Starting Year 11 GCSE 2021 Thread 2

@Bluebell46, thank you.

I believe students are not be tested on anything the teacher 'hasn't delivered'.

That's not been DD's experience at all. Some of the assessments would be a doddle if that was the case.

I believe students are not be tested on anything the teacher 'hasn't delivered'. He seems to be being tested on the whole syllabus yet only two teachers out of eight did any remote learning between March and July last year, the rest was worksheets.

DS1 did GCSEs two years ago, yet with the shambolic preparation and disruption it seems much harder for DS 2 this time not even doing 'exams'.

DS1 now in A level exam year which is a whole other stress!

@MoiraQueen that is awful... she doesnt need to hear that while she is doing her exams...

It's hard enough going through these exams- an endurance test and then be told you haven't done as well as expected!!! What is the poor child supposed to do with that information!

Gosh that is a lot. I thought when my ds had 4 the other that was too much.

I wish her the best of luck today! I know it is easier said than done but there is nothing she can do....lots of confidence and hugs is the best medicine I feel.

As you can imagine that is what we are doing. I feel this is not just the poor child going through this but the whole family. My dd ( aged 13) who are argues with her brother came home from school with a box of chocolates for him- which surprised us all but she obviously felt his pain.

Thank god for this forum. Take care and best of luck for her today

I am shocked at quite how many assessments some schools are doing, it's crazy. It's like they think more is better, whereas it is likely to be totally counterproductive.

DD's school is doing proper exams for the last 2 weeks before half term, but only 1 per subject. They have been doing in class assessments too, but judging from her emails not an excessive amount (DD's not in school so most of this is passing us by.)

DD has 5 assessments tomorrow, she's already on her knees. 2 teachers have implied she hasn't done well in their subjects, she's so demoralised, she was predicted good grades. I feel so powerless to help.

@rachel38 I totally agree with you...my ds has 12 exams next week, 11 week after and 9 the week after that I think? He is exhausted and it has just begun!!

I just think it unfair how some schools are not doing exams and some are . My ds is doing 11 but now we are at the stage - where we are saying don't worry about those couple of subjects...let them go and focus on the ones you want to continue...

I don't blame the school- I blame the government putting undue pressure on our kids and teachers over a very stressful time . Plus they have not thought this through...since every school is doing something different!

MoiraQueen, the same happened with my son. Came home from school really upset after not being able to answer all of the questions in his Maths exam today. Said he didn't understand half of them (& he's a bright lad, supposed to be taking A level Maths). Completely demoralised. The whole thing is a shit show with our kids the fodder. No concern for any of their mental wellbeing. I'm so angry.

You can rely in The Guardian to post crap like this. I hate that this is what the public and employers are going to think.
www.theguardian.com/education/2021/may/09/a-level-and-gcse-grade-inflation-inevitable-in-english-system?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1620568156

My DC has exams which are called assessments but should be treated like exams! Then the school said there would be exam week next week but now they’re calling it assessment week instead! The students haven’t got a clue what’s happening, if they need to prepare or not. Whether previous work will be included or not. It’s so stressful and frustrating.

Re-reading the information our school sent out it appears DD's school are assessing on mocks sat in Dec (which DD didn't do well at due to isolating beforehand and missing out on vital revision in school), assessments sat first two weeks when schools opened up in March and the exams over the next two weeks. So no course work, just 3 sets of exams. WTF. May as well just sit one lot of exams in June then, no?

By setting papers with a different exam board and hearing from friends at other schools they are doing papers they've already sat as homework she is getting the impression (wrongly or rightly) that the school is setting them up to fail rather than the other way round.

Yes, DD has had papers from different exam boards and the phrasing of questions has totally thrown her. They are also cutting and pasting, so the papers are really unbalanced. They seem to be doing so much to trip them up. I don't understand it. They have had work already assessed that is totally admissable under the rules, then they've been told it won't be used.

her French teacher (who is lovely and who got DD to love French in the first place) disappeared in Nov and has not been seen since. At first they said she was ill and would be back soon but she hasn't been back

We've had this happen with two teachers, it turns out after months of speculation that both have had suprise pregnancies. Neither have returned.

