Review Panels and Appeals
Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators
Review Panels and Appeals
Dear Ettiene
I am writing for advice..
My son is a bright but Dyslexic child, and he has two reports from independent Ed Psychs confirming this. He took the 11+ last Autumn without extra time (although we requested it) and got 118. We decided to go to the Review Panel for a Grammar School place and he did not get through. When we received the letter we were appalled since the panel had concluded that under the terms of the Equality ACT 2010 he does not have a disability. Thus he was judged on the panel against the same criteria as those children without any learning difficulties, and since his SAT's predictions were not 5;s across the board (he is expected to get at least one if not two 5's despite his Dyslexia) he was not considered academic enough to go to Grammar School. In his Ed Psych tests he scored 98% on his Verbal Reasoning and 90% for Cognitive ability - so he is able. We requested the clerk's notes and found that not only did they spend very little time discussing his case but they concluded that he had no disability because he had completed both papers!!
We applied for an appeal on the basis of unfairness and discrimination but have now decided to send our son to an Upper School since we feel that the style of teaching will suit him better. We have cancelled the appeal. However we would like to pursue this issue further - partly to obtain acceptance of our son's learning challenges but also to help other bright children with learning difficulties who come through the system in the future.
I have tried working with the LGO but they only support complaints with non-academy schools. Please would you give me advise on how to progress this? Many thanks for your help.
I am writing for advice..
My son is a bright but Dyslexic child, and he has two reports from independent Ed Psychs confirming this. He took the 11+ last Autumn without extra time (although we requested it) and got 118. We decided to go to the Review Panel for a Grammar School place and he did not get through. When we received the letter we were appalled since the panel had concluded that under the terms of the Equality ACT 2010 he does not have a disability. Thus he was judged on the panel against the same criteria as those children without any learning difficulties, and since his SAT's predictions were not 5;s across the board (he is expected to get at least one if not two 5's despite his Dyslexia) he was not considered academic enough to go to Grammar School. In his Ed Psych tests he scored 98% on his Verbal Reasoning and 90% for Cognitive ability - so he is able. We requested the clerk's notes and found that not only did they spend very little time discussing his case but they concluded that he had no disability because he had completed both papers!!
We applied for an appeal on the basis of unfairness and discrimination but have now decided to send our son to an Upper School since we feel that the style of teaching will suit him better. We have cancelled the appeal. However we would like to pursue this issue further - partly to obtain acceptance of our son's learning challenges but also to help other bright children with learning difficulties who come through the system in the future.
I have tried working with the LGO but they only support complaints with non-academy schools. Please would you give me advise on how to progress this? Many thanks for your help.
Re: Review Panels and Appeals
Welcome, poppy.
Sorry to hear this.
118 seems a reasonable score, and the 98th percentile for VR (WISC or BAS, I assume) is impressive.
It is, in fact, very difficult to challenge a panel's judgement - there has to be a significant fault with the process to get anywhere with a complaint.
Complaints about academies are dealt with by the EFA. See this section:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals/ombudsman" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I suspect they may want you to have gone to an appeal first, because an appeal is the obvious remedy. An appeal panel can look again at the review process (including how the the disability issue was handled), and, if they find the review was not fair, consistent or objective, they can take a completely fresh look at the question of disability and at the case for selection.
For dyslexia to count as a disability it would have to be substantial (the definition for which is: more than minor or trivial).
In the event of a successful appeal against the review process and for selection, you don't have to take things any further if you don't want to You're free to say "Thank you, but we've decided to keep the Upper School place after all."
Sorry to hear this.
118 seems a reasonable score, and the 98th percentile for VR (WISC or BAS, I assume) is impressive.
It is, in fact, very difficult to challenge a panel's judgement - there has to be a significant fault with the process to get anywhere with a complaint.
Complaints about academies are dealt with by the EFA. See this section:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals/ombudsman" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I suspect they may want you to have gone to an appeal first, because an appeal is the obvious remedy. An appeal panel can look again at the review process (including how the the disability issue was handled), and, if they find the review was not fair, consistent or objective, they can take a completely fresh look at the question of disability and at the case for selection.
For dyslexia to count as a disability it would have to be substantial (the definition for which is: more than minor or trivial).
In the event of a successful appeal against the review process and for selection, you don't have to take things any further if you don't want to You're free to say "Thank you, but we've decided to keep the Upper School place after all."
Etienne
Re: Review Panels and Appeals
Thank you Etienne. We have now cancelled the appeal however I will write to the EFA and see how I get on.
Re: Review Panels and Appeals
Our selection review panel also found that our son is not disabled (despite being in receipt of disability living allowance). At the appeal we found that they based this decision on the basis of a report from the head requesting reasonable adjustments for the 11+papers. The head had decided he does not have a disability. Might be worth talking to your head before approaching the council.
