School prizegiving

[sb507]

Hi all
My dd is in 4th year and the school prize giving is in June however official letters have not yet been sent out. One of her subject teachers spoke to the class about it and said another person would be getting the prize only because they got the highest mark in the prelim. I think this is very unfair as they beat my dd by only 1% and my dd is clearly the best at the subject as she puts in effort, participates way more than anyone else in class, is better at the subject etc. However this teacher claims that the head teacher said prizes can only be awarded based on prelim results. I think that this is very unfair as she does deserve it and made a few very silly mistakes in the exam.
Do you think it is worth complaining as this is important to her? Or am I just being silly. What would you do?

[prettybird]

I think it's pretty much the norm that it is based on Prelim results.

Support your dd in her disappointment and encourage her to work hard next year so that she does get the highest mark in the Higher Prelim.

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

I think they can only use the prelim result, sorry. Anything else is subjective and the way the exams work, it's who performs the best on the day. You can't go back to the SQA and complain that you usually do better or you made a silly mistake when it's the real thing. Harsh lesson but I think it is fair.

What would be even fairer is waiting until after August for the prizegiving and awarding it for the best score in the proper exam.

My Ds1 missed out on an award for a perfect report as he only got a 5 and not a 6 for effort in RME, this was when he was in S3 so was a core subject rather than an an elective, plus we are atheists, plus he is already supposed to be getting support for social anxiety which makes it difficult for him to speak up in class - the teacher knows this. Anyway, he just had to suck it up. We just reminded him that it didn't really matter, we were still proud of him and what did a piece of paper mean anyway.

[chemenger]

If they don't use the Prelim mark then it comes down to the teacher's subjective judgement. Don't you think that will generate many more complaints? Silly mistakes are just mistakes, she needs to learn better exam technique to allow her to eliminate these unnecessary errors. Please don't complain on the grounds you give here. You have no way of knowing that she participates most or that she puts in most effort. Neither of those equates to best anyway.

[MatthewWrightResearch]

I'm just wondering how you know your DD is clearly the best on the subject? You have no idea the effort other pupils put in.

Definitely don't complain.

[MrsJayy]

Oh go on complain I really think its unfair when clearly your Dd is best at the subject

[Groovee]

Oh god! My Dd got 3 awards this year as we received the letters prior to them finishing today.

Our teachers normally nominate the pupils for it. It's usually based on a number of factors.

Ds however is very good, and works well but is quiet and tends to get overlooked.

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

Our awards are based on either marks on the actual exams or for effort scores in their school report card.

then there are other awards for service to the community etc.

DS1 got 6s across the board for his school report so should get an award for that. I doubt he will be highest scoring in any of the exams so unlikely to get anything for that. He's had an award in 1st and 2nd year for Effort.

Poor DS2 has had nothing so far - he is in a year of 2/3rds boys so that seems to make it harder for any of them to get straight 6s, he generally does pretty well but just seems to sit just below the required level.

[wigglybeezer]

I am still aggrieved 30 years later at missing out on the 5th year Geography prize despite getting the best mark in the Higher as I got the second best mark in the prelim! Even worse my little sister won the prize the very next year. I nagged DS2 before his prelims this year for this reason but sadly he is not competitive!

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

I think in our case because virtually the whole school stay on for 5th year (and 6th) they base all the academic prizes on actual results and the prize giving isn't until September when they have the results.

[StKildasNun]

Don't complain - make a pleasant enquiry of the Head teacher, 'I was disappointed that DD didn't get blahblah....is this normally the way it's done?'

[lamusic]

Dds is completely based on prelim results

[sb507]

Well she got the letter on Friday and she got a prize for 2 other subjects as she did get the highest mark in those. Will be interesting to see when in the real exam she beats the boy who got 1% higher in the prelim.

[prettybird]

Good that she's getting recognition anyway!

Ds fluked (his description ) 2nd in the Maths prelim even his Maths teacher was surprised. Although 2nd is actually 3rd as one boy in his class actually sat his Nat 5s last year (coming top! ) and is doing his Higher this year and will probably come top again

[SheSparkles]

Is this for real? When I was at school 30 years ago the prizes were based on prelim results and they still are.

What you're saying about your dd being better, putting in more effort and participating more is all subjective. A prize in an academic subject can't be based on something subjective!

Well done to her for the other 2 subjects though, she's clearly putting the work in.

I'd suggest you maybe rein in your own competitiveness a bit though, speaking about her "beating" the lad, it's juvenile and distasteful, and furthermore may well work against you in turning your daughter off study

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

I don't think DS1 was anywhere near the top with his maths prelim result of 97% but then he tells me virtually nothing and prizes are based on actual performance in the real thing not prelims.

prettybird a pupil in DSs school got a perfect 100% in AH Maths whilst still in 4th year!

[Groovee]

Well done to your Dd for the 2 she got.

[Iguessyourestuckwithme]

dd is clearly the best at the subject as she puts in effort, participates way more than anyone else in class, is better at the subject etc.

How do you know this? Are you the teacher ?

[prettybird]

Magnum - this kid is a bit like that Ds says he got 100% for his Nat 5 last year. But he's nice with it.

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

Yes, the boy that got that seems a lovely guy. He's leaving this year and I think off to Harvard, he's also a gifted runner.

[Schoolchauffeur]

I think you have to let this one go OP. It seems like your DD has been recognised in other areas.
Please encourage your daughter to not attach importance to these things as being unable to cope with these disappointments and feeling that these things are unfair will not help her in later life.
By way of example my 52 year old sister in law still raises ( every single time any school prize giving or exam or test result is mentioned by either of my two DC) the fact that at age 18 she didn't win the school French prize 34 years ago and MIL will then chime in with how unfair it was, other person whose name we all know ( not because we know her but because it's been mentioned so many times) didn't deserve it etc.
This theme has continued with university awards, job promotions, redundancies and even relationships with her sense of injustice fuelled by MIL.