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.

I know. God help the poor son.

I couldn’t be prouder of DS today, he has several SEND, struggled throughout school to just be there. The stress of exams made him extremely unwell and needing hospital visits. We didn’t think he would sit all the exams, he certainly wasn’t in a fit state to.

He got far higher grades than we thought, those 4s, 5s and 6 in maths were an achievement worth being proud of. He can do the higher level of the course he wants to do. The only 3 he got was English language, he had a huge panic attack in the exam. He has always struggled with this subject as his autism means he finds writing about other people, writing fictional accounts about imaginary holidays or things he hasn’t experienced virtually impossible.

His younger brother will no doubt sail through and get much higher grades without trying as he doesn’t have social, emotional challenges. He finds school easy. That doesn’t mean we should Celebrate his results more than his brother. If they have achieved their full potential then that is definitely a cause to celebrate.

To me it seems unfair that a child who struggles academically has to sit the same exam as someone who breezes through study. I am old enough to do have done O' levels/CSE's and both lots of exams were celebrated. As adults we recognise that for some students 3's and 4's are a huge achievement and are rightly proud of them. Yet that student will be collecting results alongside others who have 8's and 9's. Surely it must be upsetting?

I am full of admiration for all the kids who have been studying since the pandemic began but I think the ones who have struggled the most deserve a special well done for what they have achieved.

I was a teacher and always had top set and bottom set - for most of the girls in top set it didn't take much to get a top grade but for the bottom set some of them worked their socks off and their lower grade was more of an achievement.

Well done to him!!! That takes some fight and courage. I wish him every success.

Absolutely agree @FunnysInLaJardin

I work in widening participation in HE and we take a lot of students that have to work hard to get what is perceived as “average/poor” results but are actually an incredible achievement for them. All success is celebrated.

Academically I am one of those that aced GCSE, A Level, undergrad and several postgrad with absolutely no effort whatsoever. I totally recognise the success of others that worked their socks off, regardless of grades. My DB has dyslexia and ADHD and he would never have got better than C’s and D’s in old money no matter what he did.
My best friend’s daughter has complex disabilities and achieved 5 x 4’s last year and she is absolutely thrilled as she was not in mainstream school and it wasn’t clear she would ever pass anything.

That's simply not true.

Ds1 unfortunately did not study for any of his GCSE’s he had no drive to revise at all.. no matter how much I tried to talk to him.. I even (stupidly) offered him £100 for every A he got.. results day came… he got A*’s and A’s. No bloody revising.. he just went in and sat the exams off the hoof. So there are some who will just sit back and sail through and pass exceptionally well (frustratingly!). Ds2 on the other hand has revised so so much, gone over and over past papers, attended extra revision sessions.. he did get 5’s & 6’s and is gutted he didn’t get the predicted grades. Each child is different, and as other posters have said it doesn’t matter how much work some put in, they are just not going to get the high scores. Trying to stop ds2 comparing himself to ds1 is hard.. he forgets he’s done these during covid.. lockdowns,, bubbles being excluded from school... extra bits added to exams that they were told would be removed from the papers.. I’m proud of his results and I’d have loved to have gotten his results myself at his age!

@FunnysInLaJardin
So I just checked and 6's and 4's are B's and C's in Wales. These are amazing grades and ones to be proud off. I have never had an A in my life all B's and C's I have a university degree and a professional job.
I really don't understand this culture where nothing but the highest is the best?
After all, all job applications and universities ask for is 5 4's (c's) and above.

I would definitely be celebrating your DC's achievements. It's disappointing about the two failed but I'm sure they feel disappointed enough themselves without further emphasis on this.

My beaut got 1s and 2s - if you'd asked me at Easter if he'd even get into the exam hall to sit them I wouldn't have been able to call it, he was struggling to even get into the school building at that point.

He did it - sat every exam, no thanks to his school who were spectacularly unhelpful and unsupportive. Every mark he got is testament to him and his determination to get in there and at least try and he was well resigned to this year being a year to consolidate and retake while working on his longer term goals.

