Invigilator leaving the room during the exam

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Dougal
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:34 am

Invigilator leaving the room during the exam

Post by Dougal »

Hi

My daughter sat her 11+ on Saturday. The child sitting next to her was disruptive throughout the three tests. He was warned on a number of occasions and was eventually removed 10 minutes before the end of the last paper. At this point the Invigilator left the room. This meant the children were then unsuprvised. Some of the children left their seats and were moving around the classroom. When the invigilator returned, she sat the children down and they finished the exam.

All of this really distubed my child. I told the Headmaster this morning who phoned the admissions people at the Town Hall. They said that disruption was just a matter of perception and were completely uninterested and unhelpful.

I now feel really angry and I am not sure where to go from here.

Are their rules about how to deal with disruptive children during exams?

Can anyone help?

Dougal
chad
Posts: 1647
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:49 pm
Location: berkshire

Post by chad »

Dougal

I am not an expert on 11+ procedure and I am sure that either Patricia of Etienne can give you better pointers of where you go from here... but...

Some children can be upset by disruption. I would think you need to register the fact that ......your child felt that sitting next to this child, who was subsequently removed from the exam for disruption , hindered her concentration.
This should be done in writing to the school. The invigilators should of made a note of the disruption in their report. If then your child's score is less than you would expect you can appeal and have proof of the disruption. If this is backed up with evidence of academic ability then you would have a reasonable case for appeal.

Lets hope that when the results come thru your child has been able to ignore the disruption and pass anyway.
Bo Peep

Post by Bo Peep »

Sorry to hear about this Dougal. It is one of my frequent nightmares and I'm sorry this happened to your daughter. I think the advise above sounds very good and I too hope your daughter got through despite the distractions.

Unbelievable to think that this could happen in an exam - particularly in an exam where young children are taking part and likely to be unsettled by it.
Dougal
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:34 am

Post by Dougal »

Thanks Chad and Bo-Peep,

I have now written a letter to the head of admissions at the Town Hall and I have requested that she reply to my concerns. I have spoken to other parents and suggested that if they have any concerns that they should also write.

It now appears that this child was kicking the chair of the child in front of him and tapping his pencil throughout the papers. It makes me wonder what sort of training the invigilators have and what procedures they are supposed to follow

From what my daughter has said she doesn't think it affected her too much, however there were other children in the room who may have been more affected

Oh well..........only a few more stressful weeks until we find out the results!

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

Post by Etienne »

Dear Dougal

I think Chad's advice is good. There's no mention of "maladministration", which in any technical sense would be difficult to establish, and the focus is on extenuating circumstances, and the need for good supporting academic evidence in the event of an appeal.

I'm glad to hear that you've put your complaint in writing to Admissions, and have drawn this to the attention of other parents.

Depending on how satisfied you are with the answers you receive, and assuming you live in the area, you could try asking your local councillor to pursue the matter with Admissions.

It would be interesting to know what training the invigilator received, what instructions are given for dealing with this sort of incident, whether the incident was properly logged, including the exact times the invigilator was out of the room, how many children were present, and how many complaints have been made.

There are some similarities with a case involving a different sort of disruption in 2005/06 which you can read about further down ("11+ Paper Was Switched-Upset Kids Results. Appeals Advice??"), although the thread unfortunately attracted one or two "red herrings" from those with their own agendas!

Good luck
Etienne
SJ
Posts: 171
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2006 11:14 am
Location: Lincolnshire

Post by SJ »

Dougal wrote:Thanks Chad and Bo-Peep,

I have now written a letter to the head of admissions at the Town Hall and I have requested that she reply to my concerns. I have spoken to other parents and suggested that if they have any concerns that they should also write.

Dougal
I am glad that your daughter was not too concerned by this disruptive behaviour and hopefully you will get a rapid response to your letter. I would also hope that the childs parents were made aware of the disruption so that they could talk to their child about what may have caused them to behave in this way.
Dougal
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:34 am

Post by Dougal »

Thank you to everyone for your comments.

I have now e-mailed my local councillor who says he has passed on the matter to the Chairman of the education committee. I am now waiting to see if I get a reply from both the councillor and the head of the admissions department.

I do hate feeling like I'm making such a fuss, but the whole attitude of the admissions department hs made me so cross!

Dougal
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi Dougal

Continue to make a fuss - indeed, make as much fuss as you can!

You have very clear extenuating circumstances, and they must be taken into account.

All the advice you have been given above - especially from Etienne -is very sound, and you are taking the right steps.

Good luck
Sally-Anne
SJ
Posts: 171
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2006 11:14 am
Location: Lincolnshire

Post by SJ »

Dougal wrote:Thank you to everyone for your comments.

I have now e-mailed my local councillor who says he has passed on the matter to the Chairman of the education committee. I am now waiting to see if I get a reply from both the councillor and the head of the admissions department.

I do hate feeling like I'm making such a fuss, but the whole attitude of the admissions department hs made me so cross!

Dougal
You have every right to receive an adequate response to your concerns and queries and not be dismissed by the " its all a matter of perception" attitude. After all this could have had an adverse effect on more than just your daughter and it is not fair to all of the other children in the room and why were there not procedures in place so that they were not left unattended anyway whilst having to deal with the child in question?
Thea
Posts: 250
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Richmond

Post by Thea »

his is very interesting - suppose all the parents appeal, because they could all reasonabl argue that their child was disadvantaged by these shenanigans. Also, if they don't appeal, then the savvy one's who do will get an unfair advantage over those who don't...
Best Regards,
Thea
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