to want a little celebration for the lower achievers at GCSE?

[FunnysInLaJardin]

DS1 got three 6's and three 4's at GCSE. He failed history and biology.

He could have done better, but amidst the nine 9's I feel like saying a small well done to the other kids who did well - even if they didn't blow the roof off!

GCSE's are a stepping stone and as long as your DC are happy, any grades are cause for celebration.

DS1 can now move on to college and start the next stage in his life, and for that I am very thankful.

Oh give it a rest. I’m in my 30s now (and a secondary maths teacher). Spent most my time at school pissing around and not putting any effort in and left with all As and A*s. I 100% did not deserve them based upon effort at all. My little sister worked her absolute arse off and got Cs on her resits in year 12 for Maths GCSE. Out of the two of us she absolutely deserved the higher grades.

OP congratulations to your son for his results, I hope he is as proud as you are for the hard work he put in to achieve them. The biggest advice I give any students now is that as long as you get yourself to the next step in what you want to do, that’s all that matters as absolutely no one cares or remembers how far above that threshold you get in the long run.

Posted too soon!

My nephew got a 5, the rest 4s, except for maths where he got a 3. He worked really, really hard, had a tutor for maths, and is gutted he didn't get a 'pass' in maths - he'll retake it, and I'm sure he'll pass next time - but considering he was achieving 1s and 2s around mocks time, that 3 was earned!

DS today got 4 and 5s today. I am so proud and pleased for him. He has never found academic work easy and has always worked hard at school. He worked harder for his results than my Dd who got all 7-9’s. He worked consistently during lockdowns and during isolation periods. He went to extra lessons after school and during the Feb half term and Easter. No such dedication from DD as it just came naturally to her so no effort required. The notion that those that got 8’s and 9’s are somehow more deserving because they worked harder is just not true. In some cases yes but certainly not all.

The issue I find with this OP is that the ones with 8s and 9s did put more time and effort over the years than the 4s and 5s.
What a load of nonsense. One of my girls who got 2 grade 4s worked far harder than the student with 3 grade 7s.

• 2 grade 7s

@FunnyNC
No one is diminishing your child's achievements. There are students out there who worked as hard as your DD and their absolute best was a grade 4. I know because I taught them.
Some students who got 4s and 5s won't have worked as hard as your DD, others will have worked harder.

Congratulations on those results @Lougle@Lougle

@FunnyNC I teach degree level and I can tell you that every year I have one or two students crying because they simply cannot get a first, whatever they do. They have been taught you just have to work hard and then you get the top grades. This is not true in my area where you need BOTH natural aptitude and hard work. Degree classifications are not just a function of hard work, and I have had many students over the years from disadvantaged backgrounds or for whom English is not their first language who have done fantastically to get a low 2:1 or 2:2.

It is wrong (IMO) to teach students that all that matters is hard work. These students, nearly always girls, often struggle when its revealed to them later on in life that this is not true, and there are lots of things, from cultural capital, gender, natural aptitude, luck as well as hard work that predict success. Academic success and strings of A*'s don't always translate into later life achievement, or even brilliance at degrees or obtaining a first great job, and that can be very hard for them to take.

Effort usually translates into grades but not always.
By posting here we aren't diminishing anyones achievement.

It's a safe place to trumpet our childrens achievements.

I did great in my GCSE's, but admit I put in little effort. With the amount of effort I put in, i didnt deserve the grades.

Some people put in hours but were never gonna reach the top grades.

Actually I think that’s spot on. Not ready to learn. It’s tough as a parent when you tried all sorts of tactics, offered tutors, tried bribery (haha) and tried to make your child understand.
I think a lot of children have a lot to celebrate - some worked hard for their 4s and 5s. It’s wonderful for them.
Mine worked hard for a fortnight and only attended 2-3 months in years 10 and 11 combined. But would have passed based on mocks.

@FunnyNC why do you think it's only the kids that get 8s or 9s that read books, revise, do their homework, don't get detentions etc. Do you honestly believe that every child has the ability to get the highest grades if only they applied their self more.

Out if my well off friends 4 of them left school with a out 5 GCSEs between them. They are in a mix of creative and construction jobs and enjoy what they do. Academia was not for them!

