Fuming with school, I think they have made a cock-up

[CrochetPocket]

So DS is in year 10. He is doing triple science - science is one of his favourite subjects - and is looking at doing science A levels. We received an email telling us DS would be doing an assessed piece of work this week which would count for 25% of his GCSE grade (which surprised me so early on in the course, but hey, what do I know). It was emphasized how important this was.

Anyhow, the assessed work is being done today (I am going to call it an exam for want of a better word).

However, yesterday, kids who had won prizes in the school annual awards thingy had to go to a two hour rehearsal, which clashed with their last (double) science lesson before the exam. I told DS not to go to the rehearsal - the science lesson was more important as it was essential preparation for the exam - the kids were told it was vital they didn't miss any science in the two weeks before this exam.

However, DS was told he had to go to the prize award rehearsal by his tutor. DS found his science teacher, who said opps, but yes, he had to go to the rehearsal. So DS missed the science lesson.

After the rehearsal, DS and the other affected Year 10's were told there was a catch up lesson for them after school, so not to worry. However, DS had a hospital appointment (we've been waiting for months for his - it is important), so he couldn't go.

So, last night DS was pretty worried, then didn't sleep because he was worried, and has gone off to school to do this exam which counts significantly towards his final grade in his favourite subject, without getting the preparation he should have got.

AIBU to be flipping cross with the school, and more importantly, is this it? Does anyone know if he can do it again if he feels it doesn't go well this morning because, due to the school cock-up, he missed a vital preparation session? It sounded to me like the teachers at the school had not talked to each other by scheduling these two important things at the same time. However, it may affect DS's GCSE grade in an important subject

I'm back with an update for anyone interested.

Before I do, I'd just like to say that if you think me saying Thanks for your supportive comment though. Hun. was appalling or nasty then you really must have lived a much quieter life than the majority of people. Or not been on AIBU much. Get a grip, to use a MN favourite phrase! t was a sarcastic reply to a poster whose choice of words belied her belief that my DS was under-prepared.

Secondly, I was happy with how DS had tried to resolve this himself. He took initiative, twice. But was told by his science teacher he had to miss the lesson (that was billed as vital to his success in the ISA). The teacher said he would 'sort something out' to DS - it later appeared to be this last minute catch-up session that DS (and I have now learned, several others) were not able to attend. I don't blame DS AT ALL, and feel those suggesting he was being lazy, irresponsible or whatever are not justified.

Thirdly, I am not over anxious, panicky or anything else. I used the word fuming in most title as it suggested a quiet kind of anger. Perhaps it was not the best choice of word. However, you really don't need to worry about mine or DS's mental or emotional health. I am perfectly reasonable and chilled. He has a tendency to stress about stuff, but it is a trait, which we try to mitigate against.

He is interested in medicine (amongst other things) as a career, so, maximising his scores in his science GCSEs is very pertinent, for those saying to just relax about things.

So, I am late to update on this thread because, of course, it was awards night last night. DS got two prizes - one academic, and one for 'kindness to others', so he is an good egg, and a good all-rounder for those concerned that I am hot housing and putting pressure on him

ANYWAY....

The school have replied and confirmed the ISA DS took yesterday is 25% of his chemistry grade. There is no option of resit. It is done. There will be two more ISAs for biology and physics which wil also be 25% of those grades, but these will be in year 11.

School acknowledge their mistake in poor planning, and in retrospect say they should have prioritised the ISA over the rehearsal. They do rehearsals in school time because if they don't, the kids don't turn up! Both events had been planned for a while, and they are not sure why they didn't work out a plan in advance to ensure the essential lesson could be delivered. They said they were very sorry.

Anyhow, onto the actual ISA. DS said it was easy. So easy, he's worried he must have missed something. He wasn't told when the result will be back, so we will just have to wait and see how well he has done.

So, hopefully, as far as DS is concerned, no harm done. However, he is good at science. This cock-up may have affected some of his classmates more - so I do feel school have done them a disservice, and I am cross about that.

Lastly! Thanks for all your contributions on this thread. Lots of different perspectives. Some of which, of course, were total b0ll0cks.

Thanks for update OP.

I would be surprised if the school are really planning on only doing three ISAs in total. That is disadvantaging ALL of their pupils. Although, disclaimer, it would be helpful to know the exam board so I can sure that's justified shock.

If he found it easy it's not necessarily a terrible thing... Though usually they don't find them straight forward the first time, as some of the questions are quite deceptive.

E.G. "did you repeat any of your results" doesn't mean "I did it three times so I could take an average" but actually wants them to talk about presence or absence of anomalies.

Although again, exam board would be good to know so the various science teachers of Mumsnet can help.

Oh I have a grip, thanks.

Good news about your son. I think we had better agree to disagree about the other matter.

Over and out.

Do be aware schools don't know exactly what the grade boundaries are-they change slightly from year to year. They can give an indication if a grade based on past grade boundaries, but especially if gr is close to the boundary, his grade may change slightly.

Lol. You didn't agree with me, so get a grip. A convincing argument, of course.

I am glad for your ds's sake that he was happy with the exam, anyway.

I have found out some more on the GCSE course - it was on their learning platform, but hidden away.

