Bucks 11+ - GDMJC
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Bucks 11+ - GDMJC
Good afternoon and thank you for your time,
Our child scored 119, we had expected/hoped they would do a bit better. We did not tutor as we were confident, only taking them through a couple of Non Verbal papers as we felt this was unfamiliar ground for them. We were contacted by the headteacher advising us that if our child did not pass that they would fully support us for the Selection review. During a conversation with the head after the results were out they asked me if there had been a recent bereavement. Unfortunately there was the sudden death of a close grandparent and a family pet, but both were back in April/funeral in May.
We did not believe that this really had much impact on the test day as our child has been open in regularly discussing their grief/sadness and is processing the loss of their grandparent as well as can be hoped. I said this to the Head and they felt that bereavement definitely can have an effect on academic performance and to mention it on our statement. Whilst we advised the school at the time of the death we did not reiterate any need for pastoral support when the children returned to school in September, as we felt it was not necessary. Our Headteacher has included on their form the bereavement as an extremely extenuating circumstance that they feel definitely affected our child's ability to perform as well as expected, but also noted that we did not advise them of the situation before the exam results. When discuss evidence are they looking for a copy of the death certificate?
I feel really thrown by how to address the bereavement in our statement as I was not expecting to see it on the HT form. Should I just keep it brief and say we had advised school at the time of bereavement and why we didn't bring it up with the school in September. Any advice would be gratefully received.
We also have the academic report on the HT which indicates the end of year expectations; Greater depth or scores of 111-120 expected across all subjects shown. Would there be any need to add the year 5 school report which does show that at the end of Y5 our child was as expected for writing and greater depth for reading and Math? I feel the head teacher report is more positive and wonder if it would be enough?
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Our child scored 119, we had expected/hoped they would do a bit better. We did not tutor as we were confident, only taking them through a couple of Non Verbal papers as we felt this was unfamiliar ground for them. We were contacted by the headteacher advising us that if our child did not pass that they would fully support us for the Selection review. During a conversation with the head after the results were out they asked me if there had been a recent bereavement. Unfortunately there was the sudden death of a close grandparent and a family pet, but both were back in April/funeral in May.
We did not believe that this really had much impact on the test day as our child has been open in regularly discussing their grief/sadness and is processing the loss of their grandparent as well as can be hoped. I said this to the Head and they felt that bereavement definitely can have an effect on academic performance and to mention it on our statement. Whilst we advised the school at the time of the death we did not reiterate any need for pastoral support when the children returned to school in September, as we felt it was not necessary. Our Headteacher has included on their form the bereavement as an extremely extenuating circumstance that they feel definitely affected our child's ability to perform as well as expected, but also noted that we did not advise them of the situation before the exam results. When discuss evidence are they looking for a copy of the death certificate?
I feel really thrown by how to address the bereavement in our statement as I was not expecting to see it on the HT form. Should I just keep it brief and say we had advised school at the time of bereavement and why we didn't bring it up with the school in September. Any advice would be gratefully received.
We also have the academic report on the HT which indicates the end of year expectations; Greater depth or scores of 111-120 expected across all subjects shown. Would there be any need to add the year 5 school report which does show that at the end of Y5 our child was as expected for writing and greater depth for reading and Math? I feel the head teacher report is more positive and wonder if it would be enough?
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Re: Bucks 11+ - GDMJC
Welcome! 
With a score of 119 don't worry too much about it. (What really matters is the academic case.) I don't think the panel will see it as a strong point anyway (a) because it relates to April, and (b) because it doesn't appear to have affected attainment generally (GDS/111-120). Surely any impact would have been on progress in the summer term rather than on one day in September?
Hope this helps.
No - they are interested in what the headteacher has written.GDMJC wrote:When discuss evidence are they looking for a copy of the death certificate?
Yes - just a sentence or two at the most.Should I just keep it brief and say we had advised school at the time of bereavement
I would either omit this, or keep it very brief, e.g. "We didn't want to labour the point in September."and why we didn't bring it up with the school in September.
With a score of 119 don't worry too much about it. (What really matters is the academic case.) I don't think the panel will see it as a strong point anyway (a) because it relates to April, and (b) because it doesn't appear to have affected attainment generally (GDS/111-120). Surely any impact would have been on progress in the summer term rather than on one day in September?
I would be inclined to include the Y5 report only if it adds something of value to the headteacher's review form.I feel the head teacher report is more positive and wonder if it would be enough?
Hope this helps.
Etienne
Re: Bucks 11+ - GDMJC
Thanks so much, you've been very helpful.
