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

Ariel when did GCSEs stop being done in the fifth year? Couldn't be more than 5 years ago.

I would send in your DC to do the exam and if they are very tired perhaps the school will allow them to come home afterwards. I have known this to be allowed when kids have come in ill with minor illnesses such as colds and then go home after the exam. He may do fine, I got through most of my exams on little sleep due to late night panic revision. Coffee and pro plus tablets red bull helped but perhaps not appropriate for a year 10 child.

As an aside, wasn't life simpler when we all did our GCSEs and O Levels in the Fifth Year?

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. They probably assume that customers would prefer to have a bit of extra holiday rather than a bit less if times need to be changed, whereas in your case it's the other way around.

Oh and he told us this time last year when ihe was in yr 9 that there were Gcse's before and after this half term. Also we had tje timetable months ago too so it's not like it's some top secret fact that you only find out about a week or so before,

i loathe the phrase "A* student"
its liek we are all in an episode of Friends

going on holiday doesnt necessarily mean you will be too tired for an exam anyway! its a pain that the flight has been changed, you had arranged it so it would be fine. and this yr the half term is at a different time due to jubilee etc, its normally the last week of may, its only the diff bank holidays etc that mean it has been changed (for many schools) another reason why perhaps the op didnt realise that her ds may have an exam the day after they returned.

good luck to your ds Milky :)

Trying not to be snappy but you are being very defensive. If he is an A* student why are you worried? Also, as a pp has said, is there a chance that some others sitting the exam won't do so well? If it's a grammar they will probably be pretty hot on re-sits so if he doesn't do too well he won't be the only one so teachers will be available to offer help for a second sitting.
The other thing to point out is that kids are a lot more resilient that we think and for a variety of reasons your DS won't be the only one sitting the exam after a couple of hours sleep!

TBH the whole early entry thing baffles me and if he has to re-do it I wouldn't be in the least worried as he's likely to do so much better with an extra years maturity.

My ds is an a* student too ...I struggle to encourage him to revise and going on holiday in the most important school holiday week of all would not send him the message that I encourage his studies. So we are staying at home. He's not going to be glued to his desk but he will be doing some revision.
You know your child as I know mine and a holiday this week is a choice I would never have made. But there you are.

DS sorry

THing is, milkybarsrus, it's the half term holiday which falls in the exam period. If your DD is in Y10 then it was fairly obvious he'd have some exams and being away just before them isn't that great an idea. It isn't just a 'test' either - you are trying to play it down. It's an external examination and matters.

You sound a bit judgy of parents 'glueing' their DCs to desks and suggesting they are unbalanced, when all they are doing is pointing out that there is only one school holiday week in the year which could affect exams and that they would like their DCs to have the opportunity to work and not attend an exam tired.

If you can get him there - do so. He'll be tired, but so was my daughter in her frist exam - because she was so worried about it she didn't sleep!

Planning holidays around exams is simple, Vicar, not a nightmare at all. They happen in January and in May/June with the odd subject offering November sessions. THey are all in school time. THe only break which falls between them and should be avoided is Whitsun. So only one week of the year.
I don't think revising by a pool works. You need to be in a studying frame of mind and to concentrate. THis holiday would disadvantage him even without the flight time. It was irresponsible to book it and now your DS will have to pay for it. He'll either do it at a disadvantage or miss it. EIther way he'll probably have to resit it when he should be concentrating on other modules.

perhaps the OP booked the holiday over half term precisely because she did not want to interrupt his schooling/exams...

had the flight times not been altered there would have been no problem. It is possible that the holiday was booked in advance of the exam times., if i knew i had booked a break that coincided with a school holiday it wouldnt have occurred to me that it could affect anything in school time.

OP if i were you i would contact the school asap and speak to them and take their advice. Could you son sleep on the plane/in the car/ and then a few hours before he has to take the exam?

if not then i would ask about the possibility of resitting.

if he really cannot resit then he will have to go in for the exam - but i would try to get him to sleep where and when he can and i would pick him up straight after ward and let him get some sleep.

dd is 14 and has had exams from year 9, some in year 10 and the rest next year. it is truly a huge pain in the arse and disruptive and exams just seem never ending, and planning holidays - if we had them - would be a nightmare.

im planning on a blow out holiday after she finishes school next year i think - i had been looking at the same half term as you tbh, but it didnt occur to me that she may have an exam on the day she is due back.....you have probably just helped me from falling into the same trap tbh!

why cant he revise on holiday, he can take stuff with him, i did when i went away near my gcse time, it will be no hardship to sit by a pool and study in the sunshine!

he will just have to sleep on the sunday and you have to make it back in time for the exam, do you think you can make it, even if it means driving through the night, he can sleep in the car. he wont be at his best, but others have taken exams in worse condition, i had glandular fever throughout my gcse and ended up with recurrent tonsilitis which meant having to have them taken out whilst doing my a levels, not ideal but i still managed.

He will either have to sit the exam having missed hours of sleep or put him on an earlier plane and get a friend to pick him up from the airport.

The exam can only be a few hours long so he should be able to manage it - lots of students don't sleep well before an exam anyway.

I hope your doctor has more integrity than to falsify a sick note. Sick notes to excuse attendance at a public exam need to be based on fairly strong grounds.

I think you also need to show some moral scruples about being straight with the school. It's a very measly idea to 'throw a sickie' and not a great lesson for your DS to learn.

Agree with all the others: did you really need a week abroad during this particular week? It's not as though it's cheaper at half-term in any event and shows a deep lack of consideration for your DS, his teachers and schooling.

He'll be disadvantaged anyway by not having had the revision time in the week up to the exam. The chances are there will be students re sitting next year/term so there should be exam preparation before the next time the exam is taken so in that sense it's not the end of the world. I would still make him take it and, if he's properly prepared then a lack of sleep shouldn't effect him. Also if it's a morning exam he's less likely to be effected by tiredness than he would be in an afternoon exam.

I am gobsmacked you booked the holiday in the first place. I speak as a parent of a Y11 and a teacher. I guess people view these things differently so it can't be that important to you as someone else says.

You can't lie. He will have to be tired. Abd you not take holidays in exam time.

He should sit the exam.

He should try and sleep through the day on the Sunday, on the transfer and on the plane.

He will be tired at school but he will make it. Teenagers often manage on just a few hours sleep.

I'm sorry but I don't think you're serious about your son's education if truth be known. What, by going off abroad for holiday for 1 week whilst everyone else is burning the midnight oil preparing what could be life shaping exams and now thinking of fooling the exam board with your blunder? Surely you can't be serious . . .