Year 12 provision

[sleepwouldbenice]

Can you please help me understand possible reasons for this provision for year 12s at our school. My daughter and friends are really concerned they are behind, perhaps you could give me some assurance, however please be honest if you have concerns

For our year 12 we've had a couple of live lessons and teacher catch ups but mostly just weeks of presentations, they've dropped to 4 days a week, no end of year reports or assessment , going into school involved inviting 8 pupils for a day who were behind, all other year 12 pupils only get 2 hours in school in the final week of term not for lessons but for UCAS and epq catch up. We are not in an area which would struggle demographically and it's not financially related.

Other local schools have all provided various lesson types and pupils have gone in regularly, even some that aren't in year 10 /12, they have used this time, actually with their teachers, to catch up on trickier concepts, science practicals, consolidate learning etc and of course to go some way to allaying fears about returning to school

Any insight appreciated , thanks

[Phineyj]

Have you emailed the Head? What do they say? Do you have a PTA or parents' WhatsApp group for the year group? No-one here can tell you what is going on at your specific school.

[sleepwouldbenice]

Hi. I just popped back onto say that I have asked the school they just say that they are entitled to set provision in the way they choose to.

[sleepwouldbenice]

Not aware of any parents group. Especially at year 12 level

[motherrunner]

I have been teaching my Yr 12 class (and all my classes) live to timetable throughout and marking to policy. They had a day of ‘face to face’ contact with the sixth form team focussed on UCAS. The last week of school I will hold academic reviews with each pupil via Teams. It has been challenging but our students feel on top of their studies.

Can you ask what provision they are going to provide come the new academic year? That may put your daughter’s mind at ease.

[Phineyj]

Something practical you could do is to buy the CGP revision guides for each of her subjects and sit down and systematically test her (she could also do this on Quizlet). She should have covered approx. 60% of the content by now. If it's much less than 50% you have got an issue, as the exam boards have confirmed they're not cutting down the content for the 2021 exams. You can then make a plan to cover some of the missing content over the summer (it would help to know what should have been covered this year - which is a reasonable thing to ask the school to confirm).

[Phineyj]

Don't worry about coursework or practicals, if relevant. Those probably will go, because some schools simply won't be able to organise them. But assume anything theoretical in a revision guide could be tested.

I am only suggesting what I had to do to get my own A-levels in 1991, because some of our teachers were absent/not up to teaching to an A/working to rule. That was in a well regarded grammar school too. It's excellent practice for university!

[sleepwouldbenice]

Thanks for the replies. It's hard to feel confident to help support A levels! Some good suggestions here, I am really not sure the school will say where they are with syllabus, but will try.

Many of her friends are worried about being behind though

I do agree she needs to gravitate towards self study any way but they have done so much of that as there has been no group work, and a 4 day week, as well as not very interactive provision . I just think it will put pupils and teachers under more pressure under potentially difficult times in September and beyond

Thanks and any further comments welcome

[Phineyj]

I think that you are right that the school may not release the info if it shows them in a bad light. In any case, it ought to be possible with a little time and patience to work out what has been covered. You or your daughter can also download the specification from the exam board websites.

As a teacher, my top tip would be to empower yourselves with knowledge but don't treat the teachers or the school as your enemy, because you need those relationships in September.

[noblegiraffe]

My Y12s have not been into school at all, no live lessons, but those who have engaged with the ‘weeks of presentations’ are not behind at all, and in fact are doing pretty well.

When you say ‘no assessment’ though, do you mean that they haven’t submitted any work at all for marking? That would be my concern.

[sleepwouldbenice]

Hi
Thanks again for replies. In terms of assessment.
There has been some work submitted and feedback but it has varied considerably and there are no end of year assessments. This, combined with no end of year report means the pupils haven't a great idea how they are doing. They only had one set of assessed grades and of course no parents evening before lock down so not much to work with
Thanks

[Phineyj]

Ask the school if they are planning exams in the autumn then? I think they will be. They've got to have something to base UCAS predictions on. I will be honest, it does sound a bit rubbish compared to my school but we are private and dissatisfied customers don't pay! I do think you are focusing on the wrong thing though. Focus on what DD knows and compare it to the spec. Encourage her to keep working.