A vent seeing as I can't show my real disappointment -school awards evening

[Teddypops]

DD is in Y7. All of her friends had an email about an award they were winning at school. The awards evening was this evening.

We had no email. She got no award.

She does quite well at school (generally grade 7 in the important stuff). But really doesn't put much effort into anything else other than her hair and make up.

She has no interest in sports or any hobbies despite us giving her every single opportunity. Nothing !!

I'm disappointed. But obviously I can't show it to her.

So i'm venting on here instead.

@QueensBees 🤦🏽‍♀️

This. It's how most secondaries grade. It means on track to get this sort of grade if she continues to work/achieve etc (which is quite a big if with 4 years to go until actual GCSEs).
It means she is very good at academics, particularly maths, and you are right to be proud of her for that OP.
It does not mean she is a genius or that she would get an 8 at GCSE now.

These award evenings are bloody awful..so discriminatory. There are lots of kids who put in hard graft, work their socks off, but just don't have the academic prowess to produce results needed for awards.

Let's award the brightest/smartest. Very clever indeed..not!

The children who gets award are the ones really exceeds, in my dc's school, the ones who improved a lot, get most house points, impressed teachers massively, etc. So the actual grades are not a big factor.
From my dc's experience, same children tends to get multiple awards. At my school, about 1/3 of the children gets award, assuming from the numbers of children who gets them/whole numbers of children in year group.

I had my DD’s end of year show this year. It was an hour stuck in a very hot hall, with me in agony due to my condition to watch….dd be a stage hand for about 10 mins.

No lines or anything. A slight disappointment but she told me that she didn’t want lines. Next year, she said, she will try for lines. She has more confidence.

I think your annoyance is with your daughter more then the school probably. Emailing about how many kids have gotten awards won’t make you feel any better.
If you knew deep down she’s tried her hardest and that’s all you can ask of her then it wouldn’t bother you as much, but if she’s a bit half assing school (speaking as someone who also half assed everything) then you’re more annoyed she has the potential to do well.

OP, I just want to say I get you

Don’t worry, it’s not just the kids…I’ve never won ‘Staff member of the week’ (with wine/chocs) in the 5 years it has existed 🤣🤣
Do I give my best? Always. Does it get noticed? Clearly not. Do I care? Not really.

Ultimately, I think unless someone chooses an activity where they know they will be competing against an opponent, and therefore understand what is required to win, these arbitrary awards' actually do more harm than good. Some kids are average. Nothing wrong with that. But they'll never win an award because they are permanently under the radar. Does that mean they haven't worked consistently hard, hit targets and generally done their best? No. But they'll never get any recognition and the message that average gets you nowhere, is drummed into 90% of kids.

I'm all for healthy competition, but if kids want to win awards, they need to know what they're competing for, and why.

Oh, please.

You emailed to say "my child hasn't got an award, how many others didn't then"

You know that.

I think it is worth knowing the percentage of kids who get awards - though I would never ever email the school to ask.
Our school publishes the results. Last year, there were approx. 10 people out of 300 in my son's year who got awards. It's exceptional rather than usual to get an award. I would not be too worried at a grade 7/8 DC missing out on this.

That's not how all schools allocate awards. Like in junior football teams some awards can be for the most improved in subject or effort awards as well as attainment.

Sticking up for the children who win on academic excellence awards, ok they might be fortunate enough to have natural talent but if they were idle they would not be getting the award out of 200 other children. Credit where credit is due.

If she’s getting GCSE Grade 7 in Year 7 you should be very proud and showing it. Grade 9 is the highest a young person can get at GCSE, a 7 at the age of 11/12 is great.

I think this is it. She is a good kid. She gets good grades. But she messes around and could do much much better in many things. I don't necessarily mean academically. She seems to get good grades without really putting in much effort and so has so much potential.

I seem to live in an area with lots of high achieving children who get involved in everything. I always see posts of parents who are so proud of their childs latest achievements. They got into the county team or won a medal etc. I did very well myself in a certain field when I was younger.

All parents were given an awards ceremony programme/brochure at our DC's school on the evening so you can see how many children get issued with certificates. Fraction of the children were given awards if you work out the school roll.

I'm aware that at least 17 out of the 20 children from her primary school that went to this secondary college got awards this evening that's all.

Oh come on! She quite clearly isn't getting those grades in Year 7. The OP is ridiculously overinvested in the Awards Evening and seems to think her daughter should be getting an award maybe just for looking cute. And no, it is not appropriate for Year 7s to be so preoccupied with their appearance

Is your daughter upset about not having an award, or is it you upset for her?
Do you think now as she didnt get one she had had a bit of a shock and might try a bit harder, or is she genuinely not bothered?

She is not getting GCSE grades 7&8!!

As a PP stated -
This. It's how most secondaries grade. It means on track to get this sort of grade if she continues to work/achieve etc (which is quite a big if with 4 years to go until actual GCSEs).
It means she is very good at academics, particularly maths, and you are right to be proud of her for that OP.
It does not mean she is a genius or that she would get an 8 at GCSE now.

She seems to get good grades without really putting in much effort and so has so much potential.

That's why she hasn't got an award. Because her teachers will know she's capable of more.

What a bizarre thing to ask, you know your child hasn't done anything exceptional, yet you need to know the % given an award? I mean why?

Don't you think it would be a horrible system if the school awarded only clever children because how clever they are? She maybe predicted to get amazing grade at GCSE, that doesn't mean she's showing effort. And the award is normally about effort.

Thing is there’s probably a prize per subject and in each subject on a law of averages there’s probably a kid who is on track for a 9 for that subject (but they might be on track for a 4 for something else) and they’ll get the prize. Then there are progress and effort prizes which typically target the less able kids ( fair enough).

My dc sometimes do the whole “it’s not fair” thing but honestly they don’t work as hard as the kids who get the academic prizes and that’s what I tell them- it’s a trade off. Would you rather play PlayStation or spend an extra half hour getting your prep from good to excellent? There’s your answer then. Pay your money and make your choices.

I think what OP means she’s on the flight path for those grades. We have a similar system where I teach. A grade 9 is possible in Y7 (we call it 7.9) - it simply means the student is on track for a 9 if they continue on the same trajectory.

Why are you pressuring the school, @Teddypops?

Shouldn’t you be encouraging your daughter to apply herself to her studies instead of her makeup?

All due respect, perhaps you could encourage your daughter to work towards attaining an award next year instead of assigning blame to her school.