She also asked for her grandad to get better. I know this is not related to the review, but I do think it has affected her, but I'm stumped on how to word it. I guess just as I have above?

As the school note, she has been emotionally supported, due to the sudden death of her uncle, which has led to the increased deterioration of her terminally ill grandad. She was very distressed when she saw him and he was particularly unwell. This led to her wetting the bed after a nightmare about him This was the weekend before the test was originally due to be taken (she couldn't see him or take the test on the supposed date, due to her class year isolating.


I've just read the Y3 and Y4 reports. In Y3 she scored EDS at progress in writing.

In Y4 the teacher comments "She grasps concepts quickly. Her transcriptional writing skills are excellent, ranging from spelling to grammar and punctuation. Her writing is competent but could be even better with added flair and imagination. I firmly believe this will come as she increases the challenge and diversity of what she reads (which has happened in Y5 as the report states). I know that she is working towards this and it will not only benefit her super comprehension skills but will add real depth to her writing".

I am inclined to include the Y3/Y4/Y5 reports, as Y4 states they 'strongly' believe her writing would improve with more challenging texts, which Y5 confirms she has been doing (I am so sad they didn't include any scores on the report. The only negative is they say she "should be finishing the work in class and being moved onto greater depth work, but isn't because she lacks focus - I guess that could be extremely harmful (she doesn't have such a comment in Y5 as she begun to speed up quite a lot).
tamisara
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:30 pm

Re: Result of 118 (.75) - selection review? (Bucks)

Post by tamisara »

Dear Members of the Selection Review Panel,

We would be grateful if you could consider our daughter, ****, for admission to grammar school. Although she scored 118 in the STT, she has consistently performed at GDS throughout KS1, in Reading and Maths, and at GDS for progress in writing.

Academic Evidence

School believe she is well-suited to a grammar school envirnoment (as evidenced in the headteacher's summary).
Has a 2.2 recommendation
Is predicted scores of 111-120 in both Reading and Maths and GDS in writing, at the end of Year 6
Her writing improved significantly in the last year, hence the predicted score of GDS (School report for Year 5).
Won the school poetry competition
Scored 97% in KS3 SPaG on Century (an online platform we accessed during lockdown)
Scored 93% in KS3 English Language on Century

Extenuating Circumstances
As the school note, she has had some emotional support, due to the sudden death of her uncle, which has led to the increased deterioration of her terminally ill grandad. She was very distressed when she saw him and he was particularly unwell. This led to her wetting the bed after a nightmare about him (the only time she has ever had an accident). This was the weekend before the test was originally due to be taken (she couldn't see him or take the test on the supposed date, due to her class year isolating).
The Year 4 report states that her transcriptional writing is excellent, but would be improved by reading more challenging texts; her Year 5 her report shows that she has begun reading more challenging texts, which I have highlighted.
She has done above the required work from the school during lockdown, and this has improved her writing, hence the Year 6 GDS in writing.

Many thanks for your consideration.

Enclosed - Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5 reports. Headteacher's review form. Screenshots from Century.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Result of 118 (.75) - selection review? (Bucks)

Post by Etienne »

Hi tamisara
"may have led to lower scores .... unfortunately that is unknown .... not included scores for Year 5 .... nothing on the school report ... no parent's evening after the test .... no way of knowing."
That sums up the situation! :?

So the broken wrist may have led to lower scores, followed by a positive Y5 report, but still EXS for Y5, followed by GDS for KS2?

I note the Y3-Y4 reports, and especially the nice comment for Y5 because it's recent, but the panel's attention will inevitably be drawn to the progress chart showing "Writing: (End of yr) Y2- EXS; Y3 Has met (EXS); Y4 EXS; Y5 EXS".

Would it be possible to email the school to say how pleased you are about their prediction of GDS for writing, but could they help you understand what the jump from EXS in Y5 is based on? Is there any evidence of recent progress you could use for your review?
The school wrote that she "is well-suited to a Grammar school environment. She works diligently across the curriculum and applies herself well in all contexts. Family are spportive of her progress and a pleasure to have at (school)" So if I change the 'strongly supported by the school" to the school believe that she is well-suited to a grammar school, that would be better, or at least factual?
Yes - and combine it with the headteacher recommendation so that it is all one point.
I wasn't going to labour the point about her uncle, but the school mentioned it on their report, so although it happened in July, I will have to say something as they've included it. I think that it's affected her as although she lost her little sister, she was still tiny and had no idea of death. This affected her more as we are extremely close (she's with him on his FB profile pic), and has also hastened my dad's deterioration as he cannot get over it. She wrote a list to Father Christmas and asked him to either bring her uncle back, or let him be happy with her sister. She also asked for her grandad to get better. I know this is not related to the review, but I do think it has affected her, but I'm stumped on how to word it. I guess just as I have above?
Yes, keep it brief - just one line. If it was in July, I doubt that the panel will accept that it fully explains the shortfall in marks, but you do have other extenuating circumstances, and I don't think you need a huge amount for a score of 118.
Etienne
tamisara
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:30 pm

Re: Result of 118 (.75) - selection review? (Bucks)

Post by tamisara »

Thank you so much Etienne!

I have emailed her teacher (who I think is getting fed up with me).

Looking through the app we use for messaging, I came across this from her Year 5 teacher

"She’s already such a strong writer that, as long as she can keep up with the Bitesize activities, her stamina will quickly come back in the classroom."



She was also placed in a club after school for selected Year 6 pupils, I thought it was because she'd fallen far behind, but the child who received 136 in the STT is also there, whereas the 'lower' children are not. Her teacher's reply was

"Not at all, in fact *** is doing really well! ***'s group is to give her an extra boost and secure her so that she's working within the Greater Depth standard. She's doing really well in class too - I'm very impressed!"

Having read many previous threads, and seeing so many have 1.1 recommendations I wonder now if appeal would be better? The only thing against it is the long wait, and the fact that the school we chose for her has not seemed to admit on appeals for years. I doubt the teacher gives out many 1.1 as in the last few years they have only had about two students, who have gone to grammar after successful reviews. I'm so confused about the recommendation scores, but I know that her school has never had more than three go to grammar each year, and quite a few times no one has qualified at all.
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now