Absolutely. So many privileged kids on here with academic parents, high achieving schools, lots of support, no emotional problems and it’s the kids with loads of problems at home, absent or busy non academic parents at shit schools that deserve the most praise.

Although my daughter didn't work as hard as I would have liked overall, and still got two 8s and a 9 in her favourite subjects, the grade I'm most proud of is the 5 in maths which she finds really hard, and really worked hard for after getting a shock to the system realising she might fail and if she did she wouldn't get on the college course she wanted.

High grades are a mix of natural ability and hard work. You can be proud of either or both. I'm proud of her natural ability in certain subjects and also of her hard work in maths.

A child who worked hard and achieved the best they could, even if that was a 4 should be congratulated.

Much more than a thick as mince privately educated tutored to the end spoon fed child. There is such a disparity between the support given to the richest and poorest students, it’s very far from a fair playing field. And mine have been state educated as have we as parents.

@FunnyNC sorry I just can’t agree with that. Congratulations to your daughter, those are fantastic results but some children could work til they are blue in the face but not be academically gifted enough or mentally strong enough to get through the absolute shit show that was Covid education.

My daughter was predicated grades 8-9 right through from year 7, she worked exceptionally hard throughout school but unfortunately didn’t deal well with Covid and home learning so those predicated grades went out of the window.

Achievements should be celebrated on an individual basis and not be criticised because ‘if they’ve worked as hard as Wendy down the road they might have got 9’s’!

Thank you @Hercisback

The current GCSE's results thread on here is open to all and there is a huge range of grades and circumstances. Everyone has been supportive of all achievements, often in very difficult circumstances for some. It's been a tough few years for these young teens. There's no denying that some have been more privileged than others but when has it ever been different unfortunately.

This. If you have issues but have worked as hard as you can to get 4s and 5s that's brilliant and should absolutely be applauded. If you don't have any issues and should have done much better ,but didnt, because you couldn't be bothered to put in the hours then that is not something to be celebrated .

I had my dd when I was 17, no GCSEs and straight out of foster care. We live in a council house, we've moved around and my dd has had a chaotic childhood full of ACEs unfortunately. We are not a privileged academic family. I went to uni when she was in year 7.

I don't believe others have worked as hard. Comparing skating by and getting As isn't the same thing as 9s. A 7 is an old A. Yes my dd worked harder than others academically. Why is that such a bad thing to say? My ds isn't academic and does better in things he puts his time into, my dd spent hours learning things because she loves learning. She learns new codes and writes books for fun. She put the hours in to be academically successful in her exams and not just in yr 10 and 11, she has always loved school and has always wanted to learn more. I'm glad she's been rewarded for that work she put in.

I do understand that there needs to be a natural aptitude and yes people have different intelligence levels (not just IQ) but when I think back to uni, the one's that got firsts (me included) did seem to work harder, research more and turn up to lectures.

You should be incredibly proud of you both. Congratulations to your daughter xx

I don't think it's always accurate to say you get out what you put in.

DD goes into y10 this year and Works.Her.Socks off. Yet tracking a few months ago suggests she may not even pass many subjects.

A close friend however has a son the same age who tracking and teachers suggest will ace everything yet only does the minimum work and had to be pretty much tied to a chair to do his homework.

Well done to all the kids who haven't set the world on fire with their results ... we need all sorts in life and their best is yet to come

It’s not so much the grades that matter, more the effort the child has put in to learn, study and improve, and if they got enough to get to their next step. Not every child is “school smart” as my son calls it but as long as they try their best and get to where they want to be that’s all that matters.

Dd has just got the grades she needed to get to college even with all the upheaval with the pandemic which certainly affected her studies. A few years ago ds passed all his exams even though he was predicted to only get 2 or 3 in all of them.

Even longer ago my db left school without any qualifications due to undiagnosed dyslexia but now has a few baftas and is quietly well known as he has worked tirelessly to get where he wanted to be in a skilled profession.

Threads like this warm my cockles

Well done to your DC OP and to everyone who sat their exams. Its such a scary time. I got a small celebratory gift after my results years at school. My results were pretty dismal. As long as you do your best thats all anyone can ask and if you do that, no matter the result, its worth celebrating.