advice welcome....

[Rachm82]

Cambridge61, I'm assuming because you dd qualified for Ribston she is on a waiting list?

Just to let you know we are one of those who have a place at Ribston but are appealing for Crypt....waiting anxiously for a hearing date!

[Nammum]

Hi C61, I have first hand experience in this respect.

My youngest DD sat the test in September 16 at HSFG. When she came out of the test she was clearly upset and explained that there had been an incident, similar to that which you describe, with the girl on the table directly in front of her.
The girl in question had a meltdown and started to cry at the beginning of the second paper. She refused to leave the room and was attended by invigilators and the deputy head for nearly 15 minutes before the test was paused and she was removed. There was then a break before the test was restarted. I feel for all the kids in this situation.
The incident had been logged and I managed, after a number of e-mails, to get HSFG to provide me with clear details of the incident which we used alongside academic evidence to support our appeal for SHS (her/our preferred school). We had already accepted her place at Ribston.
The appeal documents sent out to us after we lodged the appeal also supported our case that our DD's performance had been adversely affected by the incident. She only attempted 70% of the test! In spite of this she gained a place at Ribston and was only 3rd on the waiting list for SHS.
The focus of our appeal was our DD's academic ability with a request for these extenuating circumstances to be taken into consideration. The appeal panel considered everything and confirmed the details of the test incident with the presenting officer at the appeal.

Our appeal was successful and DD2 is now flourishing at SHS. With good academic evidence to back up your case I think you have good reason to appeal and a good chance of success. Good luck.

[cambridge61]

we have a letter of support from school and copies of sat tests so hopefully have academic covered.

I am not sure what the experts on here say, but I am not sure that you 'have academic covered' - you may need something more than that.

is there any other form of evidence i get ? she passed and met the qualifying score in the first place which i would hope in itself would show it....but if you know of anything else i can add ill do everything possible to support our case

[cambridge61]

Cambridge61, I'm assuming because you dd qualified for Ribston she is on a waiting list?

Just to let you know we are one of those who have a place at Ribston but are appealing for Crypt....waiting anxiously for a hearing date!

first of all good luck in your appeal.....she is on the waiting list yes....im told there are 31 on that list

[cambridge61]

Hi C61, I have first hand experience in this respect.

Our appeal was successful and DD2 is now flourishing at SHS. With good academic evidence to back up your case I think you have good reason to appeal and a good chance of success. Good luck.

thanks namun.....Ribston have added their event log to our appeal.....i just want to do everything i can to present the best case now.

what academic evidence did you put forward.

[Amber]

is there any other form of evidence i get ? she passed and met the qualifying score in the first place which i would hope in itself would show it....but if you know of anything else i can add ill do everything possible to support our case

If you read the links which Etienne posted overleaf there is a list of ideas.

[cambridge61]

thanks amber......youd think the fact she met the qualifying score would be enough but i guess nothing in life is easy

[Amber]

thanks amber......youd think the fact she met the qualifying score would be enough but i guess nothing in life is easy

Gloucestershire grammar schools give qualifying scores to more children than they offer places to. (Well, apart from Crypt this year, famously). It will no doubt help that she met the score, but, for example Pates gives a qualifying score to 180 or maybe even 200 but they only have 150 places. If you have CAT scores (Ribston like 110 or above) then that will help. But as I said, Etienne knows best. Certainly don't pay anyone for this stuff!

[can'tthinkofone]

I think my DD2 must have been in the same room as Nammum's DD.

We appealed for HSFG and DD2 was allocated a place.

Happy to answer PMs and when I have more time tonight will read the thread more carefully.

[cambridge61]

question.....we appealed to 2 schools.

during our dds test there was a major disturbance which was documented.

appeal 1 (not at the school where the test was sat)

the school side read the report....we were told we were not allowed a copy even though it had been redacted.

appeal 2 (Where the exam was sat) we bought up the disturbance. we said we hadnt seen the report. the hearing was paused so copies could be made so all both sides and the panel all had a copy.

now it seems there was 2 different rules in place, even though surely the the rules should be standard across the board.

(what niggles me is the school side in appeal 1 waterdown the content of the report and some key facts that we were not aware of until we saw the report in appeal 2)