To think it Is it a feasible proposal that a school might consider allowing a currently pregnant Year 12 the opportunity to repeat year 12 next yeara currently pregnant currently pregnant year 12

[redhilary]

I have reposted this thread from chat due to limited traffic.

Is it a feasible proposal that a school might consider allowing a currently pregnant year 12 girl the opportunity to repeat Year 12 next year.

And as for the two random people with Es from the 1980s. 1 the world is now very different and 2 they are utterly irrelevant

She'll probably be much better off taking a couple of years out and then doing an access course when the baby is older.

There's a very good reason why sex is one of the EA2010's protected characteristics and why many of us are defending it from those who want it replaced with 'gender' - it's because girls and women are discriminated against on the basis of our sex.

I don't believe for a minute that if this girl were a boy who needed time out of his L6th studies because of (say) long Covid, there would be any question of not letting him repeat Y12.

Yet here we are with a school proposing to discriminate against a student because of pregnancy.

Fantastic point Vicky. I think it would be considered unacceptable for a boy to be denied another chance because of having long Covid. Also perhaps due to exceptional circumstances the school might waive or reduce academic requirements for 6th form might entry. Everybody would agree this would be fair and appropriate action towards the boy's circumstances.

Thus, despite posters telling me that my Goddaughter is not up to A level study the facts are that my Goddaughter has not missed a deadline for her A level Homework. She is producing work of sound standard at present This alone must strengthen any case of ours to state the school is acting in a highly discriminatory manner. I think someone at the school has clocked this hence why they want to talk after the half term holiday.

This is regardless of whether other places of study or that no study what so ever are in the best interests of my Goddaughter wellbeing post pregnancy. There are three angles the potential discrimination with what the school are currently doing. firstly they have not followed through on the promises of the letter in year 7 about meeting Goddaughter emotional academic and social needs all the way through to the end of year 13. Secondly they are intimating that a student who has met all academic requirements over 5 years at the school, is no longer capable of meeting them. This, despite there being no current evidence, suggesting this (just pre disposed ideas from those who have not taught her). This is highlighted by her subject teachers, who suggest her current work is of sound standard for this period in year 12. Thirdly would a request to repeat year 12 be looked at differently if my Goddaughter was suffering from Anorexia or a or short term illness. A school could not refuse entry to a child in a wheelchair, despite that child being in the school for five years because the Sixth Form is situated on the third floor and without a lift.

That type of argument would be rightly be condemned, so why in 2021 should schools be acting as if it is 1961 ! Should my unmarried teenage Goddaughter be sent to a 'Laundry' then...

Ime it’s pretty standard to move to a 6th form or FE college to repeat a year rather than staying in an 11-18 school provision, whatever the reason. Perhaps that’s because often when people repeat they want a new start or the reason they repeat is an incompatibility between the pupil and the school. I think the way they are funded is different which may be why too.

They are low grades for a grammar school though.

My DS got 12 GCSEs-all 7s or above, mostly 9/8s. He did well but most of his mates got higher grades than this. This is a standard grammar-not a super selective. I’m intrigued by which your goddaughter is at if it’s one of the top few in the country for achievement?

Despite all of the things you are saying, I would still be looking at a sixth form college. Well, I would expect the child and the child’s mum to be looking.

firstly they have not followed through on the promises of the letter in year 7 about meeting Goddaughter emotional academic and social needs all the way through to the end of year 13

She will be essentially on mat leave for the rest of y12. You are asking them to continue their “promise” into y14, when the school doesn’t go beyond y13.

My Goddaughter and both my DD's are not at one of the top Grammar schools.

None of them attend the school whose admission regulations I posted.

The point was to show despite posters thinking, Goddaughters grades are low she still would have got in to that Grammar School sixth form. This is if she lived 200 or so miles North !

However, even this school which I have now 'named' by location still had 10% of all grades that were teacher assessed below level 7. Thus, bearing in mind pupils there only take 9 subjects it is likely the average grade of level 7s a pupil attains is around 6 .

You’re avoiding the actual issue OP. It doesn’t matter what your GD could have got had Covid not happened. It doesn’t matter what she could get if she wasn’t pregnant or what your own daughter is expected to get. Covid did happen and there is a baby coming.

Spot on. Give it up people. OP is either unwilling or incapable of acknowledging this. Seemingly, by concentrating on the school aspect and the intricacies of A levels, all the rest magically goes away. None of this is helping the god-daughter, it’s all self-serving distraction from the actual issue that needs to be dealt with.

self-serving distraction

Spot on.

I wonder if the girl’s mum is spectacularly missing the point as well, or just her over-invested friend!

Lots of sixth forms, both in schools and in sixth form colleges, allow a year 14. Maybe not top achieving grammar schools - they're probably not set up to do it as maybe few students need or want to. But a more comprehensive one usually will for a range of reasons: illness, changing or adding a new subject, dropping grades in exams, failing an exam, and yes - pregnancy would come into this.

However, even this school which I have now 'named' by location still had 10% of all grades that were teacher assessed below level 7. Thus, bearing in mind pupils there only take 9 subjects it is likely the average grade of level 7s a pupil attains is around 6 .

This maths doesn't work at all.

