Failed by one

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confused of wirral
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 3:30 pm
Location: England

Failed by one

Post by confused of wirral »

Totally appreciate that we are not the only parents in this situation (it just feels that way) Our son despite confident predictions from both school and tutor managed to miss the 236 pass mark by just one point. Both the GS in the area (Wirral) have places available and we have been advised to appeal by his current school. My confusion arises from the fact that his teacher (who is completely ambivelent regarding GS) informed me that the school had already appealed on his behalf, on asking on what basis the appeal was made she replied I am not sure!! Will this 'appeal' count against him in any formal appeal as one appeal is heard by the local authority and the other GS is I believe independantly based? His current Head Teacher who is new to the area and the school is unsure of the process involved other than to inform us that if she had been aware of the extenuating circumstances involved "He would have sailed in" We didnt list the ongoing issues such as the Death of his Nan, his Grandads hospitalisation and my being made redundant as we didn't want to create a self fulfilling prophesy and if I am honest with myself, given everything that was going on we fully expected him to pass and perhaps took our eye off the ball.All advice would be gratefully received as I feel as though we have let him down.
chad
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Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:49 pm
Location: berkshire

Post by chad »

Unfortunately I don't know the appeal process in your area but would have thought that, considering the school did not have all the evidence pertinent to your sons appeal, the GS appeal should not take into account the failed HT appeal.
If it was mentioned then you could explain that the HT was new and there were mitigating circumstances that were not presented. The fact that it went to HT appeal shows that the school believe your son is of GS ability.
wirral dad
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:27 pm

Post by wirral dad »

Dear confused.

I am in similar situation after DD's HT appeal was turned down and HT at time of appeal was not aware of mitigating circumstances. It seems a stupid situation whereby parents are not consulted prior to HT appeal!! I made this point ion my appeal - that I would have made the circumstances known if had had the opportunity. Probably as for you - we had no reason to doubt DD would not make the grade.

Anyway - make sure you get a full statement from HT as to your DS abilities and present the appeal in two sections (academic - extenuating) as advised elsewhere on this site - some very helpful stuff!!

Also - I don't think you have long to get appeal form in!! I delivered mine by hand, got a receipt at the time and got confirmation of receipt by letter today.

Seems a silly situation on Wirral as the likelihood of appeal succeeding seems to be based on places available (Whereas I thought we were appealing on non-qualification grounds irrespective of whether places are available). Anyway I have it on cast-iron authority that appeal panel take into account places available!! Also - from what I was told - the 1-pt margin in your case will work in your favour.

In my case this means appealing to WKG is more likely to succeed than an appeal to WGSG - even if the facts are the same! I don't suppose you know if your source knows if WKG is undersubscribed this year??

Good luck and get that form in!!
confused of wirral
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 3:30 pm
Location: England

Post by confused of wirral »

Thanks for your kind words, not sure on this years scenario at WGSG but my DD attends and when she got in(2006) her best friend who stated it as first choice AND passed by 7points was refused a place on the grounds of geography!! She goes to WKG and is doing fine. The poignant element for me is DD is now predicted for 7A* and 3As in her GCSE's but was very much the same academically at the same stage as DS it is that challenging environment the GS delivers that I believe will also bring out the best in DS. I am sure you are as sick as I am at being told that the currently allocated school (NHS) is great however when we toured around PHSG with DD we were very impressed.
Our appeals have already gone in (recorded delivery) so it is that painfull wait again. Best of luck
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Will this 'appeal' count against him in any formal appeal as one appeal is heard by the local authority and the other GS is I believe independantly based?
In theory it could. I'm afraid I don't know what currently happens in your area when an 11+ result has already been reviewed.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... ral#167514
Etienne
Grumpy!
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 2:45 pm
Location: Wirral

Post by Grumpy! »

I really feel for you as the Independent Review still causes upset to so many.

Tucked away in the admissions doc is
[In some cases parents may feel that certain factors may have affected the child’s
academic performance (for example, if his or her education has been severely
disrupted because of ill health, change of schools, or any other reason). If this does
apply, it is important that parents should inform their child’s headteacher, in writing,
no later than 17 December 2009. The information will be considered by the
Independent Assessment Board if the child’s case is referred to the Board.]

