To feel defeated that dd has massively failed her mocks and I'm lost as to what to do.

[Schoolsoutearly]

Dd is in year ten and has sen but is well supported.
Her predicted grades are all 4/5. Her achieved grades on internal school tests have been between a 4 and a 6. I was thrilled with this as she finds work difficult.

She has just done mock exams and got mostly 1 and 2s with one 3. Absolutely bottomed it out. She has processing issues and doesn't believe in herself so if she is not 100% she won't even try due to awful experiences elsewhere.

Aibu to think they have been over estimating her predicted grades?

Does a end year ten getting a 1/2 in mocks have any chance what so ever of getting a 4 by next year.

What hell do I do to help?

OK OP

The first thing you need to find out is are these grades what she would achieve in the actual exams NOW or is it based on what they have covered? The two things are completely different. I got a grade B for GCSE maths for example but I wouldn't have got that at the end of year 10.

So like with everything you need to talk to the school.

First of all, DO NOT STRESS about it, especially infront of your daughter!! this will cause her anxiety. They are only mocks, and she has time to build her confidence for the real exams. One of my girls always did well at her class work, but went to jelly during exams, as a consequence she left school with only 2 GCSE's of a decent grade. However, two years at college, she is coming home with Distinctions which should hopefully equate to 3 A levels by the end of her course. Whatever happens, just praise her anyway for trying so hard, they are only exams!! she will find her own path whether she passes or not, we cant all be A students. She just needs your support and approval, trust me i have been through it with my own!! its easy to get frustrated and worried over it, but it only fuels their anxieties.

How does the school interpret these results?

I would double check her access arrangements with them. Is she entitled to:
a reader (supports processing) - they now have proof of need but will also need standardised scores to allow this - there are great text to speech software packages available, so it doesn't need to be a person
a small shared room or a separate room - is she easily distracted in exams?
a keyboard - this allows students with processing to move information around as it occurs to them
is she stressed in exam conditions - this also shuts down cognition and could allow for the small shared room.

Used Onmaths (youtube videos plus website), Corbett Maths and MyMaths - all useful in different ways.
Youtube is full of excellent videos - but you need to know the exam boards she is sitting as the exams do vary.
Crashcourse is a favourite here.
Does she use quizlet for learning key information? (flashcarding)
Does she put subtitles up on videos - do they help?

Were the exams she sat past papers? Remember this is very early - they normally wouldn't have covered all the specification yet, so there are lots of things that she shouldn't know and if she is sensitive this will have shut down her performance because it will have rocked her confidence.

If in class and for homework she is performing at the right levels - you have an argument that they should not move her sets, if that is what she wants.

Last idea - does she have study buddies - can be you, friends, family - it can be that she teaches you/them; they teach her a topic; or they talk their way through revision.

Keep going. There is a lot of time still. And if the worse happens, FE colleges will find her another pathway.

Good luck.

She did really well and was getting a merit in her Btech but then failed the coursework side which is done mostly on a computer in a noisy classroom where the teacher admitted people mess about. (She had sensory issues so this is a nightmare for her)

This is appalling. I would sugest DD was not supported enough here. The school needs to sort this out, either by removing the disruptive pupils, or by giving DD a quiet space to work.

She’s year 10 currently? So presumably going into year 11 in September.
I have seen it with my own eyes, children failing miserably in their mocks at the end of year 10, spectacularly pulling through in year 11 to achieve 5/6.
If she has the support (are the school aware of her processing issues? Does she have an ehcp? Is there any funding for an additional ta as a support to her? Can you apply for extra time to the exam board? Are there reasonable adjustments being made for her?) in school then she should be fine.
It sounds like it comes down to confidence and not answering every question. Which is a problem. Could you get her a private tutor purely for exam techniques? (Should cost around £30/hour - some teachers offer it at £20/hour if they already tutor her in school)
And maybe try bolstering her confidence over the summer hols.

If she fails her real things, there is always foundation courses, which accept those that fail, it isn't the end of the world. My sister (severely dyslexic) got Es & Us on the real thing on the old system and she now has a masters

I would if funds permitted get a tutor for this year though, that extra support makes a world of difference! I remember spending hours and hours helping my sister learn the right words and how to process things. You can get tutors to support SEND students but they are a bit more pricey.

What was she doing in the high sets anyway? With predicted grades that were borderline pass anyway it probably meant the pace of those lessons were too high for her anyway and the work focused on the things needed from a B grade to an A, not a D to a C (or how ever you want to out it on ‘new’ numbers!)

She will now be targeted big time by the school as they will need her to get those pass grades, so do make sure she takes up every opportunity given to her in terms of extra support.

More advice probably also available on the secondary board.

Is there an 'option' subject which can be dropped, thus freeing up time in y11 and revision time and exam schedule?

You have 3 issues?

• Effective revision
• Understanding what is needed for exam techniques
• Confidence to 'have a go' in the exam

My DD1 has dyspraxia (slow processing, organisation). I had to do revision 1-1 with her. Any help you can give her will probably help.

Someone will need to go through questions explicitly showing what is asked for and how to realise that. Lots of practice questions.

Confidence to 'have a go'. No idea really, except that you don't get negative marks for the wrong answer, and writing nothing will definitely score zero.

It is possible. DD1 bombed her Engl Lang mock in Jan y11. Loads and loads of practice later she scraped her pass.

My guess is that for Health & Social Care BTEC Level 3 she will need Maths, English Lang, 2x Science + 1 random other? But if she doesn't get everything she may well be able to start on a Level 2 H&SC whilst retaking.

Thank you you are all amazing. I am reading all this and making notes.
The school is very small so very few sets up to year eleven where they are split more.

I wouldn't worry too much about mocks, I got mostly B - Ds in my mocks and I ended up with only A*s-As in the actual exams. There is so much time to work on exam technique and mocks are quite good to flag up the areas where she may be struggling. I would also suggest a tutor if you feel like she would really benefit from some 1 to 1 tutoring and hopefully doing past papers and seeing her grades improve would give her more confidence in herself?

I echo the posts that say this is advanced warning. Perhaps a wake up call. Any school worth its salt will be contacting you asap.

As someone who mostly works with children in Indy schools who perform above their academic ability, technique for revision and answering exam questions is a major part of succeeding.

I truly believe that a good teacher can boost any child up a grade with exam prep - not subject knowledge but knowing and then playing the system.

Speak to the school and ask their advice.

Schoolsoutearly - thank you for the hug, much needed. Here's one for you too!
Also, thank you for the post as it has helped me lots. I've taken notes too. DD is feeling a bit brighter today.
Will get myself over to secondary board too.