Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

DS and ‘study leave’.

35 replies

YippeeKayakOtherBuckets · 17/05/2019 07:55

Ds’s school aren’t doing study leave for the GCSEs this year, instead they are doing ‘revision’ in between exams. DS is a bright, sensible boy and fairly introverted and he says these sessions are a waste of time, lots of mucking about and little actual revising.

He doesn’t have any exams at all today but is supposed to be in school all day. He has asked if he can skip it and do actual revision at home instead.

What are the consequences likely to be? The official line from school is that they can leave school after their last exam but up until then they are expected in ‘lessons’.

I’ve lost a lot of faith in the schools methods anyway (gcse maths in yr 10 which was an utter failure, absolutely rubbish when he was ‘bullied’is punched in the face several times, compete lack of staff at one point with PE teachers teaching English, I could go on) so I’m happy for him to stay home but realistically are we likely to be fined or something?

OP posts:
Fraggle84 · 17/05/2019 07:56

I'd keep him at home, ring in and say he's under the weather

BanjoStarz · 17/05/2019 07:59

I’d do the same as Fraggle to be honest.

Realistically what are they going to do at this point?

They’re not going to off roll him mid GCSEs and the attendance officer at school probably has far better things to do than chase up attendance for a child who will be leaving completely in the next month.

If you do get challenged I would just be completely honest and point out the in school revision sessisions are so badly managed that revision isn’t actually possible.

Pipandmum · 17/05/2019 07:59

We luckily have a choice of home or school. But in your case I’d keep him home. At this stage what could the consequences be? It seems these ‘be in school’ policies just make it easier to keep track of the kids rather than giving them useful revision time.

Lalliella · 17/05/2019 08:03

Definitely ring in sick for him. And praise him for being so diligent. Good luck OP’s DS! (We’re going through GCSEs here too)

Original poster
YippeeKayakOtherBuckets · 17/05/2019 08:04

Thank you, it’s good to know I’m not being a terrible parent.

I’ve rung in and said he’s feeling a bit stressed and headachy (true) so is staying home to revise. So no fibbing.

😇

OP posts:
SnowyAlpsandPeaks · 17/05/2019 08:10

Don’t blame you OP! If you know he’s going to work at home he will get far more revision in, rather than travel, break, lunch, walking between lessons and messing around- probably a few more hours. Well worth it!
However if he wouldn’t work I would say send him in because a little is better than none!

Hobosno · 17/05/2019 08:12

I’m not disagreeing with your actions at all, but in the list of things the school’s doing wrong please remember that the lack of available staff will be down to government policies rather than individual schools.

GeoffreyEatsPancakes · 17/05/2019 08:17

Also they can't do study leave as it goes down as unauthorised absence on the school records which in massive numbers affects their attendance. Hence why they are in school.

But you need to raise your concerns about the lack of control of the classroom. I would be emailing head of year 11.

Ds1 is sitting his GCSEs and there is pretty much silence in the study sessions. But then again it is a great school.

Original poster
YippeeKayakOtherBuckets · 17/05/2019 08:18

Oh I know, and I felt a bit mean including that. But it was handled badly and we weren’t informed about staff changes or anything and the whole thing was a bit of a shitshow. The only reason I knew what was going on is that I know several of the staff personally. It was a very badly managed school and is now under a new head who is bringing in new and untested policies. All a bit of a clusterfuck really.

OP posts:
SnuggyBuggy · 17/05/2019 08:20

If you're confident he will study I would definitely do a sickie. The no study leave policy sounds crap for pupils who want to do revision

kateandme · 17/05/2019 08:25

your son is really mature for wanting this.friend said she 'oversaw' these revision sessions and they were just piss about days.even the ones who usually were hrdworkers found it difficult and were often scooped up with the rest of the rabble.

fairweathercyclist · 17/05/2019 08:27

DS doesn't have study leave either. I think it's a good thing as there are fewer distractions in school (no xbox or screens) but they are also doing guided revision so no messing about, the teachers are teaching.

However, I suppose as the exams go by and they do private revision in the lessons they've already had the exams for, there may be more difficulties in making sure they actually revise and don't mess around. Hopefully it will work, the school says that they tried it for the first time last year and felt that results were better as a consequence.

blackcatclocks · 17/05/2019 08:31

I'm a teacher. This is a common policy now that most teachers I speak to don't agree with. When I was at school we had study leave and I would have struggled so much without it. If it is the same when my kids are that age I will be keeping them home to revise. I have known other teachers to do the same.

Coronapop · 17/05/2019 08:38

You know your DC well enough to decide what is best in this situation. He is almost certainly right. Many students lack independent revision skills and well run school based revision sessions may help them, that does not sound like the case with your DC.

OKBobble · 17/05/2019 08:43

Reading these threads makes me so glad that my DS's school does not implement this ridiculous policy.

PookieDo · 17/05/2019 08:44

I rang in for DD wednesday and said she is staying at home to revise then coming in as she can’t revise in the lessons and this is for English which she is struggling with. I was honest about it.

EggAndButter · 17/05/2019 08:45

What I have heard a lot is the idea is ‘force’ the children to be in school so they actually do some revisions on the grounds that they would never do it when they are at home.....

Basically forcing the: to do that bit more work and give that bit more support to increase results a tiny bit more if that means they have more people scrapping a 4 and maths and English and don’t have to retake the following year.

PookieDo · 17/05/2019 08:46

But they aren’t doing more work my DD says they are all fucking around

Original poster
YippeeKayakOtherBuckets · 17/05/2019 08:47

Thinking back I don’t even think I did much revision during my study leave, but it was invaluable for catching up on sleep and de stressing. I did very well in the exams. DS is a very similar personality to me so even if he only does a bit of studying I think this is a win.

OP posts:
loveonthewall · 17/05/2019 08:48

Same here OP. My son has been studying well at home and has found the self revision sessions in school distracting so I've mailed school to say he's staying at home to revise with my permission and revising he is.

His school has dropped this year from outstanding 5x on the run to RI and the Head has resigned after ofsted stated the leadership have an inflated sense as to how good the school is. Boys are being failed and the school have failed to deal with emerging behaviour problems, which in one situation impacted my son. So I think I'll be the judge on the revision situation!

AChickenCalledKorma · 17/05/2019 08:48

Schools can still do study leave and some do. But it seems to be becoming less common.

DD1 did her GCSEs last year and was allowed the option of going in for revision sessions or staying at home. She ended up with a mixture which worked well.

I would play it by ear and keep them informed when he isn't coming in.

srilankadreaming · 17/05/2019 08:51

We have the same here. I have just rung DD in sick. She works so much better at home away from the idiots who just want to ruin revision for everyone else. Don't care a jot.

PookieDo · 17/05/2019 08:52

Can I just ask about AQA biology anyone? My DD says nothing she was taught was on the paper. I’ve also seen a lot on Twitter about this too
What happens in this situation? Does she just fail?

frugalkitty · 17/05/2019 08:53

I think you need to do what you feel is best for your DS. Mine is still going into school but they are being worked hard as usual so no mucking about. If my DS was at home he'd sleep in and think watching a revision video on his phone while playing fifa on the PS4 counted as revision Confused DD on the other hand would be fine revising at home, so I think it depends on the child and at this stage I can't see the school kicking up a fuss. Good luck to your DS!

SkyBluePinkWithYellowDotsOn · 17/05/2019 08:54

@GeoffreyEatsPancakes - that's not correct. Study Leave has it's own code in SIMS which is not unauthorised absence.