Bucks - To appeal or not with 116?

[adorableade]

DD scored 116 & 114. we always knew it that she could pass but on a good day. My quandry is that she is an august birthday. Whilst I know there has been an adjustment for this I don't think it makes up for the age gap in terms of maturity. She has/will have her level 5 sats and we are starting to see a huge improvement in terms of her maturity and attitude to learning. things are now starting to really click for her. 12+ may be the answer (can she take it with 116?) but I think she could easily be able and ready for Grammar by September without having to spend a year at another school.

So what do you think? Is there an argument based on maturity of an August child? If so how would I put this across in an appeal.

Cheers to all.

[Sally-Anne]

Hi adorableade

I am sorry to hear the news.

My quandry is that she is an august birthday. Whilst I know there has been an adjustment for this I don't think it makes up for the age gap in terms of maturity.

This is a point that panels are, to some extent, aware of. There is evidence from other studies that shows that children born in the last 3 months of the school year will, on average, perform less well than their older peers. You may find this article interesting. You do need to register on FT.com to read it, but it is worth the effort: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0b055ef0-d8f2 ... z1ek59zlwL" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

She has/will have her level 5 sats and we are starting to see a huge improvement in terms of her maturity and attitude to learning. things are now starting to really click for her.

Will the school write these points in support of the appeal? On lower scores the importance of really strong academic evidence cannot be stressed too highly.

12+ may be the answer (can she take it with 116?)

A child's 11+ score is not considered when assessing the right to take the 12+. You need only to provide evidence that she has achieved Level 5s in English and maths in her Y6 SATs.

So what do you think? Is there an argument based on maturity of an August child? If so how would I put this across in an appeal.

As a short mention, preferably drawing attention to comments made by the school about her increasing maturity, rather than as an unsupported assertion by you as her parent. "As you will see, the Head feels that DD is maturing very rapidly and she notes that this is reflected in her schoolwok this year ..."

Sally-Anne

[adorableade]

Thanks Sally-Anne. The other thing is that DD has been assessed last year by an ed psych as having a mild working memory issue. This has led to DD receiving some extra help for this. Not sure if this would be a positive or negative argument if we were to go to appeal?

Cheers A

[Sally-Anne]

It could be used as a mitigating circumstance - the 11+ places a considerable strain on working memory. Ideally, though, it should be presented in the context of the whole report. Does it demonstrate high ability?

Also, when was the report undertaken? Ideally it should be not much more than a year old.