appeal for Wallington girls

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Mohammed

appeal for Wallington girls

Post by Mohammed »

I am having to formulate this question on behalf of an extremely stressed parent who due her stress can't think straight at the moment. Her daughter achieved 369 points for Wallington Girls, which is significantly above the pass mark which was 326. Yet she still did not get offered a place because she falls out of the catchment area. Is the mere fact of exceeding the pass mark by such a significant margin in itself a justifiable basis for an appeal? Or must there additional factors ?
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear Mohammed

If there are other grammar schools around in your area, but Wallington Girls is particularly academic, then I think the very high score is worth a mention.

The point of this type of appeal is that it is not for a grammar school, but for a particular grammar school.

It would be wise to give other reasons as well. A list of arguments commonly used at an appeal for an oversubscribed school can be found here:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/11plus ... nswers.php
Section C2

Regards
Etienne
Mohammed

Post by Mohammed »

Thank you very much for the advice.
Raza

Appeal for Wallington Girls

Post by Raza »

I am in a similar predicament as Mohamed's friend. My daughter is one of a twin. She has scored 367 which is again higher than the cut off mark of 326. Unfortunately we are out of the catchment area and she is pretty much at the bottom of the waiting list for a place. Although I understand that Wallington is a highly oversubscribed school, I cant split my daughters up. My other twin has been offered a place at Wallington. I am out of my mind with worry for various reasons. The girls are going through various emotions of guilt and Im not good enough. I am anxious as Im not sure how I can be in 3 different place at the same time, especiall when Wallington and Norbury Manor have similar start times. I cant seem to find any information on other parents having been through this and much of the information available is about children who did not recieve the cut off mark. ETIENNE PLEASE HELP :(
Jed

Post by Jed »

How could it happen that twins are split when both passed (presumably they live in the same out-of-catchment house!)? Did the other twin pass with an even higher score and so got a place? In general, I thought that LEAs always tried really hard to keep twins together and I would have thought that you had a strong case to appeal for the school.

Jed
Raza

Post by Raza »

I thought the same. Yes both girls live in the same out of catchment area, and to date both my LEA (Croydon) and Sutton Lea have been non supportive. Croydon say they cant do much as the school is not in their remit, and Sutton who have been a real waste of time say its down to the school, nothing to do with them and wont even offer any advice on previous twin cases.
I appreciate your support, but I really dont know how I can go about appealing, what I need, what will help. Do you have any experience Jed?
Again Etienne Please Help :cry:
Raza

Post by Raza »

Forgot to add. I dont know what my other daughter's score is, but I do know that she must have been in the top 50 to have been allocated a space. It wouldnt be so bad if they had done badly, at least I could reason with that.
Somebody somewhere must have experienced this before.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Appealing for a twin is mentioned in the Q&As B24 - then see section C for general advice.

Provided the twin has qualified, an appeal panel would probably be reasonably sympathetic.

Regards
Etienne
Raza

Post by Raza »

Thank you for your advice, I read the section on twins but I dont think it related to my situation or I misunderstood it. Would appreciate some light on it. It would appear that Sympathy from an appeal panel is my only hope. Also what sort of info should I get from the Head or the Class teacher to support the appeal?
Look forward to your reply. Sally anne, if you have any additional thoughts that may help, I would appreciate it.
Thanks

ANY OTHER PARENT BEEN THROUGH THIS< PLEASE SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH ME :cry: :cry: :cry:
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi Raza

Your first move must be to see the Head of your daughters' current school. He/she will probably know the appeal system for one or both LEAs and may be able to give you specific advice on how to proceed, and even approach the LEA for a more reasoned argument as to why your other twin has not been offered a place. (If the Head cannot explain this, or approach the LEA then I would have thought that you have a right to ask for the information, and it might be best done in writing to the Head of Admissions.)

You must find out from the Head what degree of support and written report you can expect from the school - the stronger the wording, the better. The Head may also have an opinion that will help your case on the likely effect of splitting the girls up.

Once you have spoken to the Head let us know how you have got on and we will try to help you further.

Best wishes
Sally-Anne
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