Year 7 the lost generation

[Marzipan12]

I've heard this a few times now, the thinking is that year 7 have missed out more than anybody else. This annoys me surely at this point every year group has missed out. My child is year 8, missed over an entire term of year 7, disrupted learning so far in year 8 and home learning for half a term. Every other year group has missed the same. Some year 7 parents think their kids have missed out more, regardless that they had time back in school to finish year 6 and didn't miss an entire term of their first year in high school. I would say this puts year 7 at an advantage over other year groups. They certainly are not the lost generation that some are making them out to be in fact they are one of the more fortunate year groups.

Our school usually gets Year 8 to pick their GCSE courses around now. Last year DD picked theirs just as lockdown hit.
DS is year 8 so was expecting to do the same but last week school told us all that they will follow the regular GCSE timetable now and pick in year 9 instead, as year 8 have basically done 2 terms of school since joining in September 2019.
I don't think any year group has been less or more effected than anyone else, especially secondary kids. Every child is different so for some this has been an educational breeze- DS has excelled because he has time off regularly in winter during health issues so once his routine settled he got on with it. But for DD, they are year 9 and struggling with depression, anxiety, they've lost all confidence in ability regards school work and they've become a real concern.
I do think schools should be allowed to assess on a case by case basis, if a child is so far behind and/or struggling emotionally they can be given the go ahead to keep them in the year group they are currently in from September. Those like DS who don't need that can continue as before.

Honestly i know plenty of secondary school teachers who say it doesn't matter one iota that current year seven age have missed school as they have loads of time to catch up and year seven is a bit of wasted year anyway.

I have a year 8, a year 11 and a year 13.

My year 8 is struggling more than the others. They didn't finish settling last year and this year has been so disrupted.

But my older 2 are both exam years, and it has been truly, truly crap.
The only reason they are managing is that they are reasonably clever, were on track, and their schools are calm and sensible, and they had good online lessons through first lockdown.

Really, year 11 and 13 its rubbish
year 10 and 12 also rubbish - exams cancelled last year and this year so strange.
year 7 and 8, not settled in to secondary
year 1 and 2 and reception, all too young for online lessons and reliant on parents for any semblance of education.

is there any year for whom it has been OK?

55%think I'm being unreasonable. So 55%think that year 7s are the lost generation and have had it harder than any other year. Unbelievable. So their attitude is exam year groups have had it easier than their precious year 7s. Sad world we live in.

I think current Reception and current year 12s have it the worst.

Reception haven't had chance to experience school as it should be, DDs primary are not doing freeflow between the two classrooms with them and have separated the outdoor space into two little spaces rather than one big one so no shared stories etc. plus no assemblies so when they start again they will likely get as overwhelmed as the new starters get in their first assembly similar with when dinner hall opens again, they've eaten in their classrooms all the time having the plates brought to them so they'll struggle with doing it all themselves. My friend has a child in Reception and her DC is definitely less independent than my own DD was at this point in Reception and my DD has some Additional Needs.

Year 12s have had disrupted GCSEs and no disrupted A-Levels, they may never make up their lost ground which will affect them going to university, into jobs etc.

I think this year's Y13s and the last year's Y13's who started Uni this year have had the shittest run of it. Summer after A-Levels is meant to be the best of your life, and starting uni is hard enough, let alone when you can't even meet anyone and may be hours from home. All kids have suffered, granted, and turning it into a pissing contest doesn't really achieve anything.

@Marzipan12

Every year group has missed out on formative experiences. Every year group has missed out on school clubs, science labs time, food tech, wood work, music suites.

Yes but at least those in the higher years have had those experiences to draw on. The yr 7s are trying to learn about chemical reactions without having turned on a Bunsen burner (for example) I’m not saying it’s the worst thing ever but it’s a real shame and will surely have an impact on their learning.

My DM and DF in their 70's feel they have lost a year when they don't have many left so it is worse for them than those with decades left.

My ds2 lost most of his first year at school

My ds1 lost the first year he had made actual school friends

My dn lost her gcse year and prom and good bye to her school life.

I've possibly lost my career due to age and a years interruption.

One of our school mums feels she lost a "normal" maternity leave with her last child

Everyone feels like they have lost something , everyone has. Competitive misery is not helpful to anyone.

Everyone thinks that their child has had the worst time of it. They haven't, they're not special, it's shit for all of them.

Also agree about young kids at a developmentally crucial age, where socialisation's really important.

I think year 10/11 and years 12/13 have had it hardest, it will impact them greater as the earlier years will have school to catch up, they will have to seek it out. Those motivated and with supportive parents will, but for those that don’t have an end game or supportive parents they will be lost.

I have a year 7. But I don’t believe it’s a competition, some kids will struggle no matter how old, some will bounce back with hardly a graze on their education.