Starts college next week and the future is most definitely bright - I couldn't be prouder 😎

Ah, now I know why Ds2 finished year 11 with a hand full of AQA unit awards and having a go at entry 1 maths. He should have turned off alphablocks and put the hours into studying. 😏

My ds is another Mr Average. His grades are all in the 4-6 range which is great for someone who was below expected in primary school SATS. He was expecting to have to retake maths but got a 5 in Higher which is fab.

His grades mean he can go onto his first choice courses so it's been a massive relief all round.

That mustn't have made the low achievers feel patronised at all

My biggest win today was a student who overachieved his target of a 4 and got a 5 and was all fired up to do my subject for A level! I had to say no, he wouldn’t cope, but I was so chuffed for him.

I teach people retaking maths GCSE
Some got their 4, none believed they could get it after several tries.

Some moved from a 2 to a 3. In our department that's seen as just as significant as moving from a 3 to a 4.

I think that high fliers don't realise what barriers so many people have to push through. I have so much admiration for many of my students.

YANBU OP. I got 7 passes at GCSE. Many of my friends got all A grades. I'd had an awful year. My parents were very proud of me and I'm grateful they never had unrealistic expectations. Also agree that effort doesn't necessarily equal high grades. I was awful at maths and worked very hard to get a C. I got an A in English with much less effort.

I mean in a few years it will all be forgotten and meaningless and the results never talked about again 😂

You don’t ‘get what you put in’. That’s bullshit. If you work hard you get what you’re capable of (if you can cope with exams). That means that some DC could have worked harder than your DD and come away with 5s and 6s. That’s great for them and something for them to be proud of because they did their best. There are DC who suffer from extreme exam stress who are capable of 8s and 9s but ended up with anything from a 9 to a 4 depending on their anxiety levels on the day. They got through it and that’s something to be proud of. There are also bright but lazy DC who cruised through doing the bare minimum, spent a week cramming before the exams and came away with 8s and 9s. That’s definitely not getting what you put in.

Those saying that hard work equals better grades...wow.
I know kids who worked and got 9's and also kids who worked and got 3's and the odd 4.
They have had such a hard slog to get here.
And the teach to exam system is awful.
If you have a teacher that doesn't give the right techniques to get the grades,you have no chance,no matter how hard you work...

You can't be 'old' if you did GCSEs. The oldest you can be is 52.

Well done to all kids and their results today as long as you worked hard and put the effort in you should be super proud regardless of whether it’s a 9 or a 4

What I have noticed today on several social
media platforms is kids who have done well and got high grades are then blasted for showing off and told to spare a thought for kids who haven’t done well

These are the kids who are
then posting tic toc videos of getting their results and laughing that they failed knowing they didn’t put the work in

I know that won’t be every child but the ones who worked their back sides off
shouldn’t have to apologise for being proud of their high results

No one has suggested that however this is a thread celebrating those who worked just as hard but their results don't reflect that

Is it's the first year A* came in, that would make you 43.

But anyway. I didn't put any effort into my gcses, a levels or degree. Got the A*s/As/2.i. I worked harder in my part time jobs and then my job post graduation than for my qualifications.

I know many women , now, who have gone to do foundation courses then degrees in their 30s and with families in tow. school wasn't a priority as teensgers. They have had to work way, way harder than I ever did and it made me reevaluate the way I saw my path. Am I superior cos I was good at academic stuff and exams? Am I bollocks. I could not do what many of my friends have done.

You are proud, we get it. No one is suggesting that work isnt important, but having intelligence plus a work ethic (which my 4th child has and is why she smashed out 9's for all her exams last year FYI) can make a massive difference. A child who struggles but works so hard will be thrilled with a 4, your childs achievement doesnt lessen theirs. My eldest has severe learning issues thanks to Cerebal Palsy, we were thrilled with his D's and E's because it was only his working so hard that even allowed him to take his exams in the first place.

I teach. I had a set of grades that look brilliant on paper. But my success story this year, the one that made my day today, was the lad who got grade 4. He has a difficult background and MH issues. Just getting him into the classroom for a lesson was a win. I was so happy for him that he passed - much more than for the kids who would have got a 9 whoever was teaching them.