Transfer 2011/2012

Charliedevil

Friend of mine who's child transferred last year got the 2 letters you described. I've never heard of the primary knowing first! Also the deadline for change of preferances is 22.5.12 so I don't see how any final decisions could have been made! Puzzling! This is belb I am referring to other boards could differ!

flymetothemoon_2

travellinglight wrote: »

Is this correct that the school who accepts the child send a letter to the primary school who then give or post it to their pupils? I thought the Education board wrote and the school sent a welcome letter which came on the same day... so if u see the schools postmark, you know what the other letter will be saying????? Or is this "old school"???

Hey travellinglight
You are not so old school! The process you described is exactly what I experienced last year ie: 2 letters arrived together on the same day (a Saturday morning), one was from the board and the other was from the allocated school whose postmark clearly told us where my DD would be going before we opened either letter. I've never heard of primaries sending out letters and am astonished to think they may know the outcome before parents.

Charliedevil

Does anyone know if these letters are arriving on 28.5.12 or is that the day they are being posted? It says to call on 29.5.12 after 2pm if letter has not arrived. Just curious as I can't sit and wait on postman again so I'm taking myself out until I know they've arrived! Nerves couldn't take it again

Pmum

This is such a strange situation.
We have had 3 kids through the transfer system, 2 in the old system and then one last year in the AQE.

In all three cases we got letters straight from the school to which the child had been admitted and a letter from the E&LB stating at which school they had a place.

It must have been a terrible shock for your son to open such a letter in those circumstances.

I cannot understand how or why any school would send that information via the child's primary school let alone at this stage in the process.

I suppose if the first choice school have been so oversubscribed that they are certain that they will not be able to consider children with scores of 99 then their dealings with your application are fininshed. The process may still be ongoing but the school can still be certain that only children with higher scores will be able to acheive a place.

The process will come to an end much earlier for some children than for others but I can see how all the children should be informed at the same time and in the same way.

It really has been a bit of a horlicks, hasn't it?

You should do as you feel is right but I wonder if going to the media is really the right thing for your son? Only you can answer that but I would be cautious of taking any action that might make things harder for him.

The result of the application is presumably the same as it would have been it is just the way and time of delivery of that information that is terrible.

Would anyone be helped by having this information now or would it just increase anxiety amongst a group of already anxious parents without being of any benefit to your son?

My advice would be to do nothing for a while until you have had a chance to think through all the consquences for your son and other families. I am absolutely sure you are shocked and angry and rightly so. this may not be the best time to make a decision on what action you should take.

Don't know if that helps in anyway. I really do feel for you having this information foisted upon you let alone the effect it has had on your little boy.

annoyedmum

Thank you for your thoughts, it really helps to know that other people going through the same process understand the stress involved.
So after another restless night and waking with the 6 day old headache I am tending to think that whilst I am very angry with the whole sorry mess I have to think of my child and what is best for him. I dont think I have anything to gain from making a big fuss, I would not want anyone to think that I am asking for special privilidges over other children with higher scores so if the application process is being followed to the letter, as the education board are insisting it is, I feel my best course of action may be to prepare my son for his second choice school and minimise his stress. The whole thing sucks but at the end of the day if cut off score is higher than normal then thats that!!!

caz100

To annoyedmum, In my opinion the course of action u have decided upon is the best with your son in mind. I really am astonished that 99 was a cut off point in your choosen grammar but I can only assume that it is heavily oversubscribed and that his score would have quite worthily achieved him a place elsewhere had that been an option for you! On the upside I really think that if your child is bright and wants to work and do well he will! If he is top of the class think of how that will help boost his self esteem and can only help him become a confident happy young man. I really feel for you in your situation so early on and with not being able to share your experience and disappointment with others can only have made it harder for you to accept. Another option is if your child excels so much at the secondary,you could ask could he be put on a waiting list for the grammar to be reviewed if there ever becomes an opportunity! I hope u can start feeling better again and look to the future with some comfort in knowing you're not the only one in the same boat! Xx

Third_Time_Mum

travellinglight wrote: »

so sorry to hear about the awful experience your son had. Is this correct that the school who accepts the child send a letter to the primary school who then give or post it to their pupils? I thought the Education board wrote and the school sent a welcome letter which came on the same day... so if u see the schools postmark, you know what the other letter will be saying????? Or is this "old school"???

I echo the sentiments of the other parents on this thread - I am utterly appalled at the way this information was communicated to AnnoyedMum's son when no-one was expecting it. Surely the letters are addressed to the parents and not to the children, which makes it even more shocking that the letter was just handed to the child by the teacher who said it was a letter for him. I agree with Travellinglight, it would be good to have some clarification as to where the letters come from - is it now common practice for them to go to the primary schools first? Even if this is the case, it does seem completely out of order that the post-primary school issued the letter before the process is completed. In the BELB transfer booklet it states: "Wednesday, 9 May 2012 Last date for parent/guardian to communicate FSME to Transfer Department within ELB.
Last date for receipt, by ELB’s, of new applications/additional preferences, additional information or changes in exceptional circumstances. Any preferences received after this date will not be processed.
Monday, 28 May 2012 Issue of letter advising parent/guardian of the post-primary school their child has been accepted to. If placement letter is not received on Tuesday 29 May, transfer staff will be available after 2.00pm to confirm placement."

So it seems there could still be some movement on allocation of places during May - what on earth is this school doing sending out letters a full month before we were told to expect to receive them? I wonder if any other post primary schools have already sent out letters and they are just going to be sitting in the primary schools for the next month. If the post-primary school in question is the only one to have done this, surely the ELB should be taking steps to bring it into line with the policy of other schools in the board?

I can however sympathise with Annoyedmum's dilemma and reluctance to rock the boat if she feels it might impact on her son. We are all very conscious of the stress our children have been under, particularly those of us who are enduring the long wait from February to May and I can understand why she would not want to add any more stress to the horrifying experience her child has just been through, which is totally unacceptable. Perhaps the Appeals process is the way forward, although this will mean an even longer wait. Having said that, I really don't like this attempt by the primary school to cover up the incident, nor am I impressed by the ELB's lukewarm response. The Department of Education really needs to take responsibility for this shambles of a system so I think it would be worthwhile for Annoyedmum to speak to her MLA.

Lalaland

Am I the only person thinking the scenario described in the original post is completely implausible?!

annoyedmum

Lalaland wrote: »

Am I the only person thinking the scenario described in the original post is completely implausible?!

Why in the name of God would I make up a story like this. Clearly you have no idea of the stress and hurt that this whole situation has caused my son and myself.
Only I would give away the name of the schools involved I would post a photo of the letter concerned, however someone with as small a mind as you have would probably find some other sad excuse to question my integrity so maybe you could just jog on!!!!

Charliedevil

I can see why some people may think this a made up story! It is not procedure for the primary to know first as due to this thread I checked it out with my child's primary. I was told that after the parents recieve confirmation of placement, the primary school get a print out from the board so they can send the child's info to their new school like their key stage 2 levels etc. However, mistakes can happen! Was the transfer form missing a home address perhaps?

While I mention the key stage 2 levels, has anyone's children achieved the coveted level 5? These levels are perhaps the way forward as aposed to testing!