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

[bloodybankholidays]

...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!

😂

Not sure if bank holidays will make a difference but this y11 have missed alot due to lockdowns, isolation policies ( pointless) and strikes and will be marked harder this year than previous couple so a double whammy

i have a yr 11 child and there has been massive disruption to their secondary education

i imagine y13 are also massively impacted

Sounds like a school issue rather than post covid or bank holiday or any other issue.

If the school can’t complete on time that’s a problem they need to look at and fix. They should be rejigging time tables to get those extra hours in where needed.

Are you sure his study leave doesn't start until June 16th? The exams are mostly done by then.

Yes, I doubled checked with HoY as I was surprised.

Missing one day of school isn't going to change that.

Is this cohort getting any guidance for exams? Last year they were pre-warned of the exam contents.

I'm trying to remember to last year, but I'm sure DD was expected to be in school lessons around their exams. If they had finished all exams for a particular subject then they weren't expected to be in.

Can’t recall how old y11 are sorry as we don’t do the school years that way. But all year groups have been badly impacted by Covid and certainly here in Scotland still will be for at least a few more exam years to come.

It's 15/16, the equivalent of Scotland's National exams.

I've got one in y11 and one in y13. They both seem fine and not too stressed. Dd18 has been revising since Feb and has a very strict schedule for the next few weeks. She has just planned to revise on the bank holidays and will go in anyway on strike days to use the library. It isn't ideal but they are just revising in class now anyway.

Ds16 is very laid back and will be fine. The school is opening to y11 and 13 on strike days and will do their best doing revision stuff with them.

There has always been a bank holiday at the start of May and 1 extra won't really make a difference. The strikes aren't ideal but clearly very much needed and most schools seem to be doing their best for the exam years on those days anyway.

Dd is actually sitting her first art alevel on a strike day - teachers will always endeavour to do their best for the kids even with all the disruption

All school years have been massively hit, it’s impacted throughout the whole of education. TBH if missing 2 days just before GCSE’s is such a big issue for your child, then you’ve got a much bigger issue.

I am now very pleased my A level taking DC sat exams two years ago that to all intents and purposes felt like GCSEs: the school decided to base TAGs on one set of exams in the summer. They at least felt as if they were doing exams. She was also fortunate not to be doing sciences - her friends in different schools or doing different subjects are struggling a lot with expectations. Plus they all seem to have very high university offers - presumably because of the disruption, backlogs etc.

This whole generation has had a miserable time - I'm not sure arguing cohort A suffered more than cohort B is helpful. Missing prom, missing year 9, missing GCSEs - it's all problematic in different ways. Poor kids.

Your issues are the government being awful and not funding schools properly. Teaching is no longer an attractive job so schools cannot recruit.

The anger towards the bank holiday is misplaced. Get angry at the Tories.

Ah thanks

then no OP I don’t think they have had it the worst. Going into A level with no exam experience must be much harder. Scottish exam year students missed 2 years of exams as they sit exams in consecutive years. Our current s6 (y13?) cohort had to sit highers last year with no exam practice. My son is about to sit highers and there’s been lots of disruption. My youngest has had his whole high school education impacted and yet all Covid dispensations are being done away with from when he’ll be in y11 equivalent next year. Uni students have had shit online learning.

it’s been crap for a lot of kids at all stages and ages and of course we care but one extra BH is going to make fuck all difference to anything.

@LadyPenelope68

It's only a massive issue because of covid, lack of teachers, strikes. If none of those things had/were happening it wouldn't be as bad. As it is, every school hour makes a difference.

I haven't said this year have had it the worst!

No they are indeed not. I said to my own son you can have all the mocks, tests, practice papers etc but there is nothing that prepares you for the feeling of walking into the exam hall and sitting down at that paper and knowing this is it.

You are right. It is misplaced.

Seeing my son almost in tears as he'll be missing English, maths and history, plus construction intervention because of the BH tipped me over the edge.

This.
The year 13's are about to sit the first public exams since the year 6 SATS (and they were the first year to face those reforms too) and will be the only year group that were in 10-13 when COVID struck that will have ZERO allowances or compensations made for exams this summer.
A levels they began in 2022 in many instances not even having completed the GCSE syllabus.

This is exactly it, OP. The bank holiday is a drop in the ocean in the context of the education shit show. Get angry and throw your support at the striking teachers standing up for every child’s right to a proper, consistent education.

It's 5 hours that teachers have always known about so factored in.

I have three year 11 classes and most are looking forward to an additional day of revision. I have put work online for those who want to do it.

Covid was ages ago. Y11 haven't been particularly hard done by and not missed any GCSE time.

Teach kids to be resilient not whinging. See it as a positive not a negative.

😂

If it’s that much of an issue the school should be rearranging the bits that are important to the kids that will benefit. Your issue isn’t with the BHs per se. It’s more the lack of interest from the school I take it.

Of course people care.
There's just fuck all we can do about it.