GCSE’s summer 2020 thread 5 - And then there were none..

Sorry about my keyboard, it keeps dropping letters out!

Shimy FlyingPandas thank you. Mumsnet keeps me distracted. I do my crying in the shower!

Yes Patience I am glad you reminded me that about the ‘9s’. Dd is so bright and she wanted them in her favourite subjects but at the end of the day, we would give anything just for her to be well again and off the meds.

@justhere that’s great news.
Yesterday DS asked if he could have some fantasy novels. Any recommendations from anyone?

Well, tiny success here, I've got S reading The Great Gatsby now. e's still in bed but at least he's reading.

Noble could you post that on the Year 13/A level thread too?

This graph shows the complete split in how different schools are treating Y11. Complete lack of guidance from the DfE means that a third of Y11s are getting no schoolwork at a point when they should be working the hardest.

Am finding this thread useful and supportive thanks to the many contributors, both parents and teachers.

I hope that one consequence of this will be a de-emphasis on exams and results. I was talking to one friend whose son was devastated by the GSCE cancellations because 'they were all the pupils and school had talked about for three years'. This is a school that does a three-year KS4 (which I'm not in favour of) and does 9 subjects. Only 9 subjects for years 9, 10 and 11 seems to be so limited. It's a school with a mixed cohort that gets good (but not amazing) results and I do understand why it can't take the same approach as schools with a more academic cohort, but it drills mark schemes and exams continually.

A second thing she said also struck me. The boy was devastated as he'd just started to work hard and was desperate to get a full set of 9s. Aren't these incredibly rare? Aren't we supposed to treat 9s as bonus 8 rather than a minimum to be gained? I've no idea how academic this child is but he was never one of the stars at primary so it seems a lot of pressure to be putting on himself.

It's madness that children should be thinking about aiming for perfection and being devastated at 8s. I'm very grateful to ds's school that I've never even had a predicted GSCE grade. If he gets given mocks +1, we'd be pleased but I don't see how it can just be done on mocks since every school does them at different times and to different standards.

@Fiddlergreen,

just shows how inconsistent this all is.

@ihatethecold

My DS was told the opposite and had to bring absolutely everything in on the last day.
He now working on bits at home that we hope to be able to drop into school one day or if not, we take photos of it and email to the teacher.
I can understand your DDs upset, that’s a lot of work to not include!!

@Zanda sorry to hear Dd is still struggling with her health. Will she gradually adjust to the new dose and the side effects settle down? I’ve had some experience of similar medications and it’s always nail biting waiting for the adjustment period to pass. Poor thing. You always sound so positive when actually you’re facing a very tough situation at home. We’re all thinking of you so pls keep up the spirit!

Oh @ZandathePanda that sounds tough. Your poor DD. Let’s hope they will clarify what work can be used as actual proof towards grades and then hopefully the schools who have been pushing can calm down a bit!

Fiddlersgreen

In regards to Art. My dd was told in her final art lesson before closing that they didn’t want the work book from this current year submitted.
She was so upset. She’s worked so hard on her yr 11 portfolio.
It’s here at home with her.

I’ve emailed the head of art at school for clarity and he said they have no idea yet.

Yesterday my dd was emailed by the art teacher to say next week they will be told what is happening in regards to art.

I hope to god they ask for the current portfolio.

FlyingPandas state school. She’s been poorly for a while (and hasn’t got the energy to supply mountains of amounts of work at grade 9s (what she was predicted in most). We thought the GCSEs being called off was great for her until this. She has been poorly again in the last few days and I know the doctors will want to increase her meds again which will now be on the maximum dose and make her feel bad in themselves.
At least we don’t have the worry of her doing them. I just keep checking back to this thread to hope to hear the government says there’s a cut off date so she can put all her energy into getting better.

@Zandathepanda wow that’s a lot - is your DD at an independent or state? There does seem to be the most massive variation in what schools are setting.

@Wheresthebeach we’ve had a similar message from school here. No homework set - just encouragement to keep going with A level subjects, and school have committed to providing some guidance about A level prep after Easter.

DS’s math teacher is posting practice papers for dc to do to keep skills fresh, which DS is (to my amazement) working his way through, but there is no formal requirement to submit them. History teacher has also encouraged them to finish last couple of bits of syllabus that should have been completed before Easter, which he is also doing but only because he wants to do A level in that subject, he wouldn’t bother otherwise.

I am telling myself the school are confident enough in their grade predictions to not feel the need to push the DC to do any more work at this point. but that’s just my guess, I have no idea.

I have ordered DS a couple of A level prep books for his science subjects - there are some really helpful recommended book suggestions on the getting ready for A level thread - which again I’ll get him to work through (eventually!) but other than that he is sleeping late, doing lots of story writing and drawing (his hobby, which is at least vaguely productive) and gaming (a lot).

DS is only doing maths and English homework that has been set now as his college course does not require any set grades. He is playing the Xbox for most of the time during the day and live video streaming his kickboxing classes 4 nights per week.

@namechangenumber2 Thanks - nice that your school has said something reassuring about that. DD’s school has been very very quiet about grades so far, apart from saying that as soon as they know what the rules are they will be in touch. Its just such an odd stressful time.

Just joining in late.

My ds is sure his school days and gcses are set now. I hope we find out for sure soon

@Wheresthebeach - our school emailed last week to say that the fact students normally increase their grades between now and the exams would still be factored in. I'm not sure how though?! I'm guessing they'll just look at previous years and say the average child goes up a grade?

Dd has over 20 pieces of work to do this week. Some set with a 2 day deadline for Friday.

Thanks @Piggywaspushed

That’s good to know. He really upped his game in that from the 3 he had in mocks.

Yes, I do. It's evidence which presumably the school has logged.

@Piggy You might be able to answer this -DS did his Oral French in February. Do you think that will count?

Pretty sure work will have to be proven to be authentic so any coursework done outside of school control may be problematic but that's just a vibe I picked up re exams and home work done after closure rather than coursework per se.

BTecs and vocational subjects will be causing enormous headaches in the DfE just now.

DD has been told to continue Art and that it will need to be dropped in to school at some point. In the absence of clear instructions for DfE I think its sensible to keep working. If they announce no work submitted past closing date will be counted then it will naturally stop, but until that time I don’t blame the school for encouraging them to work.

The work has definitely slowed down in recent days, they’ve stopped all homework.