11 plus appeal

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doobie

11 plus appeal

Post by doobie »


Hi I wonder if anyone could help me we have just had my sons 11 plus results and sadly he failed to reach 220 (he scored 213) unfortunately his father failed to turn up on the morning of the exam and distressed him immensly - he has Aspergers Syndrome, after getting into the exam he found himself getting more and more upset about this and ended up crying all over his paper - on arrival to pick him up he came out of the exam distraught as his blurred teary vision impaired his vision and he did not complete the paper - this was witnessed by everyone including the head of year - he also has dyspraxia... he was expected to do very well and is easily I am informed by his school in the top 25% nationally - would this be the good basis for an appeal. Sounds like a made up story but I can assure this was how it was for my poor son - would appreciate any help on this. Thank you.
forest

Post by forest »

Totally sympathise and understand as my son has AS and I know how something like this would utterly throw him. Has your son got a statement?
Does he see a professional who could vouch how disruptive this would have been to him. Have you any Ed Psych reports that show his IQ or ability? Will school be supportive?

Which LEA are we talking about? I'm sure that Etienne wil be able to help. I would say you certainly have grounds for appeal.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear Doobie

You obviously have a lot of extenuating circumstances, which I think an appeal panel would wish to explore in much more detail, e.g. the situation with father, how much of the paper was unfinished, will the head of year confirm in writing the extent of the crying, how severe is the aspergers and the dyspraxia ......?

I suspect a lot will depend too on the strength of the academic evidence, including how persuasive the support from the school is. I don't know whether the "top 25% nationally" matches the standard required for grammar school entry in your particular area (in some authorities it can be equivalent to the top 10% nationally). Why was he expected to do very well? - does the school base this on CATs or other reasoning tests?

I agree with Forest that it's well worth an appeal - but provide plenty of written evidence, and be prepared for some detailed questioning.

Good luck
Etienne
Guest

Post by Guest »

Hello Doobie,

So sorry to hear about your son. You may find it helpful to talk to Parent Parnership. There are issues about how the testing is handled for children with special needs and it might possibly be useful to raise these earlier rather than waiting until appeal time.

Sara
Doobie

11 plus appeal

Post by Doobie »

Hi and thank you all so much for your help and advice - in response to some of your question my son does not have a statement, he has always maintained well above national average so therefore has never qualified for extra help, however, he did have some occ therapy help with co-ordination pencil control etc at school. The school are one hundred per cent behind me on this and have said they will gladly attend an appeal, he is expected to gain Level 5 in year 6 SATS no problem and the school have mentioned ongoing testing at school NFER tests (I have no idea what these are) and others and he shows he is in high acheiving ratio. He attends monthly sessions with mental health nurse who works alongside his consultant and she too is more than happy to write a report to explain how this unhappy event would have affected his performance on the day and what part his A. Syndrome would have played in this, he has had a private tutor since he was 6 - she too would like to input into this appeal. Would welcome any more advice, lastly we are in Lincolnshire.

Thank you.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear Doobie

It sounds as if you will be able to present some good evidence for the panel to consider.

Ask the school if they can provide not just the marks scored in their alternative reasoning tests, but also the percentiles.

Not sure that it would be wise to involve the private tutor at an appeal. She might not be viewed as an impartial witness/referee.

Regards
Etienne
Doobie

Post by Doobie »

Thank you Etienne - this website has been very helpful, do I put Kings first on my form? have been looking for the answer to this and could not find it - to be honest the other 3 that I would be offered due to my location are all about the same and all under subscribed so I am not too worried about missing a place elsewhere, do I even have to put any other schools down? I have not received my Appeal pack yet and wonder do you know the date Appeals have to be submitted? Obviously its half term here in Lincolnshire and probably wont be able to get any more advice from my sons school until they go back.

Thanks again.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Doobie wrote:Thank you Etienne - this website has been very helpful, do I put Kings first on my form? ..... do I even have to put any other schools down? I have not received my Appeal pack yet and wonder do you know the date Appeals have to be submitted? ... Thanks again.


Dear Doobie

I don't know your area well enough to answer, but some of the Lincolnshire contributors may be able to advise.

When you get your pack, if you have any general questions about the appeal, please don't hesitate to let me know if I can be of help.

Regards
Etienne
forest

Post by forest »

Doobie

Not sure if I am allowed to do this, but there are some very good specialist forums for those with AS or asd which, will not be able to offer advice on appeal but, have huge amounts of people who can help with education and asd related issues.

If you type asd forum into google you will finds lots of general info.

Forest
Guest

Post by Guest »

Hello Doobie,

You must still put King's on your CAF form and can still put it first as you are in an equal preference area so it will not prejudice your chances at any other school. There is no advantage to not putting anything else down. All that will happen is that the LA will allocate you the nearest school with an available space on allocations day.

As the system stands at the moment no appeals will be heard until after schools are allocated on 1st March and the deadline will be as it stands at present - think it is 2 weeks later - you can check this on the council's website - foundation schools follow the same timelines although they hold their own appeals.

Sara
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