Appeal to Superselective, prh47bridge or anyone with knowledge?

[pickledsiblings]

My DS sat for a Superselective GS in Sept and his results weren't stellar (although he did 'pass', doing equally well in English and maths on the papers). I therefore didn't apply for a place for him - he is at a middle school and can stay there for another year so I didn't need to apply for another school place.

On offer day (2 March) I was able to see that his result wasn't as 'bad' as I first thought based on the other results that were getting offers so I went ahead and made a late application. It was my intention to leave him on the waiting list for the coming year.

However, the more I have thought about things the more I realise that we may have a case for an appeal. There are 2 main issues:

1. DS changed school at the end of Y4 as that is the system here. There is evidence to show that progress is hampered during school transition. DS made v. little progress in Y5 but is now flying. Most other DC sitting the 11+ will not have experienced transition.

2. DS's school was in a state of turmoil last year as they didn't know what their fate would be as part of the school organisation review. Staff morale was at an all time low as it was uncertain whether or not they would remain part of an all though system and keep their jobs or move to a 2 tier system and lose them. This was only sorted out at the end of the school year last year.

I believe that both these factors played a part in DS not achieving his potential in the 11+ test.

Does anyone have any advice, success stories or otherwise to share? I'd love to hear your opinions. Am I mad to even consider appealing on these grounds?

Thank you.

It doesn't matter whether the other boys are academic or not. Each appeal is taken on its own merit. You have to prove your child is worthy of a place, irrespective of who else is appealing.

When you say in your OP that you realised from other admissions that his result wasn't 'that bad', do you mean that others with the same or lower score got in?

Did you actually apply to the school?

Soloman
In answer to your question

When you say in your OP that you realised from other admissions that his result wasn't 'that bad', do you mean that others with the same or lower score got in?

No, I just mean that I had thought his raw mark was way off but in actual fact he is only a few marks off the last score to obtain a place.

Heels99
yes, I made a late application to the school

tiggy
Once again, thank you so much, your information is invaluable to us.
Please may I ask another question regarding this in particular:

...you still have to explain to a panel why you want this grammar school in particular and not another. What is it about this school especially that meets your DS's needs and interests?

Some background info:
This GS in particular is astonishingly good and sent over 30 pupils to Oxbridge this year iirc. My DS wants to go to Cambridge (his idea not mine) to study engineering. I am aware of how ridiculous that must sound, he's only 11 after all and we have no idea if he'll change his mind or if he is even remotely capable of the level of achievement required to go down that path. He is of the belief (and I happen to agree with him) that attending this school is his best chance of realising his dream.

There are no other GSs that DS could realistically travel to, this one is already a 40 minute bus ride away. Mind you, his current journey to school is not far off that time.

My question is, do I tell the panel any of this or is it all irrelevant?

This is possibly a question for another thread, but in the interests of transparency, here's a bit more background info on DS for anyone that's interested and can maybe shed some light on things.

DS has always been above average in his attainment but he often underachieves in school. He doesn't mess around or go off task, he just doesn't do his best work (unless there is some competition from his peers maybe?). The introduction of Level 6 SATs work this year has ignited a spark in him and as I said, he is flying now. This is the boy who had a 3b for his reading assessment at the end of Year 5 (thread here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a2105054-To-be-fuming-that-DS-got-a-level-3b-in-his-Y5-SATS-reading)

I know the GS is the best place for him, he is desperate to get his teeth into some more challenging work.

Does any of this stuff matter to an appeals panel?

They do have all that you mention tiggy. In a recent note from his Headteacher I found out that he had the highest score in the year in a recent maths SATs paper but I'm not sure that's evidence of him being talented at maths, is it? Like I've said before, he is not gifted or anything, just bright.

I think I am going to build a case for an appeal. Should I mention that he appears to overachieve without sufficient challenge?

I have already decided that DH should put forward the appeal case as he is much more measured and considerate than me!

Got it!

