Poor year 11’s seem to have been just forgotten about

My niece is in Year 11 and her school have started teaching their A-Levels early. Seems like a good idea to me.

Magic I also have an autistic year 11. With six months out of school I fear he won't go back at all. Zero motivation with him too.

He was told that his year 11 had finished on Thurs 19th March at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. They told them that they were not welcome back in school on the Friday. There was not even a leaving assembly. Ds has had the most awful year 11(due to unsupportive school) so it's not a huge loss to him but we had plans to move him to a different sixth form. He won't be able to cope with he transition though without a visit and induction day beforehand.

The previous 2 major announcements both mentioned yr 11 and 13. Then key information was released detailing how grades will be calculated, appeals & re sits. There were threads on here where we all discussed it it within inches of its life. Nothing was said about the other year groups. Now all that is done and dusted.

I actually think yr11 got off lightly, they have completed the curriculum and finished the year! What more do you want him to say about them?

There are children fretting about upcoming exams next yr, kids who haven't completed the curriculum for this year but you want them to talk about missed proms???

And the year 13’s. For them it’s all over, the school they’ve been at for the last 7 years finished. It’s a very sad time for them and for the years 11’s.
It’s a scary time too - moving on to new courses, universities without the last few months at school to prepare them.

It’s also sad for the yr 10’s and 12’s who will have so much catching up to do.

And for the year 5’s due to sit the 11+ in September - nothings been mentioned about them at all.

I think every year group has its own sadness to bear.

Yeah... my DS hadn’t finished all the courses either. They still had topics to cover.
Now it’s just unfinished education.

I feel like some allowances must be made for year 10s exams next year, surely they will change something as the whole nation of years 10s have missed so much school.

Year 11s now have two years of more intense study before they get their first real attempt at proper exams with proper exam pressure and very real results

We also have the issue that we've been saying for years that he has to prepare for the GCSEs as they're the first round of really important exams, and now suddenly they're so unimportant that their grades can basically be guessed at.

He's got ASD and ADHD so trying to get him motivated enough to do A levels is going to be great

I feel really sad for mine too OP - he was pulled out with barely any time to say goodbye to his class, he's had his opportunity to do a bit better pulled away, and there probably won't be any of that coming of age Prom, or shirt or yearbook signing stuff.

For those saying they'd finished - no, they hadn't! There was still some of the curriculum outstanding, and they would have spent the last 7 weeks or so going over topics they didn't understand and revising topics they'd done way back.

They've been given some work by the school, but not much, and in my household have had to deal with both parents coming down with Covid-19.

It's sad for year 11 that they miss out on the fun stuff but honestly I'd swap having a year 10 for a year 11. At least they completed their courses.

Mentally I'm preparing for a horrendous year next year with her trying to catch up. I'm expecting resits and possibly not getting the grades needed for a level. A return in September will be devastating for all year 10s.

They are also too young to work, missing social interaction and she is generally feeling low.

DDs school has promised Y11s that there will be a leaving event and prom, but probably next year. They have bridging work and are mentoring younger children who need extra support. The school is keeping them busy and I can't see how the school can do more.

It's a huge shame but of course they are the bottom of the pile. Their school year is completely finished.

I do feel sad. But my son has massively benefited from this happening due to illness etc. The college has now drop all the need for grades so he gets to do the course he wanted.
He also was not keen on doing prom. He hated school so for him this has been a positive thing.

I on the other hand think it’s sad he will not be able to do the normal things that all teenagers do for their GCSEs. He missed out on his last day at school. Didn’t get to say goodbye to his friends and is now stuck in the house till September.
It’s just awful all round.

I think it is a shame that y11s have missed out on some stuff, but their education isn't really being disrupted, the system for awarding grades looks as fair as it can be, and they at least missed the stress of exams.

I wish my y10 was in in y11.