academic evidence?

WKmum · Post by **WKmum** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:48 pm

I haved lodged an appeal for non-qualification for grammar school but am struggling to find academic evidence. My daughter is at private school and we don't have the usual catalogue of levels, sats scores, cat tests etc. (I teach in a primary school so I know what is usually available). The school have written a very supportive letter with lots of great comments, stressing her strengths in certain areas but there is only one useful mark (a maths score from a common entrance paper she completed in November). Incidentally she achieved scores of NVR 138, VR 137 and Maths 111 so it is maths that is her perceived weaker subject. Is it worth sending copies of actual work from her books, comments from school repors etc or should I arrange for her to complete some more tests? Any advice?

capers123 · Post by **capers123** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:37 pm

WKmum wrote:Is it worth sending copies of actual work from her books, comments from school repors etc or should I arrange for her to complete some more tests? Any advice?

Panel members are not supposed to make their own assessment of intelligence of a child, and at least 1, possibly 2 members are not from an educational background. It's therefore difficult for us to asses the school books - especially as we don't see the work from the children who were successful in the exam and were given a place.

I'd find it more convincing if I had something I could compare with other children. I know that one of the prime reasons for sending children to private schools is so they're not subjected to too much testing, but the results are so useful in this kind of situation. Maybe an Ed Psych IQ test or the like would be helpful.

WKmum · Post by **WKmum** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:43 am

Thanks for your comments which I appreciate completely. The only problems with the IQ test is that surely with her high NVR and VR scores she has already proved that her IQ is easily good enough. Is there anything maths specific that I could offer?

Tracy · Post by **Tracy** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:36 pm

WK Mum,

Your daughter has done exceptionally well in VR and NVR, it's the Maths score which has let her down. If this is a blip you will need to show evidence such as school books, test results, gradings (the school has record of these and must give them to you) etc.
You say Maths is her weaker subject. How weak? Do you know her current level? For example, she might be a 5 in literacy but a high 4 in Maths - that's still good. On top of this, NVR is supposed to measure the potential in Maths so she clearly has got potential.

Guest55 · Post by **Guest55** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:03 pm

NFER say "Non-Verbal Reasoning Test Series is an effective way of assessing your pupils non-verbal reasoning ability and helps to assess their future potential. The series will give you a reliable indication of how easily a pupil may acquire new concepts in a wide range of subjects including maths, science and design and technology."

http://shop.nfer-nelson.co.uk/icat/4089

toony · Post by **toony** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:58 pm

Could you ask the school to set her a past ks2 sats paper under test conditions?

MelW · Post by **MelW** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:54 pm

I was in a similar situation to you with a Bucks appeal, i.e I had a child at an independent school which does not do SATs or CATs etc. My son had done a NFER VR and NVR plus an Edinburgh Reading test. I took in the results of these plus his attainment averages versus his class attainment averages which were in his school reports. Do you have anything like that? It showed my son was above average in a high achieving school plus he was the youngest in his year. This was all I took in with the support of the head. We had some mitigating circumstances for the week the test was sat - we won the appeal. Hope that helps.
MelW

WKmum · Post by **WKmum** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:49 am

Thanks for all your advice. She has now completed a past SATs maths paper (papers A and B and mental test) in order to get a level under proper exam conditions at the primary school where I work. She came out as a 5c and this has been properly verified by the Head at this school. I now feel much more confident in the appeal as we have a nationally recognised standard as a base to argue from. Any more ideas would be welcome!

capers123 · Post by **capers123** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:46 am

WKmum wrote:Thanks for all your advice. She has now completed a past SATs maths paper (papers A and B and mental test) in order to get a level under proper exam conditions at the primary school where I work. She came out as a 5c and this has been properly verified by the Head at this school. I now feel much more confident in the appeal as we have a nationally recognised standard as a base to argue from. Any more ideas would be welcome!

Can't say for your panel, but I'd be happy to accept that as evidence, and that's a good enough score for a 'worst' subject.

Tom's mum · Post by **Tom's mum** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 9:32 pm

It might also be reassuring that I know someone who sits on appeal panels and he says that the Maths score is the one they are most likely to 'ignore', as the VR and NVR are truer predictors of ability. A weaker maths score can be the result of poor teaching and is easier to address at secondary school (though this might not be something you want to hear if you've paid a fortune for private education!).

academic evidence?

academic evidence?

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