This is in the admissions document you will have received in the pack when applying to schools last year and can also be found here:
http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100005/20 ... 010-11.pdf

It will make it much harder to have a successful appeal once you have been to review if you are relying on information that wasn't disclosed at the time. You will need to have some good reasons for not mentionning it.

It still seems very unreasonable to me that Wirral are still conducting their reviews in this way - 2 years ago a significant number of appeals were turned down and were subsequently overturned by the ombudsman with fresh appeals taking place; it may be worth checking if the many recommendations/criticisms by the ombudsman have been taken up, if not it may strengthen your case.

At least the wording of the school admissions code has changed since then and now says:


[2.75 Some admission authorities for grammar schools use a review system to consider whether children who have marginally failed to reach the required standard in the entrance test could be deemed as being of grammar school ability. This is not a statutory process, and does not replace a parent’s formal right of appeal against refusal of a place. In view of the need to co-ordinate allocation of places such reviews must be completed before places are allocated, so that children who are deemed as being of grammar school ability as a result of the review can be considered for allocation of places at the same time as others.]

So that suggests that you still have the right of appeal now - Etienne is my interpretation correct, they have taken out the anomoly that meant if you had had an IAB, the appeal panel couldn't consider academic evidence?

Good luck![/quote]
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Good to hear from you again, Grumpy!

The wording you quote is in fact very similar to what was used in the 2008 Appeals Code ("This does not replace parents’ right to have their appeal against refusal of a place at a preferred school to be heard by a statutory appeal panel.")

You highlighted the issue in 2008:
[quote]Grumpy!
Joined: 02 May 2008
Posts: 67
Location: Wirral
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 08:32 am

3.33 Some admission authorities for grammar schools choose to operate a non-statutory or “local
reviewâ€
Etienne
wirral dad
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:27 pm

Post by wirral dad »

Etienne,

so we're back to the same old argument! I know you have pointed out that Wirral have refused parental appeals on this basis and therefore the only basis for an appeal is to argue that the IAB appeal did not follow correct procedure.

Given that the likelihood of HT appeal succeeding seems to be miniscule - it would seem that the advice (to HTs) would be not to bother and wait for normal after-results appeal.

I will have a word with my 'contact' within the Wirral System and see what rules if any are being applied as to previous IAB appeals.

As I said in previous posts it was made pretty clear to me that the the likelihood of appeals succeeding (in Wirral) was closely related to the number of places available and the strength of your case within the group of appeals (with scores nearest pass mark generally taking preference!). In short - a system to fill up any remaining places. They would only oversubscribe schools in exceptional circumstances.

All a bit of a game really!

[/list]
Grumpy!
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 2:45 pm
Location: Wirral

Post by Grumpy! »

It's such an unfair system - few parents notice that you are supposed to advise the headteacher of any problems by December, and then you are reliant on the school appealing on your behalf without your knowledge and they may only send in predicted sats and a couple of nice comments that you can't do anything about.

The trouble if the head doesn't put the child forward to the IAB is that it then looks odd if they support an appeal later as they should put forward children they think should have passed. the expression dammed if they do dammed if they don't comes to mind!

If you would like to know what the ombudsman criticised about the system, feel free to pm me and I'll send you a scan of the documents.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

I know you have pointed out that Wirral have refused parental appeals on this basis
Well, that was the case in 2008. I have no information whether they have changed their policy since. They don't have to use this argument.
I will have a word with my 'contact' within the Wirral System and see what rules if any are being applied as to previous IAB appeals.
That would be helpful. We want to know whether those who went through a Wirral 11+ appeal last year, after an IAB referral, were presented with a case from the authority that a review had already taken place, and that it was 'fair, consistent and objective'.
Given that the likelihood of HT appeal succeeding seems to be miniscule - it would seem that the advice (to HTs) would be not to bother and wait for normal after-results appeal.
At the risk of generalising, I would have thought only the 'certainties' are likely to succeed at a review. I suspect most parents would stand a better chance (however slight!) with an independent appeal.
Etienne
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