I would very much appreciate some advice for our forthcoming appeal, as I can't seem to find a similar scenario.
We live in Kent, and are well within the catchment of the grammar school for which we intend to appeal (it is in fact our closest school). We will not be awarded a place in March because my daughter (Year 6) did not write the Kent Test - but we did list this school on our SCAF so are able to lodge an appeal. My daughter will be able to write the test late at the school sometime in mid March. If she passes we intend to continue with the appeal - had she written it and passed back in September, she would have been awarded a place as we live very close - this is in fact our closest school.
Back in June we chose not to go down the grammar route for her as schoolwork had not been entirely straightforward in her early years - with very varying CAT scores indicating SEN. She was finally assessed at the end of her first term of Year 5 and diagnosed as Dyslexic, with access arrangements of 25% ET advised by the Ed Psych, and accepted by the school. My daughter was both relieved that, in her words, it proved she 'wasn't just stupid' - but it also knocked her confidence as it confirmed that there was something real forming a barrier for her. As parents we felt it best for her self-confidence not to put her through the Kent Test and all its stresses - even with ET it is not a test that favours the Dyslexic trying to decode a question! - and we also doubted whether she would keep up in a pressurised grammar school environment. So we didn't enter her.
Fast forward on a year, with some excellent 1:1 SEN support and in class scaffolding, she is doing really well - has passed other similar senior school entrance exams well and, crucially, has matured quite a bit. We now feel that she would thrive at this grammar school - it is local - our closest school (a short walk), her friends are almost definitely going and I have heard anecdotally that it has good SEN support.
I think, from reading this site, that our appeal will be based on oversubscription - but I would really appreciate some advice on which elements of our situation are those that would be relevant or appropriate to focus on in the appeal. Thank you for your help.
We live in Kent, and are well within the catchment of the grammar school for which we intend to appeal (it is in fact our closest school). We will not be awarded a place in March because my daughter (Year 6) did not write the Kent Test - but we did list this school on our SCAF so are able to lodge an appeal. My daughter will be able to write the test late at the school sometime in mid March. If she passes we intend to continue with the appeal - had she written it and passed back in September, she would have been awarded a place as we live very close - this is in fact our closest school.
Back in June we chose not to go down the grammar route for her as schoolwork had not been entirely straightforward in her early years - with very varying CAT scores indicating SEN. She was finally assessed at the end of her first term of Year 5 and diagnosed as Dyslexic, with access arrangements of 25% ET advised by the Ed Psych, and accepted by the school. My daughter was both relieved that, in her words, it proved she 'wasn't just stupid' - but it also knocked her confidence as it confirmed that there was something real forming a barrier for her. As parents we felt it best for her self-confidence not to put her through the Kent Test and all its stresses - even with ET it is not a test that favours the Dyslexic trying to decode a question! - and we also doubted whether she would keep up in a pressurised grammar school environment. So we didn't enter her.
Fast forward on a year, with some excellent 1:1 SEN support and in class scaffolding, she is doing really well - has passed other similar senior school entrance exams well and, crucially, has matured quite a bit. We now feel that she would thrive at this grammar school - it is local - our closest school (a short walk), her friends are almost definitely going and I have heard anecdotally that it has good SEN support.
I think, from reading this site, that our appeal will be based on oversubscription - but I would really appreciate some advice on which elements of our situation are those that would be relevant or appropriate to focus on in the appeal. Thank you for your help.
Statistics: Posted by RchlD — Fri Jan 17, 2025 11:37 am