The exam board is AQA, and apparently, they are sitting their chemistry exam in year 10, and the other two in year 11.

I never knew! I'm not sure DS did either . Communication not a strong point of the school either it seems.

to all, grips or not.

This is an AIBU that speaks more when reading between the lines.

I can only imagine the kicking the OP would have got if she and her son had wanted to prioritise a rehearsal over an important assessment prep lesson. The school were very much in the wrong here- which they seem to have acknowledged and apologised for.

I hope your son has done really well, OP. I also hope the school has learned a lesson and won't make this sort of cock up in the future. What idiocy to prioritise rehearsals over assessment preparation- and to assume a few hours notice of an alternative session was reasonable.

AGB, are you what is known as a 'Goady Fucker' or do you just enjoy trying to offend people? You're not very good at it, either way.

OP I would be asking the school if they really intend to only do one of the available chemistry ISAs. To ensure an A, he really wants to be getting 45/50, preferably more. (As pp say, grade boundaries are fairly flexible... A tends to be around 42-43/50, so 45 ish should be OK)

If he hasn't got it this time, I would kick up a stink to have another go, should they not offer it.

AGB, are you what is known as a 'Goady Fucker' or do you just enjoy trying to offend people? You're not very good at it, either way.

Seeing as the 'thickos' are the ones who need hours of last minute cramming to demonstrate basic practical skills, you might be onto something there Anastasie.

Looks like you were right on all counts then OP. Well done you. Hun.

Thanks again. I will wait and see what DS's mark is before doing anything else. Crossing fingers he did fine and there will no need to ask to school if he can do a resit.

Joy, I'm not quite sure who that was aimed at. I believe my message has been fairly clear from my words alone .

Thanks to all who have been supportive and understood the importance of GCSE grades for my DS, without assuming I am a neurotic, helicopter, stressy parent.

And thanks for the recognition needa. Maybe get yourself a new, orginal put-down lest you been accused of being appalling and rude

I can completely understand the OP's concerns.
As another ancient mumsnetter who has two degrees but completed O'levels back in the day, the whole 'assessed coursework' thing is an alien concept.
My experience was class work and homework counted for nowt and you fecked about all year and then cram for a 2 hour exam a few weeks beforehand and yes, you can learn a massive amount of stuff the day before an exam.
I seriously have absolutely no idea how you can keep up the relentless momentum of study for two plus years for GCSE's (or whatever they are) without going doolally.
It definitely wouldn't have worked for me.

It's an isa
It's a piece of practical coursework. He can catch it up afterschool or during the school day. It's no big deal. He won't miss out. And he shouldn't worry about it
It should have been made clearer to him though

An update - DS's teacher has given back the marks (very quick, I thought!) and DS got an A for sure (or possibly an A*, they can't say for definite at this stage). So, he's happy. Apparently, a couple of the others who had to miss the lesson due to the rehearsal only got C/B's who were hoping for B/A's, so the school's poor scheduling may have had an impact. I don't know the parents, so can't ask if they are going to take this up with the school though.

It has been an interesting thread. I'm amazed at those who have not read the thread properly and given pointless (and often rather patronising) replies as a consequence, or given their opinion as fact which has later shown to be inaccurate.

I am grateful for the discussion though - informative and entertaining. It has shown me a few posters who I might avoid in future though

Well done to your DS :)

Well done!

Thanks for the update. Great news and I hope the others are not too badly impacted.

I would still be raising this with the school. I am with you. It is totally unacceptable.

It still has to go through moderation. If the mark only went up because of parental pressure, it might not stay up.

But the others who missed the class had an after school catch up so that can't be why! Besides, I find it extremely hard to believe a two hour cram session can increase marks by a whole grade unless they were very close to the boundary on both sides (predicted mark only just an A, actual mark just missing an A)

Thank you grumpy, honey and Want2b. Kind of you to reply.

Gin you seem to be confused. No mark 'went up'. There has been no parental pressure. DS has been told he got an A for this test, possibly an A*. I wrote an email to the school last week, politely asking if this exam could be re-sat if DS didn't do well. Is that what you mean by 'parental pressure'?

NotMe - the others I referred to in my post who missed the lesson and got lower than expected marks were the ones that couldn't make the after-school session either (three kids - about ten just missed the lesson but did make the after-school session).

DS specifically asked how these other three kids did as they had all felt annoyed by the clash on the day.

And to clarify, again, the lesson wasn't a 'cram session' but part of the planning for an assessed piece of work worth 25% of their total GCSE grade. So, like, quite important, as I think I said originally, and several times since. Sigh. I'm not quite sure why you have posted on this thread tbh, but free country and all that.

Re moderation: its rare in science for there to be a big difference in marks after moderation. It's right or its wrong. If anything science teachers tend to matk quite harshly. The tolerance is (I think still) 3 marks either side. If the moderate is within 3 marks, they'll take the higher one. I have been to a lot if moderation meetings and the most I've changed a paper by is 1 mark, and its usually an increase.

Don't worry OP. The lad did good and you were perfectly justified to be a bit concerned about their dodgy organisational skills.

Dd's ISA went from a probable A/Astar to a C....