AIBU to think that Y11's will go back to school?

[Joannaslight3]

If schools reopen in May, which I heard that they are considering, will Y11's have to go back? I have asked others about this and they are either unsure or think that it will only be Y7-Y10 as school will be nearly over for Y11's anyway. Will they have to go back?

@Redglitter Yes, we have two main sets of public exams - one at 16 or thereabouts which cover lots of subjects and are GCSEs; the second is two years later and is usually 3 subjects. Most children in mainstream school take GCSEs, a smaller group take A Levels. There are also other exams but these are the most common ones in England & Wales. There's lots of generalisation in this but gives you an idea.

Op. No one knows on here, I’d strongly advise against getting rid of your kids school stuff based on some randoms on mumsnet guessing. Particularly when you contextualise it with the proportion of folks on here who think no kid is going back till sept earliest, and it could be even longer,

Keep the school stuff, your kids school will notify you as soon as they know. Until then you’ll have to just wait it out.

The government was very clear that it was only worth doing for a minimum of 12 weeks

Can you link to that very clear guidance? It seems only clear to you.

No - theres no way they will be going back unless it's for a goodbye! They'd be on study leave now anyway and possible that they are going on to sixth form/college/apprenticeships elsewhere so it would be pointless

Thanks for that @GU24Mum I often find it tricky to work out the age of a child being referred to when it's by school year. Sounds like Y11 is same as our S4 least now I've got a starting point 🤭

Y11 have no exams to do, they will not be having lessons again as Y11. If they might want the resit option in the future, if unhappy with GCSE grades awarded, then get DCs to hang on to their work (it is their responsibility!).

There won’t be any more timetabled lessons for y11s, no. Maybe a quick goodbye day, if safe.

I don’t think anyone will be going back to school in May, though.

Goodness knows when schools will return bearing in mind school staffing was significantly hit by the shielding policy in the final week before breaking up, but y11 have no educational purpose in returning to school. By now, courses would have been complete and they would be revising.

Y10 and y12, halfway through their courses would be a priority to get in and if schools had partial/ part time schooling, these groups would have most staffing.
There is potential for y7, 8 & 9 to rotate on timetable.
I'm basing this on how schools manage in situations such as following a fire when you can not educate the whole school in one go.

In primaries, there is more case to have y6 back, not so much for the curriculum (no SATs) but to prepare for transition to secondary school and continuity of education.

Years 11 and 13 would be on study leave anyway, so no. I’m a bit gutted, my form are Year 11 and I hadn’t told them I’m leaving this year.

Yes, 12 weeks for those 'shielding' was a big clue about how long this is expected to go on for.

No.

They wouldn't of cancelled exams if they thought they was going to go back

I dint think any child will be going back before September

No if they do go back this school year, y10 and 12 would be prioritised, then maybe y7. The fun leavers stuff is not a necessity in the current situation.

If you want reputable information , see what the DfE has to say;www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education

Don’t make rash decisions based on MN. Some people think schools will be back by May half term (as if!) and some are convinced it’ll be January which is equally bonkers!

I'm assuming if schools do go back this term then social distancing will be a priority, so surely it would be a staggered return, possibly Y10 and Y13 to help with GCSE work. Certainly wouldn't be for something like a leavers' party.

@Bluntness100

The Govt said several times that one reason for not closing the schools that was if/when they did, it wouldn't be for a short while, it would have to be for 13-16 weeks (minimum). If you want 'proof' look up speeches Boris made priorbto the 17th of March

I wouldn't get rid of the books etc. as they may want to do resits.
My yr 11 would not be up for studying his GCSEs any longer, they're cancelled, there is nothing more to be done for them.

I'd be absolutely furious if schools go back, simply because it would mean that they could have done their exams after all. (Although of course it would be good for helping parents, allowing kids to have their life back, etc). I had thought that it could have been possible for Y11s & Y13s to study in lockdown and then do their exams spaced out through the whole otherwise-empty school premises. It would have made such a big difference to my kids. But no point dwelling on if-only. And I do think it is very unlikely that schools will re-open properly before September anyway, just based on how the bigger picture is looking.

The NAHT have responded to the newspaper article (times) to say they have no idea when schools will open, and that the quote that they want schools to reopen has been taken out of context.

Essentially, they want schools open as soon as it’s safe, but that’s very different to them saying schools are opening before the summer.

The DfE also responded to the article on the Wednesday; to say schools would open when it was safe and not before. The Times then reported almost the same article on the Friday - despite nothing new being released.

I guess they need to sell newspapers.

Yes, to get them into a routine and prep for next stages of education

And what would we be teaching them?

• sergeantmajor

I'd be absolutely furious if schools go back, simply because it would mean that they could have done their exams after all

It wouldn’t - exams are about a lot more than the actual day the exam is sat on. There is absolutely no way they could have been administered under the current circumstances. It takes thousands of people and the procedures around exam security are rigid and time bound. Plus you’d never be able to process the literally thousands of applications for mitigating circumstances due to the break in education.

DD is in Y11.
They were asked to hand in their textbooks on 20 March, and the school has said they will not be setting any more work for them.

They had completed most of their GCSE courses, and if the pandemic hadn't happened, their lessons would have finished in the first week of May anyway.

Why would they be asked to return to school in June? To be taught what?

And while teachers were invigilating half a dozen kids in each classroom, who would be running the online / distance learning for all the other years? Invig for public exams has to active, you can't do anything else at the same time.

I think whether the schools go back before September or whether Year 11 will go back are separate issues. Year 11 clearly wont go back but it's too early to say if other years will return yet.

Schools won’t go back until September. I’d put money on it.

I mean ours won’t be. We’ve already submitted their GCSE grades so why would they come back to school. I’d love to still be able for their prom to be on though they really deserve it

I think the schools will need to go back before other things can start up again. You can't really send people back to work unless their children are back at school.I think personally in 3 weeks time they will have to look at letting lockdown ease a little bit. I'm not holding out a lot of Hope because this next term is only 5 weeks lol. if we've got another 3 weeks of this then tell anybody about 3 weeks left of the term. I really really hope our kids and teenagers get back into something soon for their own helps. I'm not sure how it would work with social distancing and I think before they do it they need to be sure that children are not vunerablele to this virus.

it's been suggested that year 11 and 12 going back could be one of the options to start their exit obvious lockdown. I wish they would just acknowledge the school closures a little bit, even if they don't have answers because parents have now been waiting for a month nearly. it's all guessing.