To tell you to tell your teens to read the f*****ing question!

[BorrowedThyme]

I'm spending hour and hours and hours combing through GCSE papers back from the exam board cos mum says Jonnie has told her he had written loads of high quality answers and should have got higher than a 5...

YES! Jonnie has written loads and loads of very high quality content, showing excellent understanding, recall and application of the subject

NO! his answers don't in any way match the question that was asked, so no! he gets no marks for said answers.....

FGS - what a total waste of time and energy for everyone.

And I have spent my entire weekend on these wastes of time

That's coming across in spades.

Hands up here! I misread the question in a geography exam , which is why I had an open ordnance survey map covering the whole of my table whereas everyone else had theirs neatly folded as they focussed on the very small area that the question was actually about……

Isn't this the second massive whinge you've had about your job today?

If it's affecting your MH so much that you have to keep ranting on public internet forums, it's time to get a different one.

Graveyards are full of indispensable people. The education system will manage and you can improve your life dramatically.

It sounds as though more of these checks are being done, if we’re asking parents not to suggest them?

I wonder if that’s the case then if there’s at least some useful information that might be gleaned on the cause. Are we seeing more comprehension issues now than before, or is it broadly the same but more remarks are being requested?

I wonder if this is now is exacerbated by attention issues due to how many screens we’re in front of now. Kids (and adults) are constantly scanning information quickly and losing the ability to focus easily and really absorb information. Perhaps there are other methods to teaching this that might help. This isn’t a criticism but just a thought based on an age old problem having a new and intensified cause.

It does sound really frustrating though, I can relate as there’s been something in most jobs I’ve done that has made me feel this way.

She's not she's a teacher. Some parents have demanded that she looks through their kids GCSE papers to see if they might be able to get the exam grade increased by the exam board.
Op, looking at the voting it seems that most agree with you. Some parents should probably be told by the school that they are welcome to pay to have their child's paper reviewed by the exam board but that they shouldn't expect the teacher to go through each exam paper first.

We’re getting a history script remarked. Maybe it is a comprehension issue. Son is very dyslexic. He got 50% in all other papers and 3% in one. Resultant fail. No apologising here. I’m a teacher myself and I get the frustration but have a bit of compassion for these poor kids.

I was replying you your specific comment saying that it was the teacher's responsibility that the student didn't read the question. But actually, yes I'd say it could help if parents said it too. Hearing the same advice from more than one source could help them remember better. Not saying that for sure, I haven't performed a full study of the subject, but it certainly wouldn't hurt.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

The thing is, this poster comes across as though she wants everyone to kiss her feet for it.

As a PP said, she rants about her contempt for parents and comes across as though she's the only teacher in the village.

If she's this angry about everything I can't imagine how her pupils are left feeling.

Not good at all - for her or for them.

Thanks OP it's a good reminder- don't know why you are getting a hard time.

I stressed the same thing when my kids done the 11 plus and I will be stressing it when gcses come along.

When I was at school if I wrote what I had revised rather than what was being asked it was because I hadn't revised properly and didn't know the information needed. Looking at some of these responses it seems some parents think the problem can never be lack of revision on the child's part but must be that the teacher failed in some way. Eg. Didn't teach exam technique.

Like Cavemum said, a teacher told us this as a story at school - to show the importance of reading questions properly, it has always stuck in my mind. But on the other hand, I can also recall another teacher saying: 'If you don't know the answer, write anything! Do not leave the page blank. If you write something you might at least get marks for punctuation.'😬

It's no surprise more parents are asking for reviews this year though – this is the first post-pandemic GCSEs when grades have gone down. Schools should've expected it. If OP doesn't want to do it, she should refuse, rather than starting two threads that are so incredibly unprofessional in tone and spirit.

‘Some parents have demanded that she looks through their kids GCSE papers to see if they might be able to get the exam grade increased by the exam board.’

‘Demanded’ 🙄 Parents and kids have been told they can use this system.

I am appalled at how many teachers are blaming parents rather than this stupid new system which exploits teachers and makes them work unpaid. This is not the parents’ fault fgs. Unless they are rude, parents and students have every ‘right’ to ask for this. And many teachers have even encouraged it!

Are teachers not bright enough to understand this? They are lashing out at pupils and parents because they are pissed off with their workload.

Blame the system not the families.

Sadly you'd be amazed how this continues through to professional life. I'm a lawyer and part of my role often involves instructing other specialist lawyers to answer particular questions. Quite often I have to remind them of the question when reviewing their answers. One replied with a tinkly laugh "oh yeh how funny I haven't really answered the question have I?" (after about 10 minutes of me trying to explain this very point to her) 🙄

It's a terrible shame that our education system apparently fails so many intelligent and knowledgeable students who simply happen not to perform well under stressful exam conditions on a given day. It's easy to assume (but quite an appalling stereotype for a teacher to buy into) that all these pupils are lazy/don't listen/can't be bothered etc and just need to be repeatedly bashed around the head with "read the question" from every adult in their lives, but the likelihood is that they are struggling with the pressure and a number of them are likely dealing with additional challenges such as home life worries or undiagnosed learning and developmental disabilities. A bit of empathy wouldn't go amiss and perhaps laying the blame where it belongs, rather than at the feet of the kids who are at the mercy of an inadequate system.

Some interesting responses you've got here, OP. How very dare you find it frustrating that students lose so many marks for silly reasons, in spite of having been told repeatedly to make sure they answer the questions, and how could you be so awful as to suggest on a parenting forum that parents could help by reminding their kids to make sure they answer the question?!

Posters are right - you, and all of us other teachers who ever get a bit frustrated by students not following the instructions they've been given to help them do well, should quit the profession immediately. What could possibly go wrong...?

I tutor ADULTS and they often answer a completely different question to what is asked!😂

I think you’ll find I said “some” of the responsibility actually. I’ve given my kids tips on exams before they sit them but nowhere near as often as their teachers, which was the point I was trying to make.

Yes! Told to write something!

How do they think they are going to cope in the work force?

Maybe by starting moaning threads every week about said job? Seems to be how the OP copes anyway…

I assumed “Jonnie” was a generic example student, not a specific person. And if you’ve taught it ‘endlessly’ to children, why do you think parents saying the same would have a greater impact than you have?

Just to be clear, I’ve spoken to my kids before their exams about techniques and shared the tips that work for me. I am just making the point that ranting at parents when it’s literally the paid job of a teacher to prep kids for success in exams is a bit odd.

Valid point!

No, for parents who overburden the teachers because they assume a service is free so they are going to use it without any thoughts of the bigger picture. This is the teaching equivalent of people going to A&E with a cold

when I went to school it was in the dark ages and we did exams virtually every term and exam technique was taught as much as the subject. In fact one teacher made up a literal song and dance about reading the entire paper before picking up your pen. We thought she was a bit bonkers and embarrassing - but on the day of the exam she didn’t have to say a word to us in the exam room as her face and her raised eyebrow as she scanned the room conveyed the message to RTFP. It worked!

i know a couple of people who do exam invigilating and they report many students turning up without pens, pencils etc and not following the basic rules on phones before they’ve even got in the room. So if they can’t even do that basic prep before they start, they have no chance in the actual exam. I don’t know how much is lack of teaching or parental support and how much is teenage bravado and/or forgetfulness.