MISSING A GCSE DUE TO CHANGE OF FLIGHT TIME-HELP???

blimey! i am really surprised at the whole tone of this thread - the op was asking for advice - and was trying to do the right thing in going in the school hols! she hasnt said oh sod it im going when its cheaper!

i think people must have their judgy pants stuck up the crack of their arse and its making them irritable....

its pointless now to give the op a good ticking off really - its done, she is asking how to best deal with the situation.

you have made me think though about booking the same week for us next year....so your post has helped me OP.

Hope he manages ok, it could be worse.

Be careful about assuming that about linear assessment. Many Students will still take one complete Science GCSE at the end of year 10. And if they miss a paper, they will have to retake the whole GCSE at the end of year 10, not just the paper they missed.

For those upset that exams happen across 2 or even 3 years you will be pleased to know that the current year 10 are the last ones who will have this problem to any great extent. Exams are going back to being linear from the current year 9 onwards. (Until it changes again....)

I don't think anyone should have the attitude that it's only RS. If she is dropping the subject, her GCSE grade is the one she will carry on her CV.

I imagine, though, that if she has learnt all her model answers, she will be able to do the exam even if a little tired.

I babysat for someone the night before one of my A level exams. This usually reliable person didnt appear home until about 4am. Luckily exam wasn't until afternoon but I did want to look over some notes in the morning. I survived and got an A in the A-level (this was pre AS days so no 2nd attempts). Probably it was a bit daft to babysit but the child was in bed at 7 and I had a quiet house to study in but expected to be home by midnight at latest. I'm sure your son will survive. Make sure he has plenty to drink and fed well. I do think you are a bit odd going on hols in middle of exam period however but each to their own.

I think the whole point of MN is people getting worked up about what other people do

Bah, its only RS. I don't know why everyone's getting in such a flap.

If your DD is in Year 10, this is not the last time for her to take the exam, so no amount of doctors' notes will make any difference. The exam board won't do anything.

Blimey, this got heated! Do people really get this worked up about what other people do?

When I did O levels in the olden days of 'fifth year' the cleverest did do English and/or Maths in year 4 (now year 10). It's always happened!

So he is an A star student. Well that's fine then - get him to sit it tired and he might get a C, not much different to a thousand of our DCs who have worked really really hard and won't be tired, but will be delighted their hard work pays off and they get a Grade C.

Milkybarsus

I am hiding this thread but first before you judge people for hothousing their kids....my child IS suicidal because of exams. Not my fault but we are living through it. Now fuck off to your holiday and be grateful your kid isnt

Apart from the fact that flight delays aren't exactly unforseeable acts of god, I wouldn't have thought sitting a GCSE the day after returning from Turkey was a desperately good idea, but hey, you know best!

And to those saying 'but it's only RE': if he wants to do something highly competitive like medicine, vet science etc etc then it may still affect his chances of getting a place when most students will have straight A*s across the board, including RE! And that's without all the arguments about working equally hard for all subject etc etc.

Depends if he's planning on continuing it at A-Level & then moving on to a Theology degree, Magneto...but yeah, I bet the Archbishop of Canterbury hasn't got A* RE either, & it's not one I'd've worried unduly about planking, either...

op I think you're worrying too much, he'll be fine, he might be tired the next day but he'll survive. Just make sure he drinks plenty of water on the flight, does some revision while away and get him to school on time. Enjoy your holiday.

"Surprised that whoever you have your holiday booked with can force this on you. Can you not complain to them and explain that the revised time will not work for you, and you need to get an earlier flight."

Holiday companies do this all the time. Unfortunately they won't be bothered by one family's angst at a later flight time.

I must admit that I would consider a return flight on a Sunday a bit of a dangerous gamble and wouldn't have considered it myself, but I am a cautious bod.

Personally, and I appreciate this may be controversial, buts it's only RE. If it's a year 10 exam then is it a short course GCSE too? It's not worth the worry.

I doubt even if he wanted to become a priest that they would say "Sorry, we only accept people who got an A in RE into priest school"

Holidays in the UK in exam season: yes, good idea, take notes & laptop & get away from eg. friends creating distractions. Being abroad & at the mercy of holiday company playing silly buggers with flights = not so sensible...

I'm an invigilator and we have students turn up late for exams all the time! Also depending on the exam board, there is lee-way for a later start of up to an hour. It may be worth talking to the school to see if they could help with a later start. I know it won't be much, but may be better than nothing.

2 years ago I went away for a family wedding with dd for a weekend. ds had exams so although we were coming home on the Sunday I didn't take him, though I almost did. I arrived at the airport to find the return flight was cancelled and we were put up in a hotel for 24hrs and got home a day late. Ds would have missed 2 GCSEs if he'd been with us (morning and afternoon exam on the Monday) - so glad he wasn't.

I don't think holidays in exam times are a bad idea apart from travel uncertainties though. If children take some books with them there are often fewer distractions on holiday than at home. Mine certainly work better away from their computers, but don't ever rely on flights to get you anywhere at a set time!

What would happen at the school where I teach would be:

1. Ds presents himself, yawning, suntanned & unprepared - he sits the paper, probably gets an under-par result, & ds/his teacher/you discuss whether to re-enter him. Depends how important it is to him I suppose.

2. Ds doesn't turn up - he gets a U, you get billed for the exam fee.

I have to say, this is a risk you take if you really must book holidays in the exam period, & I wouldn't be doing it. Still, you can regard it as a 'learning curve' for year 11 - you now hopefully know that no, public exams don't re-arrange themselves around your leisure time, & no, you can't get a 'sick note' for a public exam.

Well, you can in theory be allowed extra consideration if you get run over/contract plague on your way there, & the fee waived if you don't attend as a result & have to re-sit, but you definitely can't swan in saying 'sorry, I was poorly, can I have a crack at it another time'!

OP, if as you say, all your DC are in grammar schools then I'm amazed that you booked a half-term holiday coming back on the Sunday. You can't be that intelligent if you didn't realise that holiday companies quite often change the times. You must have known that this time of year is exam time. It really is common knowledge. I'm also resigned to the fact that we can't take our holiday later in August when it's cheaper for the next at least 6 years, having already had a year of it, last year, as DC will be taking exams - GCSE, AS and A levels.

Your DC will just have to go to school. Of course, your DC is an A* student (what MN DC apart from mine, aren't!) so will do fine.

Why don't you just book him on a one-way cheap flight back from Turkey a day early? Does he have a friend or relative he can stay with when he gets back?

Just get him there in time, loads of students have late nights due to parties revising all night etc. If its only an hour's exam and he is an A* pupil I don't know why you are even worried about it .

I've no idea, Mirry!

The other sad thing was that the lower sixth used to be a fun year before the real hard work started and now students have exams all the way through. So unfair :(

OP, I think you should cancel your holiday really. You can go on holiday later in the summer maybe.

Your DS should take the exam - he will be tired but that's too bad really isn't it. I hope he remembers to pack his notes with him to revise in Turkey. If the RS exam is like the one we do at our school he will already have sat paper one before the hols - he might as well finish it and hope he scored well on the first paper. I expect the adrenalin of exam nerves should keep him awake anyway.