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.

I expected DS to score around 45 on each paper (taking into account nerves etc) which would have been enough, so I don't feel bad that I entered him. He is v. good at NVR and VR (not really tested) but probably most of those boys ahead of him are also. As for his ability in science and whether or not that's even relevant I guess we'll never know.

I'm sorry OP but if Charis1's figures are anyway close, then you need specific evidence as to why your DS under performed so significantly. Somehow you need to demonstrate not that on a good day he is "grammar school material" but that specific issues arose on the day that meant he did not perform to his usual level. And his usual level needs to be evidenced as above the other 100 (or 700 in maths) boys who did. I totally understand that it seems absurd that 4 marks makes so much difference. But I live near the tiffin schools in SW London which ate super selective and again one or two points is the difference between getting in and being 20th on the waiting list. Super selective schools will always be a lottery however bright your child is because misreading a single question and dropping a point can make the difference between getting in and not.

What other information do GSs get about their pupils other than their 11+ test results? Do they get primary school reports?

No, they do not. I will say this in order to help someone else. You appear to be ill informed and underprepared for the selection process. Anyone else reading this thinking about grammar selection please get clued up early. Prepare your child and don't leave things to "the system".

Nothing prior to offering places. They are only allowed information that relates to the admission criteria, so 11 plus ranking, address, and LAC/free school meals status would be the only things I can think of.
Once the place is accepted I seem to remember giving permission for them to ring DCs head teacher (but not sure which DC this was for!)

(Thanks for the encouraging comments re. Ipswich school)

OK, so after much soul searching over the weekend we've decided that (despite it's excellent reputation for preparing students well in science etc.) the GS is not the right school for DS. As I've said, he's a boy who loves a challenge so we'll just have to make sure that he continues to be challenged at his current school and his next school.

Suttonmum, we did prepare our child to the best of our ability but that obviously wasn't enough. I wouldn't have done it any differently.

Thank you all so much for your contributions, it has been very useful to hear other perspectives.

I'm glad you've reached a resolution x

For anyone who is interested, we made an interesting discovery this afternoon. DS had a level 6 maths SATs paper to do for homework. He completed all but the last question in the time available. In his opinion there was only one queston on the paper that he felt he couldn't do yet he got half of the paper wrong. On working through the questions it was very clear that he knew how to do the questions that he got wrong. He was saying things like 'Why did I write 140, that should be 110?' and 'Why did I multiply that by 4 I should have added 4?' etc. DH and I are baffled.

Any thoughts? Is it just a reaction to pressure? Is it a processing thing that sorts itself out once he starts verbalising?

Completely normal, nothing baffling, understanding how to do the question is one skill, acting out your understanding is a totally different one.

I would like to help him set his work out so that he can keep better track of what he's doing. Is there a good way to go about this that doesn't cost valuable time?

how have you 'just' realised he has these weaknesses yet you say you prepped him for the 11+? Both my DDs have their own strengths and weaknesses and I have been aware of these for years. I think you need to take a huge step back and reevaluate your DS, more importantly yourself. You should not get to yr6 and suddenly notice your child is making these mistakes. in the kindest way possible, maybe he really isn't aa bright as you wish him to be. Look for his strengths and celebrate them.

drivin, we worked through past papers together for the 11+ and he could do them. He could also do this L6 maths paper which was imho more difficult than any 11+ maths paper I've seen.

How do you translate that as him not being as bright as I think he is?

because you have said he was making ridiculous mistakes. You are still looking for signs that your DS is a genius but with mitigating factors. He sounds perfectly ordinary . Have you looked into you self as to why you constantly feel the need to prove, against all academic evidence, that he is extraordinary? Now you are trying to say that he got loads of the paper wrong but he must have issues. he doesn't suddenly have processing issues without prior examples. stop testing him. stop expecting him to come up with results he's not going to present you with. encourage his 'engineering' ambitions and just enjoy your DS. I bet he's enjoying his life more than you are. You seem perpetually disappointed with him

drivin I have not see these types of problems before because he has not had to do anything of this nature before. We are talking about maths questions that have 5 or more steps which he can find his way through only to trip up at the end by writing the wrong (i.e.NOT the one he worked out) answer.

I am not remotely disappointed in my DS, why on earth would I be?

I'm trying to work out why you've gone all mean on me drivin and I think you may have misinterpreted this:

On working through the questions it was very clear that he knew how to do the questions that he got wrong. He was saying things like 'Why did I write 140, that should be 110?' and 'Why did I multiply that by 4 I should have added 4?' etc.

DS was explaining to his sister how he did the questions (she was marking them) and as he was talking them through he realised that he had done things wrong. It's not that I was saying 'Why did you write that?' or 'What does that number mean?'.

Is that any more acceptable to your sensibilities? It was his homework and I thought it would be a good idea for DD to do the questions too, some of them are tricky.

Doesn't that just sound normal for someone going through an exam paper? They're working through the problems for a second time, with someone else's cues, they're bound to spot mistakes.

No cues Solomon, that's my point really.

Not got time to read all of this thread but he wounds like he could be dyslexic to me (and no, IME primary schools don't always - or even often - spot bright children who are also dyslexic as their achievement is still good enough for the school's criteria) I would get him screened for that. it could be that he has a processing/working memory difficulty.

DH wondered about dyslexia llama. A friend had all 3 DC tested by an EP and raved about the insights that it provided. Shame it costs so much (£500 or thereabouts).

Spent some time showing DS how to set out a complex (well, as complex as L6 is) calculation. Just little things like keeping track of what you are doing by taking a new line for each new bit of processing. He did another paper the next night, used this method and his mark shot up from 50% to 80%. Could be a coincidence except that half way through doing the paper he said 'Mum, i love this way of doing it, it is really helpful.'

I think I'm more baffled than I was before...

Pickled, your DS just sounds like a completely normal little boy, bright, enthusiastic, a bit patchy and unreliable academically.

There is nothing you have described to be baffled about. If you spent the same time with his classmates, you would probably find at least three quarters of them fir the same description.