11+ Appeal

[JJTDH]

Hi.
I was wondering if anyone within the Buckinghamshire region could help me with understanding how the appeals process works.

My daughter scored 120 on her 11+, she wants to go to the same school as her sister which is a grammar school and I've said I'm happy to appeal for her if that's what she wants but I've no idea where to start!

I also know the grammar school we are looking at reserves 10 spaces for those who score between 115-120 who are in receipt of Pupil Premium so we have that option to but again no idea where to start with that either.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Just to add as we were applying for a school in Bucks last year before we moved again, the Supplementary Information Form comes from the school you want to attend. Ring Beaconsfield High and ask for the supplementary information form outlining briefly what you've said here. They should either send one out or point you in the right direction to one on their website that you can download (we had to collect one from reception for one school but the other was on the school's website under "admissions"). Good luck!

It was three days. Due dates are simply not definitive enough for that to be of any significance, they’re an estimate at best.

I'm also in Bucks and we just missed the pass mark but want the Grammar school local to us. I've spoken to our head and they've said the 'scores' by their schools are done prior to the results coming out. They also said if they think the child is not suitable for Grammar they won't actually score them at all. In the first instance I would speak to your head about where he has scored your daughter and how he feels about her chances of getting in...this really helped when we spoke to ours & helped us with the process of going through selection...which we are...now to evidence everything! Lots of luck to you and your daughter! Any other questions feel free to ask!

nope, three days late… but if she’d hung on two days more, it would have been September anyway!…this stuff is just random.

I still really don’t think predicted due dates have any relevence for secondary school as they’re just rough estimates. babies often come weeks either side. the only impact it had on my DD being end of August was her starting reception aged 4 years and a week instead of 5 years, she felt super young for the year at that point.

Thank you. So our Head Teacher is new. He doesn't really know my daughter so I believe her teacher has given the scores and passed them on to the head. Unfortunately the teacher is currently off ill with Covid so I haven't had a chance to speak with him yet. We do have parents evening on Monday thought so hopefully he's back and I can have a chat with him then.

When I spoke to the head he was very keen for us to do a selection review, really supportive so I'm hoping he thinks we have a chance and that the scores given were good. X

I imagine her teacher would have been involved in the scoring too - especially if the head is new 😊 our head was really keen for us to do selection review too…I tried to submit all the evidence last night, it’s a minefield and I feel a bit overwhelmed by it al to be honest!

It really is. I messaged a few mums from my daughters school who'd been through it and a few did it with a score of 120. When I asked them about the evidence they'd uploaded they told me that they actually didn't upload a single bit of evidence. They basically wrote a paragraph about their child and what they are like then the head wrote a letter which included the child's academic ability. So I may do that, as all school tests ect are either at school or in the bin. I didn't keep any of it and I'm not sure if her reports count.

Oh man! I have reports which I’ll upload as says evidence to be uploaded & we have lots of ‘above’ but I don’t really understand what else they’re looking for as ‘academic evidence!’ I think grammar would definitely encourage her to work harder as she is entirely capable and very very bright; just lazy and will coast along. She definitely mirrors her peers!

Have we got the same daughter 🤣 mines exactly the same, is more than capable for grammar but will coast along given half the chance 🙄

😅😅😅 sounds like it!! Haha wouldn’t it be funny if we actually knew each other & they end up at the same school!🤣

Haha, time will tell! That would be funny though! Xx

Hope your daughter gets through, lots of luck!! Xx

Just a little update. Had the headteachers report through and they had given her a 1:1 before she sat the test and have given a her a glowing review so fingers crossed 🤞🏽

Ah that’s amazing! We got a 1:2 and a glowing review too! Lots of luck to you!☺️

Hi @thing47 @titchy -sorry to divert this post. I have twin daughters and one of them qualified for bucks and we are inside catchment. another daughter score 118(VR-120, Maths-118, NVR 114-age standardised score). We have submitted selection review with Head teacher recommendation of 2:1 ,GDS in Maths and reading in year 5 and prediction of GDS in all 3 areas by year 6. They were preterm and born before 2 months and we have added that as evidence for age standardisation, if possible. we didn't call out that they are twins and kept the focus only on the child who missed out by few marks. would it add any benefit to include that she is a twin? is there any requirement that atleast 2 elements in standarised score should be above 121 and will preterm birth of 2 months be considered?

I'm sorry but I can't answer your question regarding your daughters being twins.

As for her birthdate, though, I'm afraid a selection review won't take this into account at all. In my experience (personal and professional) this is only ever considered if the actual birthdate would have placed the child into a different academic year. Are you saying that as your DD was born 2 months early, her score should have been standardised against DCs 2 months younger? If so, you won't get anywhere with that argument, I'm afraid.

It sounds like you have a decent academic case so I would recommend you concentrate on that and don't get hung up on the fact that she was born prematurely.

Hi @thing47 -Thank you for your response. yes, as the child was born early in Nov, whereas the due was in Jan.
In terms of academics, is there any specific requirement that they should have scored min of 121 in any two elements of Maths/Verbal/NVR?

You don’t HAVE to have passed 2 of the sections, but if the child hasn’t it’s sometimes given as a reason for the Review being unsuccessful.

OK so what standardisation does in Bucks is compare your DC with other DCs with the same birth month. Your DD might have suffered a minimal disadvantage in being compared with other DCs born in November rather than in January but you can't say de facto that she did and it's impossible to quantify. For this reason it is very unlikely it will be considered, sorry.

@YouDontNeedWarpaint has nailed the answer to your other question already, but just to add that the fact that your DD didn't get 121 in any of the 3 sections could be an issue.