To think this is very unfair of the teacher

[pouffepants]

Ds is in yr11, and quite bright. He's predicted As for all his subjects, and already has As in maths and english.

We have issues in some subjects though, and he is admittedly lazy and does the bare minimum. The biggest problem is in science. He is the only child in his class predicted an A because all the other clever kids are taking separate sciences. He insists that the teacher picks on him if he so much as moves, while a lot of the rest of the class are throwing things around. I suspect he is exaggerating.

Tension built between him and the teacher last year, and ds became stubborn and wouldn't try very hard. So I emailed the teacher before the summer and we set up a system whereby he would regularly give me updates of how he's doing at school. I could apply sanctions at home if necessary.

So the first few lessons, I received emails saying excellent improvement in attitude and work. Ds was pleased. Then I received an email yesterday saying that he'd not handed in his homework. I challenged ds, and he looked sheepish and showed me the homework, completed but left on the side. So not great but frankly not dreadful. I told him to give it in today.

Which he did, but when he went to see the teacher, he went mad at him, and said he would no longer teach him to A grade, due to lack of effort. Not only that but he would not enter ds for the resit of the biology paper. He missed the first resit due to a stomach bug. This was the first day off sick for about 3 years, and I didn't know whether I was supposed to get a doctors note. He'd vomited in the night and it's not the sort of thing I would usually bother a doctor for. I asked the school repeatedly whether he needed one, but they didn't respond, and when I managed to get hold of a doctor, they said it was too late to do one. The teacher eventually said he 'should be OK to retake'.

The teacher has now emailed me to say he won't get a retake, but must use his original mark for biology - a D which he obtained in year 9. He says his effort is too poor as well. Why have all the other feedback emails said excellent improvement then?

I'm also concerned about history, since that was missed on the same day, and don't know if he can retake. He doesn't have a mark for that at all!

He wants to take history and psychology at a-level.

Yes, I am sure he's studying at home. Bloody shocked, but very sure. You should see all the charts and notes there seem to be littering up our entire house.

His grade sheet for this years results just says 0 next to Biology and History.

You need to go in ASAP and talk to his Head of Year, or his form tutor. You need hear what they say directly, not filtered through a 15 year old.

And you should have a calendar with all his exam dates on it.

But he isn't taking a biology GCSE. He's taken core science. His bio, Chem, physics and controlled assessment all get added together and he gets a grade at end of year 10. Tbh, it doesn't make sense. Not blaming you-just the school/son communication is crap. If your son is that bright he should know this! Did he actually take the exam in year 9 or did he study for it? Ours were taught for it in year 9 but the exam was unavailable until year 10.

Blame Gove.

we're on the verge of a complete fail

No, if anyone is going to fail, he is.

You didn't realise he would need a doctor's note to explain his non attendance at an exam? And instead of erring on the side of caution you just left it? I suppose that's the teachers fault as well

My thoughts exactly.

I would definitely arrange to go in and see the Head and find out what's going on. In my experience, schools would rather keep 'incidents' to themselves and not involve parents if they can avoid it. Hence the teachers tell you everything is lovely, no problems, and then you suddenly get a WTF Moment when the school finally decides that parental involvement is needed after all and you realise that everything was not as hunky-dory as you fondly imagined it to be.

Agree with petrified person. The teacher sounds like a twazzock. Can you talk to head of year about it?

I think that this is the wake up call he needs TBH. He won't get As just 'coasting' and doing the 'bare minimum'! He will certainly find A levels difficult with this attitude too!

My DS1 was ill on the morning of a GCSE module, I was on the phone as soon as the school opened to find out what to do, no way would work have come in front of that!

I'm in a really stroppy mood tonight and I wouldn't usually say this- but I can't imagine a parent not knowing that their 14/15 year old had an important exam....what were you thinking about not having it on the calendar?????????????

i have not at any point told him it's not worth going in. Far from it, he's most annoyed that he can't go with his friends to Thorpe park tomorrow. It's just how I'm thinking with my frustration. All his extra work is a direct result of me giving him a hard time about needing top grades.

I asked if he had an exam timetables and he said no. i asked other parents and they said they hadn't seen one either, so I figured that must be normal.

I get that he won't get As by coasting, and he probably doesn't deserve them. But there's a big difference between an A and failing completely due to being an incompetent adolescent.

A D on one module won't mean a fail. It's 25%. What did he get on the rest? Of course if he's an A grade target student that has actually been getting Ds and Cs on all his modules last year, this makes the whole thing a very different story.

I've always let him sort his own dates and stuff. I thought that was a good thing, but turns out it was a stupid mistake.

Seems a big price to pay though.

And would you really get a doctor out, to see a patient with contagious d&v?

pouffe that is bullshit that he didn't have an exam timetable and you know it is. Come on, how on earth do you expect a school to manage 2,sometimes 3 years of children taking exams without giving them a timetable? Think about it, how many kids, how many subjects, higher tier, lower tier, paper one, two or three. Not feasible is it?

I thought our school was being precious by sending a duplicate copy of the exam timetable through the post to parents, as well as giving it to the kids, but I can see why they do now!

I think your DS has been pulling the wool over your eyes, sorry.

By modules do you mean separate science bits?

On his sheet it says Physics A, Chemistry B, Biology 0 and then I think it says science C, maybe twice, I can't find the sheet right now.

No, I wouldn't get doc out. But won't a dr do a note after? They used to (for a fee).

Our year 10s only had science and Maths modules so no timetable as such. But they all had the exam entries AND a letter home with the dates on.

Yes, I griefed him for ages about the fact he must have a timetable. And in the end he gave me a list of friends phone numbers and got me to phone their parents. I couldn't find anyone who had one. He just said they warned him in lessons when there was something coming up.

Yes that's it. So he didn't take the biology at all? I thought you meant he missed a resit. Not the first exam! Of course he can bloody sit it! Teacher IS out of order. But, the school need to speak to exam board to explain as otherwise he will need to take something else (and still might to meet 40% rule).

I'd get a doctor out to see my child if I thought it were necessary. You could have took him to the surgery. I would have phoned the school straight away in the morning and then phoned the surgery rather than going to work.

There are a lot of DC who don't get A's that they are capable of because they piss about at school. There are a lot of children who don't get A's because other children piss about at school!

DS2 is in yr11, he is predicted As and A*s, he already has some of both. In some classes there are some delightful children who think it is ok to disrupt the class because they cba so the teacher spends precious time sorting them out. At least your DS can do something about his situation, DS2 can't!

The doctor's note afterwards would only have said 'Ds mum says he was ill' and they weren't sure if it would cover him. They wouldn't say he was actually ill. It cost £25.

I hassled the school for an answer because I couldn't afford that if it was of no use anyway, and they eventually said that he 'should' be able to retake, and the note would not help the situation.

Ds is NOT disruptive, no teacher has ever said he is, he just coasts.

I could not miss work, I'm self employed and if I don't come in or provide a substitute I lose my contract on the spot. I have often been in with a vomiting bug myself.

Ds thinks he's missed the resit, but I was confused also since he keeps saying the year 9 mark is the one he must use.