Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the Year 11 cohort this year....

133 replies

bloodybankholidays · 24/04/2023 16:36

...have had enough upheaval without 2 bank holiday Mondays in a row JUST before their exams start?!

I don't care what anyone says, the Year 11s have suffered considerably because of Covid, then they've had years of no teachers or constantly changing teachers due to staff shortages, the teachers strikes and to top it off, 2 bloody bank holidays!

My DS will be missing important lessons plus much needed after school intervention just before the exams start. It wouldn't be so bad if it was a Friday to make a long weekend as at least it would be different lessons he'd be missing!

OP posts:
Mushroo · 24/04/2023 16:39

If one day makes a difference it’s a problem. Also everyone will be in the same boat?

If anything, it gives him an extra day to revise.

ShanghaiDiva · 24/04/2023 16:45

agree with pp it’s just one extra day.

turnthebiglightoff · 24/04/2023 16:48

Why start an AIBU if you don't care what anyone says? It's 2 days.

CrapBucket · 24/04/2023 16:48

I have a Y11 and a Y13… I don’t think the Y11 have had the worst of it tbh. They only need to get enough GCSEs to do the next stage of their education and they can always redo things.

The Y13s are all well and truly damaged though.

In the grand scheme of things, the bank holidays won’t make any difference. It’s already all quite shit!

orangeisalemon · 24/04/2023 16:49

It will make zero difference

Original poster
bloodybankholidays · 24/04/2023 16:49

It's one extra day on top of all the other shit they've had to deal with! No one seems to care about how much they've been affected over the last few years!

OP posts:
TeenDivided · 24/04/2023 16:49

Yes and No.
He can spend the day revising if he wants, and it is the 'same' for all y11s and they are graded against each other.
However schools with weekly timetables rather than fortnightly ones will have the same lessons impacted which is unfortunate.
But there has been reasonable warning, it isn't as if they have just sprung it on them.

My DD is at college and has her practical day on a Monday so she is 'missing' 2 of those in a row, which is a shame as that is the day she most enjoys.

00100001 · 24/04/2023 16:51

It's 1 day off in addition to normal.

They can use the time to revise for an extra 6 hours.

ShanghaiDiva · 24/04/2023 16:52

My dd is year 12 and was also hugely impacted by the pandemic: we had to move continents.
your child can spend the day revising. You are overreacting.

00100001 · 24/04/2023 16:52

Plus, every single Year 11 will have had similar amounts of disruption. That's why they moderate exam results.

savoycabbage · 24/04/2023 16:56

There's absolutely loads they can be getting on with at home. They will probably get more done than they would if they were at school.

Original poster
bloodybankholidays · 24/04/2023 16:57

I can safely say that my DS is unlikely to be more productive at home, plus he can't make his joinery piece for BTEC Construction at home.

OP posts:
QuestionsFromThePublic · 24/04/2023 17:02

I am glad they have an extra day. At 15/16 they should be learning to manage their own time and able to revise on their own.

My year 11 has been working hard. Prep for gcse's happens over two years. This year, school has really ramped up with extra lessons and higher expectations for homework and practise exams. Years 11 and 13 go to school on strike days, the rest of the school work from home.

They do enough, 5 hours isn't going to make any difference.

Tallulasdancingshoes · 24/04/2023 17:16

There are plenty of past exam papers available online for free. It’d be a good opportunity to have a go at those. The mark schemes are available too.

Skybluepinky · 24/04/2023 17:18

U r over reacting, everyone will b in the same boat so no point in moaning about it.
Yr child is no more disadvantaged than any other year 11.

ittakes2 · 24/04/2023 17:19

is your school not going on study leave on the second back holiday week?

KateyCuckoo · 24/04/2023 17:22

Yes because the previous 3 year groups have had a doddle!

Grow up, shit happens and if it will make a massive difference then it will affect them all the same.

FroggoDoggos · 24/04/2023 17:25

I think everyone is being quite unkind here, I completely understand OPs point that teacher strikes and bank holidays are stressful, I've been worrying about DD since they were announced. However I do think at this point most lessons will be mainly revision anyway, so doesn't make much difference

FroggoDoggos · 24/04/2023 17:26

Would also like to add that they missed large chunks of years 8,9 and 10 as well!!

thatsn0tmyname · 24/04/2023 17:27

Teaching should have finished at Easter. He's now revising and can crack on, school or no school.

Bluevelvetsofa · 24/04/2023 17:32

My DGS was the cohort that had TAG in 2020. We think he would have got higher grades if they’d done the exams, particularly as it was so soon after lockdown. He did A levels last summer, which were the first public exams that group had done. Did better than hoped for and was accepted for several universities.

I think that cohort had a bad time. They missed GCSEs, Prom, all kinds of things as it was so early in the pandemic. Have there been revision days in the holidays, after school classes etc? I don’t think one extra day will make a difference. Why would one day mean he can’t finish the BTech piece?

Wakemeuuuup · 24/04/2023 17:38

I have a yr11and yr13 and agree with a pp that yr13 have had it much harder. Their A Levels are their 1st state exams and they had to cover all.of the missed gcse content for their a levels.

The strikes are unfortunate as while they've been in school they haven't had all of their normal classes. They will get more done at home next Monday as well as a little sleep in

FancyFanny · 24/04/2023 17:41

If one day off school is going to make a difference then they can't be in a good position anyway. Get them to use it as self study/revision day if they need to- they'll have more time than a normal school day as there'll be no travel time or lunchtime or other times that are completely wasted in a school day like registration, assembly, moving between classrooms, etc.

Sirzy · 24/04/2023 17:42

As others have said if missing one day is going to be such an issue then the issue is much bigger.

MadeFrom100percentPears · 24/04/2023 17:42

My school is just staying open for the day. The staff were asked to vote and we voted to go in.

Now we will see if the pupils actually turn up! But hey, we tried!

Swipe left for the next trending thread