Bucks - formulating an appeal
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Bucks - formulating an appeal
Dear Panel,
I'd really appreciate your help in formulating an appeal for our son who achieved 116 / 120 in the Bucks 11+ this year.
We met his HT who said she had recommended him with a 1,1 and that she would strongly support his appeal.
His CAT results in both year 5 and 6 were only average for VR & NVR but v. high for QR. (He was born in October)
VR QR NVR
Year 5
Cats SAS 109 130 94
Year 6
CAT SAS 110 141 110
KS2 Eng (4A) Maths (5B) Science (5B) and he is expected to reach 3 grade 5's by May next year.
KS1 Grade 3's in Year 4
He has a SEN statement as he has Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
He has always received excellent reports from school. At parent evenings, his teachers for the last 2 years have commented how he would thrive in a grammar school environment.
This year his class teacher said he had a very high reading ability and his spelling level was of a 17 year old. He is very sharp at solving mathematical calculations and excellent at remembering facts. His classes at school are not streamed according to ability, but he is given additional, more difficult tasks to complete by his teacher most lessons. He is considered to be one of the top 2 pupils in his class.
He has attended the school since the beginning of year 5. ) He was bullied in a previous school and we decided to move his to his current school.)
Due to his SEN, he was allowed to sit both CAT and 11+ exams in the library. For 11+ he was provided with the chance to take a 5 minute break, which he didn't take. Whilst we are grateful that the LEA offered this break, (I believe) he didn't take this partly due to him not wanting anything special compared to other pupils and partly through his condition. He likes his time to be structured (He had to request to take the 5 minute break if needed). I think if he'd been told that he shoud take the break after x minutes he may well have taken it and it may have helped him to settle down again.
Apart from him finding it rather unsettling having to cope with the change to his normal routine for the day, (though improving) I think his main difficulty with these tests is that if he gets a question he is unsure of, he finds it extremely difficult to drop it and go on to the next one. He came home after the first test still deliberating on one of the questions. (In fact we found out after the first 11+ test that he hadn't slept the previous night at all as he was anxious about how the test would go).
Do you think that we should mention any of these later points about how he finds exams on the appeal or could they disadvantage his chance. Also, should I omit his CAT results for VR / NVR ?
I'd be very grateful for your comments.
I'd really appreciate your help in formulating an appeal for our son who achieved 116 / 120 in the Bucks 11+ this year.
We met his HT who said she had recommended him with a 1,1 and that she would strongly support his appeal.
His CAT results in both year 5 and 6 were only average for VR & NVR but v. high for QR. (He was born in October)
VR QR NVR
Year 5
Cats SAS 109 130 94
Year 6
CAT SAS 110 141 110
KS2 Eng (4A) Maths (5B) Science (5B) and he is expected to reach 3 grade 5's by May next year.
KS1 Grade 3's in Year 4
He has a SEN statement as he has Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
He has always received excellent reports from school. At parent evenings, his teachers for the last 2 years have commented how he would thrive in a grammar school environment.
This year his class teacher said he had a very high reading ability and his spelling level was of a 17 year old. He is very sharp at solving mathematical calculations and excellent at remembering facts. His classes at school are not streamed according to ability, but he is given additional, more difficult tasks to complete by his teacher most lessons. He is considered to be one of the top 2 pupils in his class.
He has attended the school since the beginning of year 5. ) He was bullied in a previous school and we decided to move his to his current school.)
Due to his SEN, he was allowed to sit both CAT and 11+ exams in the library. For 11+ he was provided with the chance to take a 5 minute break, which he didn't take. Whilst we are grateful that the LEA offered this break, (I believe) he didn't take this partly due to him not wanting anything special compared to other pupils and partly through his condition. He likes his time to be structured (He had to request to take the 5 minute break if needed). I think if he'd been told that he shoud take the break after x minutes he may well have taken it and it may have helped him to settle down again.
Apart from him finding it rather unsettling having to cope with the change to his normal routine for the day, (though improving) I think his main difficulty with these tests is that if he gets a question he is unsure of, he finds it extremely difficult to drop it and go on to the next one. He came home after the first test still deliberating on one of the questions. (In fact we found out after the first 11+ test that he hadn't slept the previous night at all as he was anxious about how the test would go).
Do you think that we should mention any of these later points about how he finds exams on the appeal or could they disadvantage his chance. Also, should I omit his CAT results for VR / NVR ?
I'd be very grateful for your comments.
I would include the later points.
It would look odd if you singled out QR and omitted the others, especially VR - bound to provoke some questions! Besides, I think your case should be that you have a very bright son, but VR may not be the best way of assessing him.
Ask the panel to take account of the other evidence. It looks like a good case to me, and I hope the panel will think so too.
It would look odd if you singled out QR and omitted the others, especially VR - bound to provoke some questions! Besides, I think your case should be that you have a very bright son, but VR may not be the best way of assessing him.
Ask the panel to take account of the other evidence. It looks like a good case to me, and I hope the panel will think so too.
Did you mean year 2?KS1 Grade 3's in Year 4
Etienne
