My daughter received her 11+ results yesterday and scored 118. This was of her own volition, as we didn't get her tutored and until yesterday I didn't know of this forum.

The school have said they are happy to support her in appealing/selection review.

I'm a bit flummoxed about the whole thing, although I have read several threads on here.

We do have some extenuating circumstances (which the school have said they would like to include on their form, as they knew prior to the test).

My brother died suddenly a few months ago (we are a very close family), which has led to lots of upset, and has upset her a lot.

My dad (her grandad), has terminal cancer and has steadily become more frail (she was incredibly upset after seeing him in bed, had a nightmare he died, and wet the bed, so I told the school in case she was upset at school).

So as I said, the school think she is capable (I don't know what the numbers are that I've seen referenced on here, but the school said they will send me the form to send to the council after I've done my bit.

The school also mentioned that it was disruptive, as they sat the practice on the Tuesday, then were supposed to sit the real thing on the Thursday, but their year was told to isolate on the Tuesday night, so they took it late (but I'm not sure that makes any difference as the whole year was affected - though only passed, and the two who were tutored achieved 120 and 111, so maybe it did).

How do I go about filling in the form? Is selection review the best thing rather than appealing (which I'm less likely to consider, as it's so far in the future and most spaces will be filled by then.

Any help would be gratefully received.

The review is a paper exercise so make sure the data is sound before opting for this route.

Does your child have 'above' for all areas of learning throughout KS2 and strong KS2 test predictions?

I don't know, I know she has been above areas in other years, but I have no idea what her predicted scores are for the SATS.

Would it be better to go down the appeal route?

My only worry with that is we only put one grammar down, and it has never had places left in the summer, when the appeal will be heard.

I also have no idea on how to submit the form. The council have said to fill in the form and submit the head's form with it...but I was told by the school, that I fill in the form, then they do, then it comes back to me, but I cannot see how to do it.

Welcome to the forum!

I think to begin with you should read points 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 of the Bucks sticky carefully,
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=61430
and also follow the link in point 9 where it says "start here".

You will be in a better position to decide about a review when you see exactly what the headteacher has put on the review form - and if you want us to, we can help you understand it.
Wait for the headteacher's form before you worry about how to fill in yours.

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Etienne

Thank you. The head has said that I have to fill in the form and submit it first, then they do their bit. But the email from the council states that they have access to a form they fill in, which is then sent to me, to either include with my submission or not. I'm confused as to how to approach the school to get them to send the form first (unless I've completely misunderstood something).

I think it's true that there used to be tick boxes on the parent's form saying that the headteacher's form was either "included" or "to follow". In almost all cases I think parents included it (i.e. submitted it at the same time as their own form).
I don't know about this year, but the council is in charge of this process, so whatever they say must be right.

Why not explain to the school very nicely that you really need to see their report so that you can decide whether you want to go ahead with the review, and refer them to the wording in the council's email?

Rather than speak to them, they might take more notice if you put this in an email to them, because there will then be a written record.

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Etienne

I have messaged the assistant head (who is also my daughter's teacher and my 'contact').

I included a screenshot of the relevant section of the email, so they can see what it says.

The council email also asks you to collect and submit evidence of extenuating circumstances - the school have already said they will include the bereavement and the close family member's terminal illness (as I had already informed them, due to her being upset at home, and worrying about going to school in case they died), but don't know how to include this as evidence myself. I have got access to my father's online medical records (as my mum can't do it), but I'm not sure whether they would need to see evidence that he is terminally ill, or whether they will just believe it? Also how do I prove the bereavement? The school knew about it, as the family support workers provided extra support to my daughter as she was upset, but obviously my mum has the death certificate.

Sorry for so many questions, I just don't want to make mistakes.

It has just occurred to me - are we getting confused between a request form and a review form? Have you actually done a first ‘request’ form?
On that form you would put the school email address, and when you submit it the school is emailed with a link to their review form pre-populated with your details, while you receive a link to the parent's selection review form.
The head then fills their form in, and the system will automatically email a pdf version of the head's form to you.
You can then complete and submit your selection review form, including the head’s form (unless you prefer not to submit it), together with any other evidence you may have collated.
This is how I understand the system will operate this year.

Sorry to hear this. When exactly was it?
If it was a month or two before the test, I'm afraid it's unlikely to carry as much weight as, for example, a family bereavement in the week leading up to the test .

How close to the test was this? When exactly did you tell the school?

On your form you can explain the extenuating circumstances - rather as you did in your first post on here, but I think some dates will be needed.

As far as evidence is concerned, if you do have any medical evidence you can of course submit it, but what matters is that the school confirms that they were aware of the situation, and that extra support was provided for your daughter because she was so upset. Evidence of the impact on the child is more important than any death certificate.

With a score of 118 (.75), I don't think you need much in the way of extenuating circumstances. Academic evidence is going to be infinitely more important.

It's not a problem.
We're here to try and help.

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Etienne

You are absolutely correct! I realised in bed that I had totally misunderstood, and had pre-empted the phone call, due to curiosity, so the form the teacher referred to, was indeed the one I'd already completed (and unfortunately, I'd already messaged the assistant head before I realised).

I have the photo with the date we visited my dad, so can include dates.

The head mentioned the bubble closing on the evening they took the practice test as an additional point, I'm not sure about that?

I will wait for the head's statement, then will post the general tone of it.

Thanks again for your help.

I realised after looking at other threads that I hadn't included my daughter's broken down results.

Verbal 125
Mathematical 113
Non-verbal 111

I'm a bit more depressed looking at them as I'm guessing they would all need to be 125.

The school have sent home copies of her old school reports. They show that apart from the start of year 2 (where she was 'working towards' then ended the year at 'mastery') , she is always at or above the expected standard).

Her progress report and something called PITA in July 2019 was Excellent (PITA score 5) on Maths, English (all, reading, writing, SPAG), and Science. Good on everything else (art, etc), and PITA 4.