Help! How do you help Year 12s take A-levels seriously?

Sorry OP my message was a bit cryptic!

So on the reading and listening paper there are two summary questions – she has to listen to or read a text and then summarise it in her own words, including certain points that are flagged in the instructions. It’s a tricky task IMHO and one that is not in any way practised at GCSE (whereas translation is, for example) so it needs a good deal of practice. Past papers or tasks from the textbook will be useful here. One error often made is writing too much – only the first 90 words will be marked. Also candidates sometimes copy too much from the original rather than summarising in their own words.

The flag about the marks is bc the two summary tasks carry 12 marks each, total of 24, but the marks for that paper are doubled, so the two tasks are worth 48 marks (out of the 240 total). The essay on the book, meanwhile, is worth a straight 40 marks and marks for that paper are not doubled – hence summaries being really valuable markwise, and yet inevitably a good chunk of time will be spent on teaching the book (and rightly so) while there may be less focus on the summaries.

I've never really thought about it like that @clary but you're right of course!

Some of mine who can’t focus have done better with YouTube ‘study with me’ sessions.

hamlet is hard - she needs to understand the plot. A production (or several) or massolit subscription) in n would help

did she revise for her GCSEs? Or is she finding it hard because she doesn’t know how to independently learn?

I think you need to find out exactly what your daughter actually wants as opposed to what you want for your daughter.
The old saying about leading a horse to water was never more true than when it comes to a situation such as this. Not all lessons come with an exam at the end and maybe she needs to experience failure to truly want to succeed.
I often worried about my daughters and neither did particularly well in their A levels but they both got into university, worked very hard there and are now working happily in their chosen careers, so my advice is to stop micromanaging your daughter and allow her to find her own path.

Is her grammar solid though? So many students get by and manage a fairly good grade at GCSE without really properly knowing their tenses, but that won't wash at A Level. Also, exam technique is really important. The summary questions in particular are challenging and need lots of practice.

Yy to this especially the summaries. Together they are worth more than the essay on the book but you always spend way more time on the book!

Year 12s are often like this. They struggle to actually bother doing work that doesn't have an immediate or obvious deadline and often take with a pinch of salt warnings about the fact that it's inevitably mostly their performance in Y12, not Y13 that will inform their UCAS predicted grades. Then when it's UCAS time, they come asking us to put up their grade to what they need!

I'm an MFL teacher. Yes, extra reading and listening are really great and important. Is her grammar solid though? So many students get by and manage a fairly good grade at GCSE without really properly knowing their tenses, but that won't wash at A Level. Also, exam technique is really important. The summary questions in particular are challenging and need lots of practice. She could ask for a past paper to do at home.

Honestly? Bribery. At this age they don't understand the implications of their actions on their future, or feel like it's too much pressure and freeze.

My parents offered me £50 for every A I got, £20 for every B and £100 if I managed an A*

I found this extremely motivational as a teenager without an income and only sporadic pocket money!

Have you considered a study coach or a study partner?

It’s quite a change from the structure and full timetable of GCSEs to A levels and free study time. She might want to study and do well but just can’t get herself to do it and it’s a tricky age to take advice and close support from parents. Would a few sessions with an organisation like this help? They aren’t tutors but you have a weekly session where you agree how you are going to study and then you report in the following week and see what has worked. Obviously £ but if she is anxious it may be better for her to get support from an independent adult as it’s sooooo difficult not to get emotional about revision as a parent. (At least I find that!)
https://connectionsinmind.com/

Also has she been screened for any SEN? She may be masking something and has coped so far but is now finding things too overwhelming.

There’s also an app where you book in to study for a certain length of time and you do a sort of zoom study group with other people. You don’t engage with them but you just see everyone else studying. I thought it sounded really weird but apparently some people find it really helpful to book in study time and see other people working at the same time.

Hi OP. I remember studying Shakespeare plays at A level and finding the jump quite tough. It’s so difficult to decipher the old English language and get to grips with what’s actually happening.

Has DD got a study guide specifically for the play (I think you said Hamlet)? When I got a study guide specific to the play I was learning in class and read it, plus used a highlighter pen to mark out particular bits that helped it made a massive difference to my understanding of the play. I’d recommend DD takes a similar approach.

My DS had a progress check a few weeks ago and the results weren’t great. He said he didn’t revise much but definitely would for the ones coming up in May.

He’s been playing his Xbox since about 3pm.

Of course I don’t expect him not to do other things but he’s just not putting in the effort required. If we say anything there’s lots of huffing and puffing (and still no work) and he claims he doesn’t need any of our help as he knows what to do.

