Oh my..... is it too late?
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laid back son worried mum
- Posts: 4083
- Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:18 am
Hi, daisy
thanks for sharing your astounding story.
It has been a difficult journey for your son and your family.
You have my utmost admiration for your obvious resilience; surviving on cups of tea must be your secret
Is this letter to the LEA?
You haven't got a lot of time and the wheels of administration run very slowly.
Is it po55ible to speak to someone first,
then fo11ow with a written letter
and an appointment if nece55ary to speed things up?
get names of people you spoke to on what date
plus written confirmation of any agreements.
If they don't reply,
you write back with, " Regarding my conversation today with....on ...., I confirm that you agreed to....."
and send by recorded mail.
File everything so if needs be, you got a11 your evidence.
but does this mean that he has a statement for his special needs already?
if he has one , I am surprised no-one at the school has talked you through the special a11owances for 11+ exam.
Perhaps the main focus was to get him into the Catholic school.
How goes your action plan?
Appointment with Junior headtacher?
Amongst other things like requesting a strong letter of support for the Catholic school,
you have to let her know at the end of your meeting that you wi11 be applying for a grammar school as we11
(as she cannot guarantee a place at the secondary Catholic and you have to keep a11 options open)
and you require her support in the special needs department.
Is your junior school a Catholic primary?
on the secondary school website, the junior school is not listed as one of it's primary feeder schools.
even if it is COE, you are coming from another Christian school.
If you are a practising Christian,
even better as a letter from your own vicar wi11 help.
The Catholic school website also shows their admi55ion criteria
and a baptised catholic statemented child can actua11y name a particular catholic secondary as the school he wants to go to
and the school wi11 have to accept him.
If Joshua has a SEN statement,
it wi11 make the battle le55 of an uphi11 task.
It wi11 of course hinge on the Head's suppport and your astounding circumstances.
You have loads of back up evidence for your pleas!!
Best wishes
LBSWM
thanks for sharing your astounding story.
It has been a difficult journey for your son and your family.
You have my utmost admiration for your obvious resilience; surviving on cups of tea must be your secret
Is this letter to the LEA?
You haven't got a lot of time and the wheels of administration run very slowly.
Is it po55ible to speak to someone first,
then fo11ow with a written letter
and an appointment if nece55ary to speed things up?
get names of people you spoke to on what date
plus written confirmation of any agreements.
If they don't reply,
you write back with, " Regarding my conversation today with....on ...., I confirm that you agreed to....."
and send by recorded mail.
File everything so if needs be, you got a11 your evidence.
I'm not we11 versed with SEN mattersIt is entirely appropriate for school to be registering Joshua with respect to his special needs, so that planning for the future is supportive and Joshua can achieve to the best of his potential
but does this mean that he has a statement for his special needs already?
if he has one , I am surprised no-one at the school has talked you through the special a11owances for 11+ exam.
Perhaps the main focus was to get him into the Catholic school.
How goes your action plan?
Appointment with Junior headtacher?
Amongst other things like requesting a strong letter of support for the Catholic school,
you have to let her know at the end of your meeting that you wi11 be applying for a grammar school as we11
(as she cannot guarantee a place at the secondary Catholic and you have to keep a11 options open)
and you require her support in the special needs department.
Is your junior school a Catholic primary?
on the secondary school website, the junior school is not listed as one of it's primary feeder schools.
even if it is COE, you are coming from another Christian school.
If you are a practising Christian,
even better as a letter from your own vicar wi11 help.
The Catholic school website also shows their admi55ion criteria
and a baptised catholic statemented child can actua11y name a particular catholic secondary as the school he wants to go to
and the school wi11 have to accept him.
If Joshua has a SEN statement,
it wi11 make the battle le55 of an uphi11 task.
It wi11 of course hinge on the Head's suppport and your astounding circumstances.
You have loads of back up evidence for your pleas!!
