11 Plus Exams Forum

I wish to call upon all those members who have been through the appeal process in the past to post all the questions they were asked in the interview so that I and others can be fore warned and therefore fore armed when the time comes! I have heard that I should make sure I know the answers to all the questions asked because you can be left feeling as though you do not know your child very well when you are left stumped by questions from the panel!
Kind regards and many thanks in advance.

Justine

Hello Justine

we were asked the following;

- exact details of mitigating circumstances (20+ minutes)
- school setting arrangements
- how we could prove ds read widely
- what did ds prefer about the Grammar schools we visited
- whether ds usually completed practise papers
- more questions about mitigating circumstances

Good luck!

Obviously most of the questions will relate to the specific case your are making, so for example:

- You say that the death of his grandmother upset him, how close were they?

These are already in the Appeals Q&A:

Was your child tutored? = Did she fail despite months of preparation? (This one really should not come up at a Bucks appeal though.)

How did she seem on the day of the tests (before/after)? = Was there any illness or other cause for concern that could have affected the result?

Did she finish the test? = Did she just get a few questions wrong, or was it that she didn’t even get to the end of the paper? Implications about the speed at which she works.

What books is she reading? = Is she reading age-appropriate material or anything well above her age level?

How will she cope with a fast paced GS? = Can she keep up – as for finishing the test?

What will happen if the appeal is unsuccessful? = Consequences for the child of turning the Appeal down, wanting to know what alternative offer there is.

Beyond that my memory is fading a little, but these are the sort of general questions you may get:

- Does he do his homework readily?

- Does he make friends easily? = Will fit in anywhere, GS or Upper

- Which subjects does he enjoy most?

- What does he do outside school?

A lot of these are filler questions, and it is best not to worry about any hidden motives that the panel may have for asking them.

Great topic, Justine, good thinking.

How does one prove that their child reads widely? Flinty, how did you answer that question, if you don’t mind my asking?

Hi Rob

Fortunately a friend had advised me to take a list of books and authors that ds had read recently - she said that her mind went completely blank when asked a similar question at her appeal. I read the list out and also explained what a couple of the books were about as they may not be particularly well known. Not exactly proof but good enough.

Maybe taking a reading journal would be better for some - not us though - ds's presentation was a bit sporadic to say the least!

I believe that this is a 'filler' question, but I think it does your confidence good if you can give a coherent answer and not 'I'm sorry I don't know/can't remember'.

How does one prove that their child reads widely?

Precisely!

I don't think panels usually give much weight to lists of books, because they don't know whether a child has really read them.

Obviously most of the questions will relate to the specific case your are making

Exactly so. The important questions are going to be case-specific.

so for example:
- You say that the death of his grandmother upset him, how close were they?

And when exactly did she die?
Is there any evidence that school work was subsequently below par? Did the school ring you up to say "Your son doesn't seem his usual self? Is anything wrong?"
Where was grandmother living?
Scotland? So your son didn't see her very often ......?

We were also asked

How did DD feel she did in each test?
Was she well on the days of the tests?
How did she get on in the practice tests at school?
Did she expect to pass?

As Etienne etc have said they also asked us questions specific to our case.

We were very honest with our answers, the panel looked at the books we took with us, we took the main books, maths, english, science and history, we didn't flag up any pieces of work for the panel to look at just let them look through.

The panel were very nice and it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be.

Good luck

Etienne wrote:

so for example:
- You say that the death of his grandmother upset him, how close were they?

And when exactly did she die?
Is there any evidence that school work was subsequently below par? Did the school ring you up to say "Your son doesn't seem his usual self? Is anything wrong?"
Where was grandmother living?
Scotland? So your son didn't see her very often ......?

So young, and yet so cynical, dearest Etienne?

In all seriousness, I do agree with this point very strongly. The panel will almost certainly question mitigating circumstances unless they are entirely obvious, and you do need to have credible answers.

"Did his schoolwork suffer at this time?"

"Yes, when you see the standard of his Year 5 school books compared to his work in September, and the standard of work he has returned to since then in his Year 6 books, it is very clear that he was not achieving his usual high standards."

Sally-Anne

"What are your childs expected SATS results" - or actual results if an Ad Hoc appeal. Also "What were your childs KS1 SATS".

We're not allowed to try & judge the ability of a child - so we have to reply on evidence submitted. Some schools may have already told us this.

Thank you so much for everyone's quick and wonderful replies, they are very much appreciated. I should have said that we do not have any mitigating circumstances just complete non understanding as he was expected to pass. The school have expressed this strongly in the head teachers summary sheet. As well as 1:1, they have also expressed their thoughts as to the fact he is totally GS pupil potential. This and evidence of school work is really all we have and therefore my concerns were because of this they will ask us questions/filler questions and we want to be fore armed as much as possible. Is there anymore we can do do you suppose?