Appeal - Kent Nonqualification

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twinkles
Posts: 514
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:23 pm

Appeal - Kent Nonqualification

Post by twinkles »

I am thinking of appealing for my son who did not pass the 11+. He missed out by 11 points, scoring 349. It went to HT appeal but unfortunately did not get through, the reason given to the school was that the presentation of his work wasn't up to grammar school standards. He is a boy who rushes to get all his ideas on to paper and is always keen to get on to the next thing, so does tend to rush his work sometimes!

Have been told that having tried to get him through on HT appeal will help my case. He was expected to pass. Had parents evening just before half term and he is in the top groups for everything, gets spellings right every week, great mental maths results, spelling age of 13 years 9 months, reading age of 14 years 9 months, predicted level 5s.

No mitigating circumstances other than my father having a serious accident in July resulting in him being in hospital for 12 weeks which obviously involved a lot of time spent visiting him in three different hospitals and therefore did limit the amount of time I could spend with my son doing practice papers. I realise I am probably clutching at straws here but I thought I'd mention everything so I can get people's views.

Would appreciate anyone's views on whether they think it's worth looking at his papers and is their any kind of time limit when you have to look at them by?

Does the appeal panel know the individual scores that he got for each paper or just the standardised score? Does the appeal panel know the reason it was turned down at HT appeal?

TIA for any responses.
Tracy
Posts: 1123
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:28 am
Location: Bexley

Post by Tracy »

Twinkles, you are in a similar postition to us, talk about 2 peas from the same pod.

Only difference is we did not have a HT's review. To be honest I don't know if that is a good or bad thing as it just depends on your head knowing the system and being supportive or not.

When the allocations come out in March, the kids will be that much older and the schools will have more accurate predictions for the sats. We are going to reassess the situation at around that time and if my dd's work shows that she should be at grammar school then we will apply at that time.

It means applying, getting rejected, then appealing. Remember the kids will be that much older and hopefully more mature so it's worth a shot.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Post by Tolstoy »

I have no expertise on apppeals but as a lay person I would say your father's accident is relevent. Not because of the time missed doing practice papers but more on an emotional level.

We had a medical drama at the beginning of the summer holidays resulting in me having to be away from home for just one night. My son has nocternal epilepsy and sure enough two nights later he had a fit.

Children are often very affected by these things without showing it quite so obviously as my DS. I think the recommended approach is to look for a dip in his school work at that time which could support the presumption.
Bexley Mum 2
Posts: 851
Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007 9:55 pm
Location: Bexley

Post by Bexley Mum 2 »

Twinkles - I guess if the accident happened in July it would be difficult to show how your ds's school work might have been affected. But I agree with Tolstoy - saying your ds didn't have time to practice will cut no ice with an appeals panel, but if he was unsettled/distressed by the whole episode then this might.
twinkles
Posts: 514
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:23 pm

Post by twinkles »

Thanks for the replies so far.

The accident only happened a week before they broke up so no chance of a dip in school work. Obviously he was affected by the accident on an emotional level, my father was in intensive care for a week, and like Tolstoy says kids are good at hiding things so it might be something we could perhaps use.
observer
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:53 am
Location: kent

Post by observer »

Hi Twinkles,
I would think that your father's accident is very relevant on an emotional level. It would have been difficult for your ds just seeing you under such emotional stress, let alone knowing that his Grandfather was gravely ill. Considering the fact that your ds is in top group for everything, expected level 5's etc, expected by HT to pass, this looks like true mitigating circumstances to me.
Good luck with the appeal.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

It's certainly worth a mention, but it would obviously help to have some sort of evidence.
1. Did the school notice any problems settling in at the start of the new term?
2. Was the school/LA notified in advance about possible mitigating circumstances?
3. Although the 11+ was early on in the term, the 12 week period extended into early October at least? Do teachers consider that school work has not been as good as expected, when compared with the summer term?
Etienne
twinkles
Posts: 514
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:23 pm

Post by twinkles »

Thanks Etienne. I will have to make an appointment and discuss your various points with HT.

I think there might be possible settling in problems. The school was aware in July that my father had had an accident but I did not say anything to them at the beginning of the summer term. The LA was not notified. Yes, my father came home the first week of October.
Blakesmum
Posts: 81
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:43 pm

Post by Blakesmum »

My sister passed under appeal, with these circumstances. my nan was ill and passed away in july. my mum told the panel that sis was very saddened and had little parental attention through the summer, and spent alot of time staying at others so mum could care for nan.
So yes go down this route.
Also if your looking at particular school gear your appeal to that school.
my sis goes to a specialist language school. so mum mentioned her love of language. foriegn students in house, and pen freinds.
twinkles
Posts: 514
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:23 pm

Post by twinkles »

Beginning to think about what to put in our appeal and was hoping to get some help from all you fabulous people.

I have seen in other threads that people find out from HT what rating (if that's the correct terminology) the HT gave e.g. 2:2 or 1:2 - could someone please explain to me what these mean and do I need to find it out from HT.

I went to see HT this week and he said that DS is working at level 5 for maths and well into level 5 for reading, his writing is 4a at the moment but they expect that to be 5 by May. He then suggested I should speak to his class teacher to get his opinion on whether he thought I should appeal - which I found very odd if he is working at these levels then surely it can only help?

My son this year had a teacher who left for maternity leave and so have a temporary teacher at the moment, we had a meeting the other week with him just so he could introduce himself and I told him that we were appealing for grammar and so my sons work needs to be the best he can do and could he make sure that the spelling mistakes are corrected - his teacher knew nothing about our appealing and was unaware of spelling mistakes in his book and tried to say that the work was done before he took over!!!

When I went to see the HT he asked what evidence I had thought of presenting to help my case. I said I wasn't sure what kind of evidence I should present and the only thing he came up with was his school report which we will get later this month! I presume I should take his school books too? I didn't feel that the HT was being overly helpful, although he did say he would give me a printout to show the levels my son has achieved from year 3 to year 6.

I am going to fill in the appeal form over the weekend and will just put that we are appealing for **** and more evidence will follow. Do I then get a date sent to me when appeal evidence has to be in by?

I am so clueless about the whole system, it's quite frightening trying to make sure you get it right to try and get your child into the school you know is best for them.

Am not looking forward having to answer questions at the appeal either, I can never think of answers quickly enough and am not one of these parents that constantly tell other people how fantastic their children are - I'm worried I'm not going to be able to make my case sound good enough.

Sorry for such a long post - I do tend to waffle on.

Thanks in advance for all your advice.
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