Have you proof he wants to be an engineer? Evidence is the key. Every little thing helps. (Anyone could make up a potential career, so any evidence would be good)

Rivercam

This is so true:

Anyone could make up a potential career, so any evidence would be good

…but unfortunately I don't have any evidence that i can think of. It would all just be anecdotal, although we are members of the Cambridge Science Museum and go regularly and that's all hands on engineering-y type stuff.

I've just had a thought, my son coming top in his year at middle school is actually pretty good isn't it as that is quite a large group of children (109). A normal primary school wouldn't have that many children would it?

If we are talking about the same school then unfortunately gcse engineering is a fairly new subject for them (DS is year 12 and it wasnt an option when he was year 10) so I dont think the school can be described as having a strong reputation for engineering. However it certainly used to have a car (the purple blazer) that they entered into the greenpower electric car races, although I havent heard it mentioned recently so you may need to check before making it part of your appeal.

What is wrong with being near the top of the waiting list? There will be movement between now and September! This is a completely depressing post OP. We all want the best for our children but Not at all costs. What happened to potential house relocation, job search to increase household income and reassess in a year's time in regard to another secondary school in yet another location for your DS?

Yes, sansou, I agree that yours is a completely depressing post (although I suspect that isn't what you meant). The OP is entitled to appeal for a grammar school place for her son. What have you got against her doing so?

sansou we are nowhere near the top of the waiting list, there are many boys with a few marks more than DS. Their parents are as entitled to appeal as I am and will no doubt do so. Yes, we could bankrupt/uproot ourselves and pay for the next best selective education on offer or we could take or chances on this. Should he win his appeal (doubtful) he won't be depriving another boy of a place as the school will presumably go over its PAN.

I will get a final communication from DS's Headteacher today, hopefully confirming that he has the ability profile that might earn him a place (top 5%). We do not have mitigating circumstances; he was nervous and didn't do his best on the day, leaving some questions unanswered due to bad time management. We helped prepare him for the test in the way that the school suggested (worked on past papers) and exposed him to a little VR and NVR (these came very naturally to him).

Thanks again for all your comments.

prh47bridge To clarify, I am not against the OP making an appeal for a grammar school place for her son per se. My comment is made in the context of OP's relatively recent posts regarding schooling choices for her DC. Regardless to say, they have been controversial thus my comment has not been made in isolation. The OP is focused, I'll give her that.

DS has always been above average in his attainment but he often underachieves in school. He doesn't mess around or go off task, he just doesn't do his best work ... he was nervous and didn't do his best on the day, leaving some questions unanswered due to bad time management

Have you considered why this is - is there some undiagnosed Learning Disability. Sometimes very clever children are hampered by their LD but their compromised results are still above average so no-one spots the problem.
Do you think that there is a mis-match between ability and attainment. It may be worth getting him assessed. It's expensive, but cheaper than private education or a house move!

IDK We've thought about what you suggest and it is true that DS is not the speediest of processors, he has that in common with DH. But there are benefits to not rushing to a conclusion and this manifests itself in DS's deep philosophical thinking. I do think he is probably not the first to raise his hand in class and as such I think his teachers may underestimate his ability.

Everyone that meets DS and speaks with him for any length of time recognises him as a bright boy and his friends think of him as a very smart guy.

His approach to the level 6 work that he's been doing lately tells me that he is well up for the challenge of a GS. Like I've said, he's desperate to get on with some challenging work.

That phrase "not the speediest of processors" rings alarm bells. It sounds very similar to my DS. He scores around the 95 centile for intelligence tests but didn't get into the Grammar.
It took me practically the whole of his secondary education - thinking 'this does not compute', why can't the teachers see the disconnect between his ability and his attainment - before I found out that he had a LD. He scored around 5th centile on processing. No wonder the poor lad was struggling. After the diagnosis his results went from A/B to A*/A.
If your Grammar is anything like ours then speed of processing is one of the things they test for. If you can show that your DS has a LD in this but is more than capable in other areas (i.e. his 11+ score is understated because proper adjustment was not made) then will this help your appeal?