Best wishes
LBSWM
I got a reply email from the LEA admissions folk, and they'd like a copy of the full report and something from Joshua's school. They said it would be helpful in assisting in assessing whether any specialist provisions should be made.
Do you think I should ask a tutor that Joshua visited once for something also? It didn't go well at all, not because of the woman but because of Joshua and his problems, although we didn't forsee there being any issues. We didn't mention his history to her or anything as we never know when there's going to be any problems. Oh it's so complicated. I just feel for him, he wants this so much and no one can pin point what damage has been done to his brain so we never know what's going to happen, will he remember, won't he, can he do it, can't he. Sigh.
Do you think I should ask a tutor that Joshua visited once for something also? It didn't go well at all, not because of the woman but because of Joshua and his problems, although we didn't forsee there being any issues. We didn't mention his history to her or anything as we never know when there's going to be any problems. Oh it's so complicated. I just feel for him, he wants this so much and no one can pin point what damage has been done to his brain so we never know what's going to happen, will he remember, won't he, can he do it, can't he. Sigh.
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laid back son worried mum
- Posts: 4083
- Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:18 am
I agree with others and wouldn't ask the tutor for anything. In my experience the LEA will only consider information from 1) LEA staff, i.e. teachers, LEA Ed psych 2) private professionals, again Ed Psych, SALT etc. 3) parents views. So just stick to those.
My suggestion would be to email back to say thanks you got their reply, that you will be sending stuff by registered post to them this week, and that you will copy out their email to give to the shcool.
Don't wait for the school to hand anything to you before sending your ed psych report in, - it may well take the school some time to do their letter. Write to the head of your son's primary school, just a 2 line letter, stating the LEA have asked for informtion from them, enclose a copy of the email you have received from the LEA. Ask them to send it directly to the LEA and add you would like them to give you a copy of whatever they send for your own informtion. If they don't get on with it the LEA will contact the school directly themselves to chase them. And it is up to the school to check with the LEA what format they want it in.
Then send everything to the LEA that they have asked for with a brief letter, bullet pointing again the key facts, e.g.
....that further to their email you now enclose -
- a copy of the ed psych report, by ****, dated ****
- letter previously written by the ed psych to the school, by *****, dated **** with her recommendations for how your son could be helped at school
- plus a further copy of your orginal letter, dated ***** (just for the record)
(I would add the names of the report author and dates then there can be no confusion over what they have seen).
Then bullet point your main concerns but keep this very brief and bullet point each one-
give your son's diagnosis, and orginal problems with date.
that as a reult he has key problems (e.g. visual, attention, concentration etc).
then just state that the the details of these problems and recommendations are in the Ed Psych report.
I would then add at the end what you are wanting to achieve - if for example you think he would benefit from extra time say so, or if doing test in a room on his own, or to have a scribe etc.
Ask them to let you know within 7 working days of when they will reach a decision.
From my own experience once you have asked the LEA to consider your son's needs he will not be allowed to take the test until they have made their decision. So you need to know when you will get an answer. Quite often the LEA will need to convene a meeting to agree any adjustments and these meetings may only take place say every 2 weeks. You are therefore just asking them when they will let his primary school and you know.
Keep your covering letter to no more than one page. Add on the end a list of everything you are enclosing.
Send the whole lot by recorded delivery - never, never trust the ordinary post with things like this! And keep your proof of posting note.
Sorry if that sounds a bit prescriptive but having been there myself I can only add make sure you keep everything clear but send copies of everything.
From what you say I am quite astounded your son does not have a statement and it seems you are going to have to do all the leg work yourself! However it does seem postive that the LEA have replied promptly and I am sure they will consider everything carefully.
Good luck.
My suggestion would be to email back to say thanks you got their reply, that you will be sending stuff by registered post to them this week, and that you will copy out their email to give to the shcool.