Year 8 didn't get much time using science labs before first lockdown. In my son's school they hadn't used bunsens yet, still haven't and they have had to choose their gcse options without this experience. The current year 8 haven't had tne experience yet either in lots of aspects of high school life, they missed an entire term It's not just year 7 who are settling into high school, year 8 are aswell. 😠

I'm a secondary school teacher.

The year 7s are fine (not brilliant at sustained writing) but they're fine. They're more settled into school/grown up than usual because of the bubble system and they don't encounter the older students to "intimidate" them like usual.

I agree with the OP and feel the year 8s are more "young" than usual as they didn't get a full year 7 at all. They're more like year 7 and a halves.

It’s not a competition, it’s been a horrendous year for most people. Obviously people with children in year 7 are acutely aware of what that age has been through just as you’re acutely aware of what year 8 has been through.

We will only have lost generations if we let that sort of mentality get into the heads of our children.

It’s been a shit year, but we need to help our young people move forward to do their best. Focusing on the resilience and new ways of working which they have developed.

We don’t want this to become a self fulfilling proficy of failure

I don't think you can compare... it's been awful for all of them! I have a dd in year12 .... missed her GCSE exams, proms, end of secondary parties, fun, now driving lessons and just being17 stuck with family all the time! However I think it's been better than those who are in yr 13 or first year of uni..... first year of uni is amazing it's all about the social side of life and they've paid to go and got none of it! And those in yr13 now have a-level uncertainty, and picking a uni without even going to visit! I could go on .... I teach year 1. They were just settling into school when lockdown happened, they had 6 months off, back for a term (where our bubble popped and we isolated for two weeks) then this lockdown! Their learning is still at reception level! Every child has been affected on some way.

A bit like primary school teaching friends feel that year 1s are more like "reception and a bit"s.

But (lastly from me) there's no such thing as a "lost generation." That bit is unhelpful hyperbole.

Everyone has missed out but teens and older kids hit hardest, mine missed their Gcses , all the school leaving stuff, the prom, my teens are bored and depressed almost, cant go out or see friends and education disrupted.

I think all have missed out one way or another but morseo the teens and young people?

Meh, it isn't a race to the bottom. Lots of kids have had it tough. The ones who have had it toughest are the ones with difficult home lives, regardless of what year they're in.

I'm sure it has been hard for the current year 7s, but no harder than for any other year group tbh. My dd is in year 11 and it has been shit.

I think we need to stop this nonsense about the lost generation, though. There is no lost generation, and we will not help any of our kids by catastrophising about it. They have missed out on a lot, yes, but in the vast majority of cases, it is not going to ruin their lives. What I would like to see now is significant investment to mitigate against the impact of the pandemic for those children who are at the greatest disadvantage from all of this.

I can only speak for my yesr 7 kid

*missed/rushed introduction to sex education done in the last few weeks of primary rather than over the whole summer term as planned

*missed residential trip that is a right of passage for a vast majority of y6 going to y7 kids that includes workshops around social skill building abd resilience encouragement around managing the increased pressure of highschool.

*no SATS .. These arent for the pushy parents .. They're essential for the high school to get a baseline of each student so they have from May to Sept to plan out any support and what sets to place the new influx of kids into .. That was done on the fly so many y7 kids were suffled between sets multiple times which if it meant going down was probably a little soul crushing.

*missed finishing a swimming and lifeguarding qualification he had worked on for 3 years which he sees as essential to his chosen career.

*missed massive summer production with the y5 class - usually a well known musical that they had already auctioned and began rehearsals for

*missed leavers awards/celebrations/parties

*missed summer activities with the friends that didn't go to the same highschool.

*missed tours of the new school

*missed meeting new teachers

*missed dry run on the 16 mile coach journey.

*missed a fun and exciting right of passage shop for the big school uniform. Had to measure him at home and order online.

I dont dispute that all the year groups likely have equally long lists but dismissing the absolute shit show they went through because you're in a huff someone suggested they had it worse is a low, childish blow.

One year group are not "a generation".

Everyone has been impacted - some groups more so than others. It is not a race to the bottom.

I have not heard many people claiming that year 7s have been significantly more impacted than, say reception or year 11 or 1st year university students.

Are you upset that fewer people are highlighting year 8s as having missed out? Or that people are claiming that year 7s have had it the worst?

Well first of all, year 7 isn’t a generation it’s one year group. A generation would encompass all current school children. Secondly, year 7 isn’t one homogenous group. Some children will be better of and some worse off. Some will have had more time in school, some less. DS’s primary only returned for 2 weeks in summer so that’s hardly something to get excited about.

So whilst it’s not fair to say that one year group have it worse than the others, it’s not fair to say they have it better either. Everyone, whether a child or an adult has missed out on a year of their lives and it’s sucks for everyone.

I think every group in society has had it bad, and been affected some way but it is worse for the kids and teens, and the 20's? Only say this as that is the age to gravitate more towards friends, go out, etc. My parents for example say they have barely been affected and arent too bothered, apart from not seeing us.

Oh god, everyone just tell OP that their child has had it the hardest and they'll go away.