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.

@redhilary

Why do posters keep saying her GCSE grades were poor 4 Grade 7 4 Grade 6 and 1 Grade 5 at GCSE are not poor grades . This especially for a girl who is Autistic and Dyslexic. I also think whether you like Grammar schools or not, she did very well to get in to Grammar school at 11 considering.

Thank you Staples for that information and legal contact details.

I don't think her GCSE results are poor. She's done well to get them.

There's a big jump between GCSE and A-level in terms of what's expected, and there can be a lot of pressure on students from this, especially at schools which are very results-oriented. If she were someone who had breezed through with all 8s and 9s without having to put much effort in, then she might find it straightforward enough to pass A-levels without having to put in the same study hours as a lot of her peers. But for people not in that (small!) group, the academic pressures can be significant - and may be difficult for her to balance with having a small child. For example, when I was studying A-levels (a few years ago now!), the expectation from my results-oriented school was for students to be putting in 2-3 hours of studying per evening and more at weekends on top of studying during the day. If her school is similar, that would leave her with pretty much no downtime and a very stressful life which wouldn't be good for her mental or physical health.

While staying at the grammar school is a reasonable option to explore, it might also be worth exploring alternatives to see if she might have a better experience elsewhere, especially if the school doesn't seem keen to support her.

Isn't this already rather moot? They don't have to allow her to resit, and they are not allowing it, so that's the end of that.

And why would they want her - gcse results that are no better than average in the school and a history of verbal abuse, violence and exclusions. If she wasn't coping before, she isn't going to magically start coping with a baby in tow. They know that accepting her back opens them up to more abuse and violence, and a litany of excuses for late or substandard work that will boil down to 'because baby.'

You and her mum sound great and she's lucky to have you. Of course she deserves to access A level education and proceed to university, or whatever her dream is, just not at a place where they don't want her and she's already struggling.

And I understand your point about her finding change difficult, but she's going to have to cope with the biggest change a person can contend with - motherhood - and her sixth form would feel completely different anyway as she has to watch her friendship group proceed to Year 13 and start applying to Uni while she is unintentionally excluded from that whole process. Find somewhere that will want her and support her, and give her the best chance of thriving.

@redhilary

Why do posters keep saying her GCSE grades were poor 4 Grade 7 4 Grade 6 and 1 Grade 5 at GCSE are not poor grades . This especially for a girl who is Autistic and Dyslexic. I also think whether you like Grammar schools or not, she did very well to get in to Grammar school at 11 considering.

Thank you Staples for that information and legal contact details.

It's a grammar school. Most comprehensives require a grade 7 to study at A-level and in our school's case they expect 7 grade 6s to study A-levels. Kids who don't manage this study BTECs which aren't available at grammars. There are lots of stories of grammars managing out students unlikely to get A grades at A-levels.

What I'm trying ti say is why is your friend insisting that her dd return to the grammar? My dd at a comp got 9 GCSEs at grade 7-9 and top grades at A-level and there were lots with better grades. FE colleges are more likely to have students in her sort of situation which might help socially. It will be difficult to return yo a place and have yo make friends in the year below while friends have moved on with y13 stuff.

I think your friend is unreasonable to focus on this right now. You have no idea if the young woman will be able to start school again in September 2022 when many adult NT women struggle and would still be on maternity.

I am 34 and pregnant, and sitting professional exams this year. I'm due to sit one in a couple of weeks which I'm almost definitely going to fail because I had a really rough first trimester and didn't get time to do the studying I needed. I'm going to retake it possibly in a year's time, or possibly after that.

Woii I’llld a college not have a nursery on site, and possibly someone in the same situation? She’s going to be desperately lonely as “the girl who had a baby” at grammar. If it’s anything like ours was their pastoral care is very very minimal.

Absolutely I would think that going to a different setting would be by miles the best thing.
Sticking out as a) someone repeating year 12, and b) having been pregnant and now having a baby, really could not be a worse combination.
She will be an adult then and I'm sure would feel happier in an adult setting.

As a teenager with these kind of needs ,a grammar school would be very hard going I think .they need results and there would be a great deal of pressure on her. Realistically uni would be the next step. Again not impossible but hard for sure .I think a year out and start a levels next year for her mh

I think the real issue here is that she's at a grammar school. They're known for a grades first kind of attitude. A mother to a newborn baby is unlikely to be available as much as needed to get the grades they're interested in.

The FE college might be the making of her. I think I'd try and encourage your friend to look around the FE college with her daughter and truly consider it. If the school are unsupportive, she's going to be miserable there at a delicate time in her life.

Hope all works out.

The college would be a better option. They’re set up to support student parents

I am not saying she should stay at the grammar school, what I want though is to see the school supporting her appropriately and giving sensible options. They can't just abandon a pupil because circumstances make it not straightforward for them.

I will argue that the lockdown and the result of being out of the classroom. This, the period where school work was done on a laptop and home actually had a negative effect on her academic grades. I know also that the pregnancy is a direct consequence of the pressures and circumstances of the Coronavirus.

(As I write this at 9.40 Am).