Don't wait for the school to hand anything to you before sending your ed psych report in, - it may well take the school some time to do their letter. Write to the head of your son's primary school, just a 2 line letter, stating the LEA have asked for informtion from them, enclose a copy of the email you have received from the LEA. Ask them to send it directly to the LEA and add you would like them to give you a copy of whatever they send for your own informtion. If they don't get on with it the LEA will contact the school directly themselves to chase them. And it is up to the school to check with the LEA what format they want it in.
Then send everything to the LEA that they have asked for with a brief letter, bullet pointing again the key facts, e.g.
....that further to their email you now enclose -
- a copy of the ed psych report, by ****, dated ****
- letter previously written by the ed psych to the school, by *****, dated **** with her recommendations for how your son could be helped at school
- plus a further copy of your orginal letter, dated ***** (just for the record)
(I would add the names of the report author and dates then there can be no confusion over what they have seen).
Then bullet point your main concerns but keep this very brief and bullet point each one-
give your son's diagnosis, and orginal problems with date.
that as a reult he has key problems (e.g. visual, attention, concentration etc).
then just state that the the details of these problems and recommendations are in the Ed Psych report.
I would then add at the end what you are wanting to achieve - if for example you think he would benefit from extra time say so, or if doing test in a room on his own, or to have a scribe etc.
Ask them to let you know within 7 working days of when they will reach a decision.
From my own experience once you have asked the LEA to consider your son's needs he will not be allowed to take the test until they have made their decision. So you need to know when you will get an answer. Quite often the LEA will need to convene a meeting to agree any adjustments and these meetings may only take place say every 2 weeks. You are therefore just asking them when they will let his primary school and you know.
Keep your covering letter to no more than one page. Add on the end a list of everything you are enclosing.
Send the whole lot by recorded delivery - never, never trust the ordinary post with things like this! And keep your proof of posting note.
Sorry if that sounds a bit prescriptive but having been there myself I can only add make sure you keep everything clear but send copies of everything.
From what you say I am quite astounded your son does not have a statement and it seems you are going to have to do all the leg work yourself! However it does seem postive that the LEA have replied promptly and I am sure they will consider everything carefully.
Good luck.
Thank you so much for all the advice, it has really, really helped! 
Just a quick update! We went to see the head yesterday and she's still saying that if we put the Grammar School first that the Catholic School will not take my son and that there have been 'laws' for years. We left more confused than we went in.
On the plus side the head phoned the LEA and agreed with us that Joshua should receive special allowances. We have put in our request for extra time, a different room and larger spaces to write in, along with anything else they feel would be suitable. She also said he would get extra time in the SATS.
What do I do if I have to choose??? My son has put so much time into learning things since June. I haven't sat there just coaching him to pass the 11 plus, but teaching him things he's likely to need to know for the 11 plus, year 6 and the sats and even some year 7 stuff. We don't know that he will get through, and if the Catholic school WON'T take him unless they're first on the list.... This is what HE wants. The other choice is the high school and he just wouldn't cope there, the head wholeheartedly agreed. One suggestion has been to put the Catholic school first on the school selection form, but does that mean that the Grammar won't take him SHOULD he get through? I don't want to ring the LEA back because I'm wondering if they're just giving out stock answers, and what the actual truth is. Yes the Catholic school are meant to now consider you, but do they.
Oh, the other thing the head said was NOT to mention to he Grammar School that Joshua has difficulties and that he's SEN otherwise the school wouldn't want to take him and it would mean we couldn't appeal should we need to. We could mention that he'd been ill and that he's recovered but to leave it there. What on earth is going on? I feel like my head is going to explode.
Just go to wait now and see what they come back with about specialist provisions.
Just a quick update! We went to see the head yesterday and she's still saying that if we put the Grammar School first that the Catholic School will not take my son and that there have been 'laws' for years. We left more confused than we went in.
On the plus side the head phoned the LEA and agreed with us that Joshua should receive special allowances. We have put in our request for extra time, a different room and larger spaces to write in, along with anything else they feel would be suitable. She also said he would get extra time in the SATS.
