Worth Appealing for Other Circumstances

[manumumoffour]

Hi, got results for Kent test yesterday NV 129, VR 113 Maths 115. The day she did maths we were in court fighting her mum for custody. We have no idea what her last school predicted her to do she arrived with her suitcase last october and her mother disappeared to Spain. Mum made it difficult for us to talk to her last school and so we could only communicate with school through her
So she arrived in October but there was no place for her at our local pirimary (it iis very over subscribed) so she didn't start school again till Christmas as we had to appeal. To say she has had a pretty awfull year is an understatement. She didn't see mum for several months and when she did contact them again it caused nothing but trouble. She wouldn't give us residency or PR so we had to go to court for that which took 9 months and a final hearing on 19th Sept - 11+ day. She said she might want them to be in Spain with her (which is what we were worried about having just got her and her brother settled). To top it all she spent 4 weeks in the summer staying with her mum and her mum refused to do any kind of practice with her when she got there although told us she would before she went.
She didn't get a heads appeal - presumably because they just don't have much of a record for her as she is so new.
Will the panel take all this ito consideration - I'm sure without all this going on she would have done so much better - or are they only interested in proven achievement outside the test?

[Bougalou]

To me, this sounds fairly strong evidence, - did she miss by 3 points only?
However, as the mistress of failed appeals, I would listen to Etienne,and Sally-Anne's advice carefully. I'm sure they'll be along soon.
All the best
Bougalou

[manumumoffour]

Yes just three marks. When she lived with mum the only time she did spelling/homework was when she had weekends with us - she really has come on in leaps and bounds in the last 9 months

[Etienne]

I'm so sorry to hear what a difficult year it's been. I can only offer general advice. An appeal panel ought to take account of your circumstances. The Code of Practice says:

• "The panel should consider any factors which parents contend may have affected their child’s performance (e.g. illness, bereavement); whether the family made the admission authority aware of these before they sat the test; and whether it offered alternative testing arrangements or made reasonable adjustments (e.g. in the case of children with disabilities). The panel may then need to consider any clear evidence presented by the parents to support their claim that the child is of the required academic standard e.g. school reports giving Year 5/Year 6 SAT results or a letter of support from their current or previous school clearly indicating why the child is considered to be of grammar school ability."

The fact that it was a narrow miss should help, but evidence of high ability (before the difficulties began) would strengthen your case, as would evidence of recent rapid progress.

[Sally-Anne]

Hi manumumoffour

Just to be sure, as you are a mum, but not the mum are you fostering/adopting these two children?

Once the folks on the Kent section have finally sorted out what the qualifying marks are this year it will be clearer how much ground you have to make up at an Appeal.

Are there any CATs test results or other test results that the school can provide to demonstrate her ability? What did the end of year school report in July look like?

I suggest that you speak to the current Head and discuss her performance at the current school, and also find out what sort of record they have of her achievements at the previous school. If the Head is willing to give you strong support, that will be a good start.

The disruption and uncertainty over the last year will have certainly affected her academic performance. Likewise, if she knew that you fighting for custody on the day of the tests, that will undoubtedly have affected her too.

The circumstances will certainly be taken into consideration by a panel, but you need to present them carefully. Please never forget that a successful appeal is 90% academic evidence and 10% mitigating circumstances, no matter how traumatic they are.

If you haven't done so already, please also read Etienne's Appeal Q&As - there is a link at the top of this page.

Once you have a little more information please come back and we will do all that we can to help you.

Sally-Anne

P.S. I have just noticed that Etienne was posting at the same time as me, but I'm posting this anyway! You now have both of us on your case - "Buy one free, get one free!"

[capers123]

we had to go to court for that which took 9 months and a final hearing on 19th Sept - 11+ day.

Was the girl aware of the case on 19th?

I would certainly take that into account at an appeal, BUT I would also want to make sure that the child was bright enough to cope with the school as well.

If you've now got PR, can you now speak to the previous schools to get academic evidence?