Abraxan . That gives me an idea Goddaughter has said she would not mind living with me . Perhaps therefore she could stay with me Monday-Friday from next September if the right childcare is in place. Thus, restart year 12 when 'hopefully' DD 1will begin year 12. I mention this situation to the school to see if they might be open to admitting Goddaughter.. That might be a long shot, but it is worth a go. Anyway if Goddaughter did live with me through the week and attended a Sixth Form College, that would give her the best chance educationally. That would be her choice, though I am a lot stricter than her mother.

OP does your Goddaughter have any idea how much upheaval having a baby will bring to her life?

Everyone seems to be making decisions for her about education, living arrangments and her life. But nothing is being said about how difficult she will find having a newborn.

I don't see how refusing to allow her to repeat a year is discrimination. Our high-performing local secondary school won't allow it. Last year, several students wanted to resit after disappointing TAGs but were told that they would have to do it elsewhere. Or are you sure that they are allowing other students to repeat?

I just think it sounds like her embarrassed parents are trying to ensure that their plan for her continues uninterrupted - blaming covid, blaming her bf and now focusing on a fight with the school.

When actually, everyone had covid to contend with, she chose the bf, she made unwise choices at every turn. She is also more interested in Only Fans and getting ratarsed. I feel a year out to focus on the baby and becoming a good mother would be a really good solution, fully supported at home to ensure visits from bf are supervised, then resume studies somewhere more appropriate.

I think the average is about 8 grade 7s or more..

Well imagine if 50% of students got at least a grade 7 in all their 9 subjects, that leaves in this case 129 grades out of the remaining 648 reported grades as being below grade 7.

648 Grade 7s or above came from 72 pupils (50%) so average of (9)
130 grades below grade 7 came from the other 72 pupils (50%) so 518/72 = 7.19 grades over 7 7.19 + 9 /2 = An average of 8 Grade 7 or above per pupil.

What is the average no of level 7 grades or above for the whole cohort: 7.19+9/2 = 8.095

@Howshouldibehave

self-serving distraction

Spot on.

I wonder if the girl’s mum is spectacularly missing the point as well, or just her over-invested friend!

AGREED

stay with me Monday-Friday

With a baby? Or do you mean she leaves her baby with her mother for most of the week?!

Hmmmm, I think you should leave it to the pregnant woman to decide what it is that she wants to do, if that even is sitting her A levels immediately. When she gives birth, her baby will be her priority, I would imagine.

So you’re planning for a 18 year old and her baby to live with you? Really.

Or are you working on the basis the baby isn’t there. I assume the latter as that’s your general approach to this whole mess.

@redhilary

I think the average is about 8 grade 7s or more..

Well imagine if 50% of students got at least a grade 7 in all their 9 subjects, that leaves in this case 129 grades out of the remaining 648 reported grades as being below grade 7.

648 Grade 7s or above came from 72 pupils (50%) so average of (9)
130 grades below grade 7 came from the other 72 pupils (50%) so 518/72 = 7.19 grades over 7 7.19 + 9 /2 = An average of 8 Grade 7 or above per pupil.

What is the average no of level 7 grades or above for the whole cohort: 7.19+9/2 = 8.095

The bottom line is you are setting this girl up to fail. Thats in no one's interests.

@redhilary

Abraxan . That gives me an idea Goddaughter has said she would not mind living with me . Perhaps therefore she could stay with me Monday-Friday from next September if the right childcare is in place. Thus, restart year 12 when 'hopefully' DD 1will begin year 12. I mention this situation to the school to see if they might be open to admitting Goddaughter.. That might be a long shot, but it is worth a go. Anyway if Goddaughter did live with me through the week and attended a Sixth Form College, that would give her the best chance educationally. That would be her choice, though I am a lot stricter than her mother.

Is the baby coming to live with you in this scenario?? If not, how can you possibly think that would be right for the baby? There is a whole new little person in this equation now whose needs should come first. The DD may be young, but she's still the baby's mother.

If the DD bonds with the baby properly, there's no way she would cope with being separated Mon-Fri either. How would you have felt if somebody suggested to you that you shouldn't be with your baby all week because you needed to finish a course for work?

it is only an potential option and if it does not happen as you say, because Goddaughter is unable to be separated from Monday- Friday. But at the moment Goddaughter is adamant she wants to continue in full time education. Thus, an option of her mother and youngish Grandmother (62) to care for the baby, from Monday - Friday is not a impossible idea. This, is despite posters on here declaring this to be negligent to both the baby and mother. On the contrary you will have in September 2022 a young immature mother of 17 @ 1/2 who might want the option of going to University when she is 19 . She would also have the support of the University via Disabled Students allowance and interventions for looking after her then 'young' child.

I don't see why I should rule out Goddaughter continuing in fulltime education next year. We will see what she wants to do, and yes she is still in denial about the extent of the dramatic changes to her life, she is about to be faced with.
She wishes she was 13 and go back to see me with her mother for Toast and Tea. Unfortunately that boat had sailed away.

Has sailed away *

So your plan is for GD to stay minus baby.

It’s not realistic and if that is what happens - poor baby.

I don't see why I should rule out Goddaughter continuing in fulltime education next year. We will see what she wants to do, and yes she is still in denial about the extent of the dramatic changes to her life, she is about to be faced with.

She’s not the only one.