It’s really frustrating when you can see them wasting this opportunity.

Just to say I sympathise. My DS is the same. His mocks werent good at all and yet he'd had good GCSEs. He does homework and nothing extra - and because the school doesnt mandate constant revision, reading etc it doesnt get done. He has ADHD which means he cant project in the future and only responds to urgency/extreme interest. Uni is a distant and theoretical future for him. Wants to go, but not working towards it yet. I think he will get low predicted grades, overperform, and apply to unit later (Dont think he will be ready to go at 18 TBH) I am anxious about it but I ve come to realise in most cases applying pressure doesnt help - we have to stay calm, offer help and go at their pace. Your DD may be anxious and so making her understand that there are different paths, that its not all or nothing, that many children aren't quite ready for the step change at 16 and that there will be different options at different points may help her keep things in perspective... The system just doesn't work for everyone...

Some good thoughts on here @EekArghEurgh and I’ll add mine. I don’t know so much about English, but MFL I do.

MFL A level is a big jump up, even if you got a high grade at GCSE. She needs to really try to target her revision on what is needed – and yes it is essential to do the Year 12 work in year 12. A-star is a challenge for any student IMHO so best of luck to her.

People always suggest (no doubt with good intentions) watching TV in French. Yes it’s lovely to watch Funding Nemo dubbed into French and it can’t do any harm, but it will not help you speak in French about strikes in France or racism or the way family life has changed. And I think the danger is that students think “well I've watched the news in french so that's OK”.

Similarly with the vague “reading French magazines”. DD took A level French a few years ago (current spec) and when I mentioned this to her she immediately responded as I would – what she needs to do is research on specific AS topics (the ones she has done) – so probably family, technology , Francophone music, French cinema (I am assuming AQA board btw but tbh other boards do similar topics). She will need to be able to quote in her speaking exam (in about 12 months’ time) stats about one of the topics (choice of 2 on the day) so she needs to have researched them now and be noting them down and learning them – as with year 13 will come six more topics that need the same treatment.

Actually listening to French radio is not a bad idea as she may hear some music she likes that she can then research and speak about. It might even become her IRP. If she hasn’t got a plan for that yet btw it would be good to be thinking about that too.

All of this work will also help in the reading and listening exam in terms of vocab. She should also make sure she has a good grasp of the topic-specific vocab; and that her grammar is spot on, so check any frequent errors (adjective agreement, wobbly irregular verbs) and learn those.

Finally I would imagine she has completed study of the book or the film – so it’s worth making notes, flashcards, whatever of appropriate vocab to talk about it and also notes of key themes and elements which illustrate them. The level of analysis for the writing is not as high as eng A level so don’t get too stuck on that.

All of these things can be broken down into 20-minute tasks which may really help her focus. Suggest she does a couple a day, or one and then spends 20 mins learning the detail. HTH

Our school offered lots of revision work, in lessons and extra sessions, for GCSE but there is none of that this year (AS levels here). The shift is huge.

The only saving grace at the moment is that school are doing a lot of revision sessions and lessons are becoming all about catching up and helping them cram as much as possible in. They must know they aren’t all doing a lot at home.

I would imagine your child’s school will be doing similar.

I’m having a similar problem with my child over their GCSEs. They got great mocks and think this is a sign that they can relax and not revise as much as they should be.

Just this morning I encouraged her to stay back after school for one of the art groups but she said she would rather be with her friends. At that point I walked away. I’ve lost count of the amount of times she’s promised to but her work above her friends and then never does.

I said to her think about how you’ll feel on results day if you didn’t get the grades you want.

I’d suggest being very very mindful of her anxiety. Loads of kids find A levels extremely stressful and it’s normal to some extent but you want to watch out for it being a major issue. What about making sure that she knows there will be plenty of good options available to her even if her A levels don’t go to plan. She is clearly a bright girl. How about looking at a wider range of universities including some with low entry requirements. Maybe even visit some. If she ends up going to a lower ranked uni she may end up excelling and able to do a masters at a ‘better’ Uni. I’ve known kids do this.

A levels matter but sometimes you have to play the long game. As a parent to kids in their early 30’s it’s fascinating to see where all their friends have ended up in life.
My kids didn’t want and didn’t have any imput on revision from me but I put a lot of effort into making everything else in their lives easy. I gave them lifts when they wanted and cooked their favourite meals. I hated revision so they had my sympathy. Me interfering or stressing with their work wouldn’t have helped. However I had friends whose kids wanted their parents to be very involved, to the point of doing revision plans. Might your daughter want more practical help?

For French - do you have Netflix? You can change the audio over. And add the French subtitles.