Year 13 A-levels 2021 - general support thread?

Looking for support here too. Ds in year 11 has now isolated in total 7 weeks since Sept. He's missed loads, online learning is only powerpoints and as my year 13 has also has to isolate it means they're sharing a laptop. With the best will in the world they're struggling to teach themselves gcse and a levels. I wish the government would hurry up and decide what is happening so teachers and students can mentally and physically prepare themselves.

I'd like to join in this discussion please.
My DS is in year 13- he missed the first 2 weeks of term in September as he had covid and is now off again as someone in his bubble has tested positive. he's missing out on loads of teaching and I just wondered what everyones thoughts were on how the exam boards are going to take this into account. will they even do the exams? seems quite likely now that there is a vaccine but seems so unfair as they've missed so much teaching.

boys3 I do wonder if Gav is even thinking about options or just scratching his backside. They should have plan A, B & C and have discussed those plans over summer with the major players. But we all know there’s zero plan. It all feels very head in the sand.

article in the Sunday Times today re next Summer's exams - conclusion seems to be that any number of options still might happen. Conceivably they can't end up more of a car crash that this Summers...............can they?

I don’t usually watch ITV but lots of discussion on This Morning re exams. Wales saying they will do their own thing. Mixed mode being discussed - exams plus teacher assessment. But it really seems too little too late. How on earth can teachers plan for all this?

Oh @boys3 so is being really supportive to his brother, not sure his setting of a timed essay every day is necessarily that well received made me giggle!! But hey, be great if he did do them!!

sorry to hear about some of the difficulties DC are facing. Almost three weeks now completed for DS3 with no disruptions..........yet. So I'm thankful for small mercies. Full set of mocks next week; it looks full on in terms of exam durations. So we'll see how that goes.

His geography course work appears to have been refocused onto an area where the field trip location can be there and back each day; for presumably a few days. Ironically looks to be identical to the geog field work that one of his elder DS did.

No formal tutoring but DS1 is home working and did 2/3 of DS3's subjects, with one being his degree subject, so is being really supportive to his brother, not sure his setting of a timed essay every day is necessarily that well received.

Yes, it seems rather extraordinary that last year there were two kids in DD’s school with all grade 9s. This year there were 20...

@optartapp: hopefully if everyone in same boat, grade boundaries will also be really low

... some with inflated grades. And if they defer they'll be up against the current year 12's some with their inflated GCSE grades. Like my nephew who was given seven grade 9's even to his amazement.

I think ds1s geography results will be dire sadly.

But after mo teaching for 6 months what do they expect??

And this cohort will be up against the deferred students next year. Sigh.

DS1 (year 13) sat a maths test last week from home (was already isolating one week in!). The teacher said across the whole of the year she has never marked a set of papers with such poor results in the last ten years.
We haven't had a global pandemic with no face to face teaching in the past ten years!
A rude awakening for staff and students. I fear none i these students are going to reach their potential.

Sorry to hear about your dd frog

Ds1s history tutor told him about half term so...? Who knows 🤷‍♀️

We have got ds1 a geography tutor. Costly but not sure what else to do. No info at all on the field trip issue yet.

I was in and out of the kitchen yesterday and his gepgraphy tutor just talks at the whereas his other tutors ask questions, ask opinions etc

Not impressed.

DS1 was given his predictions at the end of last term but I do worry a little about the lack of testing he has experienced (in contrast to the experience of some others). They had their usual November exams but that was after less than a term of content and they weren’t extensive, naturally. Summer exams didn’t happen and he won’t have November exams this year as year 13 just do mocks after February half term. The school only introduces these mocks last year and I think they are too late - should be in January to encourage hard work over the Christmas holidays and to give time to react if they go badly - end of Feb really doesn’t give much time to remediate.

Plus, that is a very long time without practicing the process of memorising and working under time pressure.

Hopefully school knows what it is is doing...

I'm hoping so but not happened before

yoikes ours is 2 weeks anyway but your DS May have just heard the circuit break rumours. They often think mere mutterings are gospel.
frog poor DD, wonder what happened? Hopefully just a timing thing.

DD had 2 tests today, psychology and Chemistry. In the psych she started and went through the paper making note underlining and then stopped at the hardest question. The teacher has sent me copies of her paper showing no response in the lined answer question and is concerned as they had summer to prepare. DD has said she doesn't know what happened she made points on the questions, stopped to think about hard question and time was up. She said test was straightforward easier questions apart from one or two and when I showed her the email she could verbally answer them all quite extensively. After psych she went into chemistry and answered all the questions and had ago at the harder ones.
She says she was fine and didn't have a seizure or anything (epileptic)but doesn't know what happened teacher says she concerned because it wa uneasier test that rest of class were 20/28 and she could do a retest next week. HOY is really unhelpful and is on her case because history is weak from being ill from last year so likely going to be very awkward rather than supportive. Really not sure what to do everything was looking ok with predicted grade A

Ds1 just told me that according to his teacher half term will be 2 weeks long.
Nice of school to let parents know!

Looks like all schools are doing tests for predicted grades. I don’t understand how grammar school couldn’t do that 🤷‍♀️. There is no appealing either. It’s very frustrating

Ah yoikes DD has only got one predicted grade so far but there’s lots more testing this week and I’m guessing the teachers will be prioritising the vet/med oxbridge UCAS applications (as well as everything else on their plates).
That’s good raspberry, in fact that’s pretty amazing!

NotDonna on Teams, so live with rest of his class. Not all classes did, some set work, but the majority did.

Ugh.
Ds1s predicted grade exam results won't be in til next Monday!

Thank you NotDonna. She’s ok and cracking on with her work I think she’s just missing her friends and socialising and she’s panicking about the year ahead. It’s very hard for them all. I really do feel for them.

Ah sorry to hear that Thelma but delighted she’s still having lessons. Hope she’s able to chat to friends, do some right brain stuff and not feel ‘isolated’.