What do I do if I have to choose??? My son has put so much time into learning things since June. I haven't sat there just coaching him to pass the 11 plus, but teaching him things he's likely to need to know for the 11 plus, year 6 and the sats and even some year 7 stuff. We don't know that he will get through, and if the Catholic school WON'T take him unless they're first on the list.... This is what HE wants. The other choice is the high school and he just wouldn't cope there, the head wholeheartedly agreed. One suggestion has been to put the Catholic school first on the school selection form, but does that mean that the Grammar won't take him SHOULD he get through? I don't want to ring the LEA back because I'm wondering if they're just giving out stock answers, and what the actual truth is. Yes the Catholic school are meant to now consider you, but do they.
Oh, the other thing the head said was NOT to mention to he Grammar School that Joshua has difficulties and that he's SEN otherwise the school wouldn't want to take him and it would mean we couldn't appeal should we need to. We could mention that he'd been ill and that he's recovered but to leave it there. What on earth is going on? I feel like my head is going to explode.
Just go to wait now and see what they come back with about specialist provisions.
Daisy
Well done on getting over the first hurdle of getting the extra time / allowances.
Re choice of school, the first question to yourself is, if you had a free choice of either the grammar or the catholic school which would you choose? And which would be right for your son. It is not so much “is this a good schoolâ€
Well done on getting over the first hurdle of getting the extra time / allowances.
Re choice of school, the first question to yourself is, if you had a free choice of either the grammar or the catholic school which would you choose? And which would be right for your son. It is not so much “is this a good schoolâ€
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Sally-Anne
- Posts: 9235
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
- Location: Buckinghamshire
Hi Daisy
In Bucks we have an "equal preference" system, whereby the schools are not informed of where you have ranked them on the Application Form. That means that they have no idea if you have placed them first or last.
If Warks operates the same system, the Catholic school would not know where you had ranked them and therefore, provided you meet the Admissions criteria, they would be obliged to offer you a place if the 11+ doesn't work out.
Armed with that information I suggest that you call Warks Admissions direct and persist until you get a helpful human being (not an untrained monkey, and they abound in Admissions offices) wo can tell you whether the information from the Head is true or not.
Whatever the outcome, get confirmation in writing by email.
Sally-Anne
Please, please do not rely on the advice from the Head. I cannot count the number of myths and inaccuracies that Primary Heads perpetrate on the 11+. Research everything yourself, either by talking to/emailing Warwickshire Admissions, or posting on the Forum.daisy wrote:We went to see the head yesterday and she's still saying that if we put the Grammar School first that the Catholic School will not take my son and that there have been 'laws' for years. We left more confused than we went in.
In Bucks we have an "equal preference" system, whereby the schools are not informed of where you have ranked them on the Application Form. That means that they have no idea if you have placed them first or last.
If Warks operates the same system, the Catholic school would not know where you had ranked them and therefore, provided you meet the Admissions criteria, they would be obliged to offer you a place if the 11+ doesn't work out.
Armed with that information I suggest that you call Warks Admissions direct and persist until you get a helpful human being (not an untrained monkey, and they abound in Admissions offices) wo can tell you whether the information from the Head is true or not.
Whatever the outcome, get confirmation in writing by email.
Sally-Anne
Thank you all so much for the advice and best wishes! Along with the sample paper that arrived in the post this morning there was additional information saying that it had been agreed that J would receive 25% extra time, be seated in a smaller room along with other children who require extra time, and that they will enlarge the paper copy to assist him.
YAY!!!!!
I am soooo relieved!
It also looks like in Warwickshire we'll be able to take our child to their desk to settle them and place their 'fit and healthy' sheet on the desk. I don't know what the situation is for other areas but I hope it's the same!
YAY!!!!!
I am soooo relieved!
It also looks like in Warwickshire we'll be able to take our child to their desk to settle them and place their 'fit and healthy' sheet on the desk. I don't know what the situation is for other areas but I hope it's the same!
