11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi - worried mum here again, who you may recall had a major issue with H/T not recommending dd for grammar. She scored 117 and 115 and is predicted as 2 x Level 5's by school and 1 x Level 4A. Had 2 external assessments done - 1 by a teacher and one by an ed psych which showed that dd was fairly borderline (no surprises) with strengths in Maths and Reading and a learning impairment due to working memory. We also had extenuating circumstances.
Panel were very pleasant and sympathetic. 2 retired Head Teachers and a Granny. They clearly felt the H/T assessment was weird (since Head's written comments stated that she supported appeal) and inappropriate given the other evidence we supplied. I really felt they were on our side.
The only issue will be whether they feel academically dd is up to it - all the other sticky issues with the school were genuinely neutralised. They clearly felt we had also had a rough ride with the school refusing to give supporting evidence.
Questions they asked follow:
- How much did we feel ext. circumstances affected dd?
- Given SATS predictions, why were there not more 'working beyonds' on school report?
- How did dd feel when she got the result?
- What did dd say about the tests themselves?
- Were there any disturbances during the test itself?
- Does the schoolwork show the effect of ext. circumstances too?
They then asked lots of questions about dd's personal qualities and interests - were especially probing about her personality since report makes some v positive comments about her being a natural leader and a positive influence on peers. I felt they wanted to hear good stuff and were well disposed towards us. But..... if they don't feel the school books and academic evidence holds up to scrutiny I have no doubt we will lose, and here it is very wobblty. So let's see....will keep everyone posted and a big thank you to Sally-Anne and Etienne especially for all their interest and support!
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Hang in there.....know that feeling very well.....fingers crossed for you all...

Phil

Hi Worriedmum1,

You just can't read the panel so don't assume the worst, I know its very easy to say that. I was very despondent after our appeal as although the panel were very nice we felt like we got negative vibes from them. As it turns out we were sucessful.

Worriedmum1,

Best of luck, I’m following your case with great interest as DD’s scores and schoolwork were very similar to yours, as was lack of HT support.

But our experience seems to have been much less pleasant than yours as we had very little sympathy for our extenuating circumstances and no probing of DD’s character at all.

Hope you get the result you’re looking for.

Hi

I too had my appeal today.
The worst part of the whole ordeal was having to sit in reception waiting for an hour an a half as the first people on the list were stuck in traffic for an hour so everything was very behind! I thought I was going to be sick with nerves and also it was freezing sitting there - by the time I was called in I had lost feeling in my fingers I was so cold!!
Anyway the appeal itself was fine. Lovely panel ( one lovely lady and 2 older gentlemen who were very warm and easy to talk to) , made me feel very relaxed ( as much as possible!). Asked about 3 questions each, mainly about how she felt on the day of the tests and how she felt when she got the results. Also asked about distractions that she had from a boy sitting on her table. Asked what she wanted to be when she grew up and commented on the fact that she was on the Gifted and Talented Register for English.
I am so relieved its over. I have been for appeal 3 times now and thankfully will never have to go through this again as this is my youngest daughter.
I just pray for a good outcome and wish everyone still waiting the very best of luck. Congratulations to all those who have been successful - i have had one failure and one success so know the feeling for both.
A huge thanks to to all on this forum who make it so much easier to get through this stressful experience - I have been glued to this site since November!.
Best Wishes
Ana

Wow thanks to all of you - it gives me such a wonderful feeling to know I'm not alone with all this anxiety and stress. One thing I forgot to say is that the whole thing took an hour and a half - so at least they were taking us seriously enough to put in the time. Shall keep you posted as soon as I know result. Thanks everyone so much.

Good luck to you, I really hope everything goes well.

The wonderful thing about this forum is that we can get some much needed strength from others in very similar positions to ourselves, and the knowledge that we are not alone.

That in itself is worth so much.

Fingers crossed

LFH

worriedmum1 wrote:I really felt they were on our side....
I felt they wanted to hear good stuff and were well disposed towards us.

Sounds like a panel to me. Yes, us panalists are hard to read. And just because we're interested and sympathetic does not indicate how it will go. We do want to hear the good stuff - and we need to know the bad stuff as well - although that's less forthcoming. I for one prefer to allow appeals than not - but I can't always vote that way, and sometimes it's better that I don't for all concerned.

Good luck - hope it went your way.

Meanwhile, here in the snowy west, we're waiting for allocation day. Not long to go (FX: Bites nails).