My friend has just text me to tell me, that the schools position on her daughter has changed substantially . The school Governors are being informed about the situation. The school will give some proposals solutions and options going forward, in a meeting with my friend after the half term holiday.

The school is at least now prepared to engage with my friend constructively.

I am not saying she should stay at the grammar school

Thats exactly what you're saying. Its even the title of the thread.

I don’t see the point of negotiating hard with the school. Staying on will require her to be in school all day, thus she will need to cover childcare for all that time. Whereas with an FE she only needs to go in for her lessons.

Staying in school, effectively shifting to the year below will be fairly humiliating. Everyone will know why as well and there may be gossip.

The best way for the school to support her could easily be for them to say “we can’t provide the support needed but we believe x or y setting may be better”

What I don’t get is why these conversations are only happening now and why they didn’t take place before the start of the academic year?

Pregnancy and disability are two separate issues. Either way, it doesn't sound like grammar school is the right place for her. She needs to look into going to college next year. The support will be better and they'll probably have childcare available for her baby.

My friend knows she is likely to be the surrogate mother, with child care if her daughter continues in fulltime education. My friend is also desperate that her daughter achieves her academic aims.

While that's possible it's also possible the DD may have other ideas or may post birth decide that's not what she wants.

Here FE collge has greater range and gets better A-level resuts - where I grew up it was comparable to the state school sixth forms. There also more flexiable about when they need to be in.

There are other options - Btecs and access courses and www.open.ac.uk/ post 18 does access courses and allows flexibel study - I studied with dyslexia and with very young chidlren and they were very supportive.

I think fighting to keep her somewhere that doesn't want her and it already making that clear - it bascially setting her up to fail - if she starts Y12 again she won't be with her current friends anyway - so I think the advantages aren't that great but that does depend on what's avalible locally.

I agree that grammar school in the year below her age group would not be a good idea. She will need to grow up quickly and will be surrounded by girls a year younger.

In the 40+ years i have been associated with our local grammar school, i have never heard of any student having a baby returning after the birth

Also i think the chair incident would be enough to say she is a risk to others (and if she's chucking furniture about, she in all fairness demonstrably is)

How could coronavirus cause a pregnancy?

She kicked a chair in utter frustration, she is not a danger to either students or teachers, this was brought on by her disability and facilitated by poor SEN support. This, is an important issue, lets hope the school takes note of their failings in SEN support and that the school might properly support a future Autistic girl. Just because a pupil with SEN needs might be relatively academically able does not mean they don't need less emotional support as those academically less able.

Some of the posters attitudes upset me, because if the chair kicking incident had been a less academically able SEN child emitting her frustrations. It is likely posters would have posted sympathy for the child. Though because it's a Grammar School pupil it means the pupil deserves to be scolded for her actions.

My Goddaughter did not achieve poor GCSE results, nor is she some kind of hooligan as is being painted here by some.

Whether the grammar school is the correct place or not for her emotional and academic needs will be revealed/decided by the meeting after half term. However, will some posters stop suggesting that she is not Grammar School caliber. This, because of her 'low' grades or because of two outbursts of mental frustration in years 10 and 11 respectively.

For the record 4 grade 7s and 4 grade 6s are about the average level achievement for year 11s at the school. (it is not my Goddaughter's fault external old fashioned exams were cancelled ) In fact if this god dreadful Covid situation had not occurred ,I don't think she would be pregnant now. I also believe she would have attained at least the grades she got in normal educational circumstances.

finally tiredinthe wood Your local grammar school , sounds like my old one. A school which had so little understanding of life, it thought girls stepping over a 3ft wall, was a Capital offence !

For the record 4 grade 7s and 4 grade 6s are about the average level achievement for year 11s at the school

Interesting. They would be low grades for our local grammars, hence the comments, I guess. Whereabouts is this?

A. My Goddaughter would not have been so utterly miserable, that she kept on sneaking out during the 2020 lockdown to see her now 'ex' boyfriend. This relationship certainly would not have developed though the second lockdown.

B. she would have been at school . Thus, focused on on studying, rather than trying to make herself feel less unhappy, so the inevitable would probably not have happened in early 2021.

Some of the posters attitudes upset me, because if the chair kicking incident had been a less academically able SEN child emitting her frustrations. It is likely posters would have posted sympathy for the child. Though because it's a Grammar School pupil it means the pupil deserves to be scolded for her actions.

I agree the attitude stinks but I'm not convinced it would have been much more sympathetic in relation to a less academically able child with SEN.

I agree the school should sort themselves out and work with the child and her family to find a supportive solution. However, available evidence is that they won't do this willingly, and therefore I'd be concerned they might not do it effectively either.

I would be so tempted in your friend's position to fight this one, not even from the perspective of not being able to give up on my dreams for the daughter's future, but as a point of principle. But standing back from the situation, I think she would do much better going the FE route, where she is likely to be better supported by teachers and other staff who have seen it all before, know how to be flexible and supportive, and know the transformative power of education. Grammar schools are not the only route to good universities.

Kent non super selective top 25% ability range...

Low for our grammar too