DD started her 'exams which aren't exams but might as well be exams' on Tuesday. She sat a Physics paper yesterday and thinks she did 'ok' but was thrown by some of the way the questions were worded. It was a Welsh schools paper rather than AQA one which is the board she is sitting and most of her year group were of a similar 'whaaaat' about a couple of the questions. By setting papers with a different exam board and hearing from friends at other schools they are doing papers they've already sat as homework she is getting the impression (wrongly or rightly) that the school is setting them up to fail rather than the other way round. She also had History and Maths so three exams in one day and she has the same number of exams today. She is exhausted both physically and mentally.

[quote MoiraQueen]@Titsywoo

DD had to hand in her portfolio a while ago, it was unfinished, there was no way she could finish it on top of everything else. Bizarrely they've been given them back to finish, yet they've wasted weeks and been sat in art lessons doing nothing. I suspect parents have complained.
She doesn't have a leaving date, which is upsetting her, as she keeps saying what if I've done the last "whatever" and I haven't realised. They have a prom, but no yearbooks or leavers' jumpers etc. She's sad about that too.[/quote]
God that's awful. Why is it all such a shit show? I don't understand. DD was doing really well in French and was going to take it for A-Level then her French teacher (who is lovely and who got DD to love French in the first place) disappeared in Nov and has not been seen since. At first they said she was ill and would be back soon but she hasn't been back and they have been left with a succession of not so great substitutes. There was no explanation. The thing that really pisses me off is that she is still teaching at the school. She is currently teaching my Y9 DS! DD says she just ignores her y11s if she sees them now.

It's DDs last day today before study leave and I am counting down the days of the next 3 weeks till they leave for good. If there was any chance of my DD going to their sixth form that is well and truly destroyed now. I haven't been happy with the school for a while anyway (ignoring covid). Only 2 and a bit years and DS will be out of there too.

DD had her Maths exam yesterday - she's on track for an 8/9, and is planning to take it at A Level. She said she could barely get started on some of the questions on yesterday's paper and expects to fail.

This happened in DD's mock too, she was also predicted top grades, she's cried in some of the "assessments". Some of the papers are cut and paste and she says they've picked such hard questions or things they haven't covered. She's pretty unmotivated now, which is worrying me, she's normally ridiculously motivated. Her school seem to be making things far worse for them, than it needs to be.

@Titsywoo

DD had to hand in her portfolio a while ago, it was unfinished, there was no way she could finish it on top of everything else. Bizarrely they've been given them back to finish, yet they've wasted weeks and been sat in art lessons doing nothing. I suspect parents have complained.
She doesn't have a leaving date, which is upsetting her, as she keeps saying what if I've done the last "whatever" and I haven't realised. They have a prom, but no yearbooks or leavers' jumpers etc. She's sad about that too.

@Titsywoo supposedly they do it like this every year. No leaving day is given and then they are just sent home on a random day and told study leave starts now. The impression I got was even the teachers didn't know - I guess it's a senior management decision?

So at 2:45 a teacher entered the classrooms @ DDs school with a note to say all yr11s were going home early. So that's it, two weeks of formal exams from Monday and then leavers assembly & prom in July. What a weird way to finish secondary school, not sure why they do it like that?

It all feels really flat here. DS had their prom cancelled the first week back to school in September. Our next nearest High School where most of his friends go is still going ahead so FB is full of parents dress and suit hunting. I know it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things but it feels like another slap in the face.

[quote Neversaygoodbye]@Titsywoo not quite but hopefully by Wednesday 😬 [/quote]
What a horrible stress when they should just be concentrating on the exam subjects. Hope she manages to get it done on time. DD still has a whole artist research to do as she only has 2!

@Titsywoo not quite but hopefully by Wednesday 😬

[quote Neversaygoodbye]@Titsywoo hi I just updated on the other thread re.exams. DD hands in all Art next Wednesday and then 2 weeks of exams with one week for catch up afterwards. We believe they will also finish on 28th but school still haven't confirmed this. I can't wait for it to be over to be honest. Then I'm just hoping she won't spend the next 3 months in bed 😂 [/quote]
Yep I can't wait until June - for various other reasons May is just going to be a crap and stressful month in many ways. Has your DD finished her portfolio?