Sale Grammar Appeal advise

[chattabox]

Hi,

would really appreciate any advise from all you out there!

Our son sat the Sale Grammar test and missed out by 15 points (quite alot, some may say) However, he was sat next to a boy who was sick at least 6 times during the first test. The boy who was ill wasn't removed from the room until they were quite near to the end of that first test. This was extremely off putting for our son, and also really upsetting as it was one of his close friends from school! After receiving his results, it was noticable that the first test was the one that let him down.

Our son is predicted to achieve level 5's in all his Sat's and has already achieved 2 level 5's in his last tests at school. We also have the full support from our head teacher.

Is it worth appealing due to these omitigating circumstances?

Thank you!

[TraffordMum]

To add to Chattabox's post -

Sale Grammar is a foundation school. It also has a review process for candidates missing the pass mark by up to 20 marks.

"An automatic review is conducted for all candidates who score up to 20 marks below the qualifying score. In the review process the following will be considered:
• The report from the Admissions Officer on actual procedures carried out on the testing day • The relevant invigilator’s report • The test score of the pupil and the break down of scores on the standardised papers • Any special circumstances submitted on the Special Consideration Form which may have
affected the candidate’s performance prior to the test or on the day of the test"

[Etienne]

Is it worth appealing due to these omitigating circumstances?

It's worth trying in view of the circumstances (let's hope the invigilator made a full report!), but a lot depends on the strength and range of the academic evidence:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... cation#b11" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TraffordMum]

Welcome to the forum, Chattabox.

I need to find out first if you have read the excellent advice put together by our appeals' experts.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... php?t=8255" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you haven't seen this, please read it, as it answers a lot of the questions people often ask.

I am no expert in appeals, but the following points occur to me:

1. Presumably your son was subject to the review process but was not successful. The review process takes into account "the relevant invigilator's report" which suggests the sickness will have already been considered and not seen as compelling.

2. Read B18 in the Q&A referred to in the link above. This deals with the effects of a review (often called a headteacher's appeal in other counties) and how it can affect a subsequent appeal.

3. The key to a successful appeal is always to prove that your child is academically suitable for the school. The sick child may well be an extenuating circumstance, but will not win the appeal on its own without good academic evidence eg strong recommendation from head teacher, predicted SATs, CATs results etc. Don't get distracted from this aspect by concentrating solely on the distractions in the exam.

4. It may be worth asking the school under the Freedom of Information Act for a copy of the invigilation report for the room in which your son took the exam. Hopefully you can provide the relevant details so that they can easily identify the relevant report. In any event, you would need to make sure that this document is available to the appeal panel at the eventual appeal hearing - I don't think it's automatically provided - and it is obviously a key part of your case (as well as the academic evidence!).

[chattabox]

Thanks so much for all your help.

Have received the invigilator's report today, which shows that our son was greatly disturbed during the first test.

Just a matter of waiting now and keeping our fingers crossed!!

[TraffordMum]

That was quick! I'm glad it backs up your son's experience. Now to get all the academic evidence together and focus on why Sale is the school he needs. I'm sure you will have already found lots of advice and information in the stickies and normal threads but please ask if you are unsure.

[catmum]

Hi there,

I Will be appealing for my DS for Trafford grammar this year for non-qualification also, so know what you're going through! I am meeting primary head again this week (very supportive) for current academic situation for DS, but will also be trying to find any more information or advice he may have about the Trafford system, will post any useful information ( I hope!)

[TIDDLYMUM]

Hi

I dealt with a non qual/over subs for my niece a couple of years ago. Won the non qual but not over subs however she did end up high on waiting list for school, didn't get place but very happy where she is anyway.

Sample letters on here are excellent too.

Happy to share my letter. Also to give you an idea of what happens on the day, or at least what happened that day.

Catmum, isn't yours for St A. If so and you can get help with the non qual then you might be ok on over subs given that they are building a new school and capacity will be greater in the future? I heard that they admitted right down the categories and wonder if they let in more than the PAN on the basis that teh school will be much bigger in the future?

[catmum]

Yes, mine is for st A, not sure about the oversubscribed part of appeal, I was under the impression that if the independant appeal for non-qual was successful a place had to be given to that child regardless of over sub situation? ( not so sure about that nowthough !) but I guess the new school build will help if so, hadn't thought about that!

[TIDDLYMUM]

No, you have to prove that accepting your child won't detriment the school. You may or may not know this but the year before last St A offered a huge number of places, it was the same year that AGSB did the same, both expecting that a good number would be turned down. They weren't and they ended up with I think nearer 200. You could argue that if they managed then they could manage now?