Bucks appeal, 114 / 116

[distressed dad]

Can I start by saying how much help this site has been, unfortunatly I only found it yesterday and my appeal needs to be in by tomorrow so any help will be gretly appreciated.

My DD scored 114/116 in that order, we do have extenuating circumstances and I will add these to the appeals box.
We have the complete support of the HT.
HT recommendation 1:1, HT only gave 3 of these for 50 in the year.
Predicted KS 2 sat scores Maths 5A & English 5A
GL assessment group reading test 12 years 10 months
GL assessment single word spelling test 13 yrs 11+ months.

Achieved Level 5 in May 2011 in optional sats test for maths, and this term 5A
L5 in reading 4a in writing in May, and this term L5b in reading.
The above is from the HT's report and goes on to say the DD would thrive in a Grammar school.
We have old school reports that are all very good, and DD won a gold award for Primary Maths Challenge in November 2011.

Our appeal is based around the extenuating circumstances as we understand that the marks fall far short of the pass rate or what the school and ourselves expected.
My appeal letter was 2 A4 pages long and along with the academic evidenced explained why we thought the extenuating circumstances affected DD's performance, after reading the advice given here I now believe we should just give the facts and explain why it affected DD on the appeal day, is this correct?
My DS already attend a Grammar school and is doing very well, we have mentioned this.
From the information provided do you think we have a chance and is there anything else you could advise that migh help.
thank you.

[Etienne]

Welcome!

This is just a brief response as I'm on the way out.

I'm extremely sorry to hear of what your family has been going through for most of this year. It begs the question 'Why has your daughter performed so well in school, but I thought Daisymay had rather a good answer when she wrote something to the effect that ongoing circumstances over many months have a gradual and progressive effect - individuals are usually able to cope with what they are used to on a day to day basis but may lose the ability to cope with a challenge (such as the 11 plus).

Your academic evidence looks very good to me, although ideally I would have liked to see some alternative evidence of reasoning ability.

I will be back later this afternoon if I you'd like to continue discussing any of these points.

[distressed dad]

Many thanks for the quick reply,

We think she coped because she was not under any pressure up until the 11+, and she takes most things in her stride, could this work against us? I Like Daisymay's answer and will look for her thread.
how would we get alternative evidence of reasoning ability as the school do not provide any? Is this what I have seen on other threads about private testing?

Thanks again.

[Sally-Anne]

Hi distressed dad

As Etienne has gone out, I will pick up the baton. I was also saddened by the circumstances you have endured for the last few months.

Alternative evidence of reasoning ability would need to be in the shape of a report from an Educational Psychologist, at a cost of around £500. If you choose to go down that route, you can find an EP near you with the search facility here: http://www.bps.org.uk/bpslegacy/dcp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is, of course, a risk that the report will not prove what you want it to, but you are not obliged to submit it as evidence if that is the case.

Sally-Anne

[distressed dad]

Thanks for your reply,

I will look into the report, I think the more evidence the better. At least if we get it done we have the option of submitting it, if we don't and the appeal is unsuccessful we might always be wondering what if.

Thanks for your kind words, things are getting better

[distressed dad]

Hi, we have booked a WISC test early in the new year, I have been looking on the net but can't find any information what kind of questions are involved, do you have any ideas?

Many thanks

[Etienne]

Have a look at 'Test format' and specifically 'The WISC-IV' here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wechsler_I ... r_Children" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[distressed dad]

Many thanks Etienne.

[distressed dad]

Hi all, our DD had the test and we have the results, been looking on the website and can't really work out if it is good news or bad news, we were wondering what you think.

the results are in the following order;
scale, sum of scaled scores, composite scores, percentile rank, qualitative description & 95% confidence interval.

verbal comprehension,
38, 114, 82, high average, 106-120

perception reasoning,
38, 117, 87, high average, 108-123.

working memory,
17, 91, 27, average, 84-99

processing speed.
28, 123, 94, superior, 111-129

full scale.
121, 116, 86, average, 111-120.

I will be speaking to the psychologist soon but wondered what your thoughts are and should we submit this report, by the way IQ came out at 116.

many thanks again

[Etienne]

Hi distressed dad

There's no direct correlation with the Bucks 11+, but - simplistically - an appeal panel member might perhaps look at the 114 for verbal comprehension, and think privately "That seems to fit with the 11+ scores of 114/116".

'Psychologically' it would have looked better, for appeal purposes, to have a verbal comprehension score of at least 121, or alternatively a perceptual reasoning score of at least 121.

I don't know what advice the EP will give. He/she might argue that high average scores should be sufficient to cope with the demands of grammar school, and that there are some strategies that will help with the relative weakness in working memory.

For what it's worth, I'm inclined to think the results are a bit below what would have really strengthened your appeal, and there's a risk they might undermine some of your other evidence. However, only you can decide whether to go ahead and submit the report - and the only opinion that counts, of course, is what your particular appeal panel think of all the evidence they are presented with!