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Original poster

Is your school running GCSE revision sessions this holiday?

134 replies

TalkinPeace · 09/04/2014 10:11

I just dropped DD off for her three lessons today and over half of year 11 were there for various subjects.

The teachers are giving up their holiday, the school is keeping the buildings open, the kids are going in.
Hopefully the grades will reflect that effort.

On my way home I passed the sink school.
No signs of life at all.
No evidence of pupils or teachers in the car park or the building.

Surely the failing school should make MORE of an effort?

OP posts:
yegodsandlittlefishes · 09/04/2014 10:32

Yes, DD's school does lessons, but going away so she will craft her own study lessons. I agree OP, that the ones who are heading for lower grades need this more. Also agree that teachers shouldn't be expected to give up their holidays for this.

JodieGarberJacob · 09/04/2014 10:32

Just spotted someone said there is no study leave any more? Is this all a government thing or just a school decision? I'm shocked if that's the case. I felt with my older dds that this was a time of maturity.

JodieGarberJacob · 09/04/2014 10:29

I'm on the shelf on this one. Dd3 is going in 3 days this week and 2 next week. Our big holiday this year was going to be in the two week Eastr holiday and was completely scuppered because the revision days were 'compulsory'. Also 'compulsory' are 'revision days' during Whitsun and attendance on results day in August. I feel like we are never going to have a break this year. Dd3 is completely stressed with it all. I mentioned to the HT that for us it would have been better if the revision sessions could have been crammed into one week but she said it wasn't fair on the staff. I wouldn't have thought ANY sessions were fair on the staff!

Dd1 and dd2 managed without and tbh I agree that the students need to revise independently. That's what study leave is for. They don't need to be cramming this early.

noblegiraffe · 09/04/2014 10:28

Talkin, by wondering why the sink school isn't running this extra stuff, you are feeding into the expectation that that's what good schools do. Pressure will be therefore put on teachers in the good schools to give up their time, especially teachers of C/D borderline classes, and especially with performance related pay.

As for the teaching being more satisfying because only the kids who care turn up, go to the staff room forum on here and read the post by a teacher who gave up a day, put her own kids in paid childcare to run a session, and only one of the kids who agreed to show up actually did.

Usually it's not the ones who show up who need to show up. That's not satisfying.

Original poster
TalkinPeace · 09/04/2014 10:26

ksience
I get the pressure thing - and if the SLT are not supportive it goes pear shaped

one nice at DCs school is that it is COMPLETELY shut from 7am Friday till next Wednesday - for engineering reasons - so the teachers will not even be able to be expected to check the network!

OP posts:
Original poster
TalkinPeace · 09/04/2014 10:23

Noblegiragge
Not an "expectation" : some of the teachers are away on Holiday, others have just done booklets
and it all seems very relaxed

but for those at the C/D borderline which affects the colleges they will be able to get into
and for those at the A/B borderline so it affects if they will be allowed to do the A level at the colleges

and for the teachers, only those who give a stuff are turning up so the teaching is much more satisfying

And no, they do not have "study leave" but none of the revision sessions from May are actually compulsory - there is no register
so drive and motivation are starting to kick in

OP posts:
tiggytape · 09/04/2014 10:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

kscience · 09/04/2014 10:20

Yes my school is open this week and year 10 and year 11 pupils are required to stay for an extra hour just about each evening for "intervention" classes (this is on top of an hour longer school day than any other school in the authority) and often on a Saturday.

Our school now achieves well in the league tables.

However the kids are highly stressed and worn out. It took a few of us senior staff to insist that the school not be open the second week and we "force" the kids to take a break and be refreshed to come back to their studies.

Another point is the high turnover of staff at this school. We have lost staff or not attracted good quality staff because of the hour longer school day let alone the extra hour each night of intervention classes (BTW teachers don't get paid overtime AND still have to find the time to do the marking and assessment and report writing and data analysis and writing of schemes of work and planning etc etc)

SO are you going to be the one that tells the teachers that they need to work through their holidays? (BTW I use the term holiday loosely, so far I have been in school 10 - 4 every day and not a child in sight, but I did take the WHOLE weekend off)

noblegiraffe · 09/04/2014 10:18

I think it's absolutely shocking that there's an expectation that teachers should run these sessions. Whatever happened to independent learning?

Now Y11 don't get study leave either, no wonder they have no study skills when they get to sixth form.