questions about appeals

[stepford wife]

New to this so please forgive any faux pas.

DS deemed not suitable for GS after Head Teacher appeal. Scores as follows:
NVR: 118 (pass)
VR: 117 (pass)
Maths: 107 (fail)

End of year 5:
Maths 5c
Science 5c
Reading 4a
Writing 3c (reason for refual of HT appeal)

End of current term assessment:
Maths 6c
Science 5a
Reading 5c
Writing 4c

Head Teacher advises parental appeal, which she will strongly support, as we can provide a strong academic case. She feels that the improvements in DS's writing ability will prove vital in our case.
On March 1st we will qualify for the local Faith school which is widely regarded as the 'best school' after the Grammar Schools as it has it's own well established grammar stream with excellent results, will this go against us on appeal day? Do members of the panel take into account the place that has been offered and accepted by an appellant?
I am also worried that as a Head Teacher appeal was unsuccessful that we will have to try and make the case even stronger, are panels more likely to uphold an appeal where a HT appeal has already taken place?
There have also been some medical issues that DS has had to cope with which would have had an impact on him, but I am unsure of how this would be received by a panel as most evidence is in a dairy form completed by me for a neurologist to look at after the appeal has taken place. Should I use this anyway? It is relevant to the reason why the HT appeal was refused.
If you can identify valid reasons for appealing for two different GS will both take place on the same day and with the same panel? I worry that a panel would judge us unfairly, thinking that our only aim is to secure a GS place, regardless of which school it is.
Any advice would be gratefully received!

[hermanmunster]

Hi Stepford Wife and welcome!

Will try and answer a few of your points - no doubt others will fill in

1) yes you can apply for more than one GS - it is reasonable to say that you are doing it as you want selective education

2) is the neuro referral related to the handwriting - appreciate the diary is probably related to a different element of a conditon. ? Have you seen the neurologist yet? or a specialist nurse? if neither then it will still help to get letter from GP explaining about referral. If you want to send any info about this you can do so via the confidential box at the top of the appeals page.

[Etienne]

Do members of the panel take into account the place that has been offered and accepted by an appellant?

The focus at oversubscription should be on the school being appealed for, not on the school allocated or other possibilities. However, if the panel is minded to allow more appeals than it feels the school can cope with, it must then compare all those cases and decide which ones to allow up to the point where the prejudice to the school would become too great. I accept that, in this situation, the panel's sympathies might possibly be with the parent who doesn't have an alternative grammar school or a good faith school or comprehensive already on offer, or who hasn't got a good independent school lined up - but the decision still depends on the strength of the case as a whole, taking into account all the reasons put forward by the parent for wanting a place.

I am also worried that as a Head Teacher appeal was unsuccessful that we will have to try and make the case even stronger, are panels more likely to uphold an appeal where a HT appeal has already taken place?

Personally I wouldn't have thought so. Panels ought to realise that there's no real consistency among primary school heads in who is put forward for consideration. Your current headteacher will presumably be offering equally strong support for the independent appeal.

There have also been some medical issues that DS has had to cope with which would have had an impact on him, but I am unsure of how this would be received by a panel as most evidence is in a dairy form completed by me for a neurologist to look at after the appeal has taken place. Should I use this anyway? It is relevant to the reason why the HT appeal was refused.

I think it would be worth submitting. The panel are more likely to believe what you've written if there's evidence that school work was affected at the same time.

If you can identify valid reasons for appealing for two different GS will both take place on the same day and with the same panel?

If they are foundation schools, running their own appeals, then it's very unlikely. If they are LA schools, it depends how appeals are organised locally, but the odds are probably against this happening.

I worry that a panel would judge us unfairly, thinking that our only aim is to secure a GS place, regardless of which school it is.

As Herman says, it's perfectly reasonable to try for a number of grammar schools, but be careful to have very specific reasons for each one.
Even if the arguments are a bit contradictory .....
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... er#p206903" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[stepford wife]

Thank you Herman and Etienne for your replies.
It is a very daunting prospect this appeal business and I want to be as prepared as possible. I am much encouraged by your responses and have begun to put our case together with a little more confidence.

Thanks again

[stepford wife]

Okay so I've got the most recent grades for DS and confirmation that the HT is giving a 1:1 recommendation in her summary (10 others had this recommendation and passed, DS only one not to).

Grades: Reading, Science and Maths are all still the same as previous post. We do now have a grade of 4c for writing which CT is pleased with (as am I) and is positive that DS can improve further and is now predicting a 4a for end of Y6.
I wonder will this be enough of a rapid improvement for the appeal panel to find in our favour? This is an increase of 3 sub-levels in 3 months.

Also, school has asked it's link secondary school to provide a Level 4-6 science paper for DS to sit nearer appeal time so that we might be able to provide 2 Level 6s. We can provide L6 work for maths because a tutor comes to school to work with the G&T but this doesn't happen for science so will the appeal panel give as much weight to a grade which is attained in a test paper but not backed up by work in exercise books?

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated

[Etienne]

HT is giving a 1:1 recommendation

Unusual to see this terminology being used outside of Bucks!

I wonder will this be enough of a rapid improvement for the appeal panel to find in our favour? This is an increase of 3 sub-levels in 3 months.

Only your particular panel can decide that, but you do need to draw their attention to the rapid progress as it's a good argument.

We can provide L6 work for maths because a tutor comes to school to work with the G&T

Good! I appreciate that Writing is one issue, but I would expect the panel to focus on the mismatch between 11+ maths and the standard of maths being reported by the school. The more evidence you have of mathematical ability, the better.

will the appeal panel give as much weight to a grade which is attained in a test paper but not backed up by work in exercise books?

It helps to have both, but I don't think there'd be any problem here because it's something extra the school has arranged (and you can explain to the panel how it came about).

[stepford wife]

I received my appeal information last week and the countdown now begins....three weeks to go!

The nerves have now kicked in and I seem to eat, breath and sleep nothing but appeal

The appeal is for Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School in Ramsgate. I would be interested to hear from any parents who are appealing here or have doe so in the past.