My son is crushed. Just crushed.....

[yomellamoHelly]

Year 11. Spanish oral exam on 1st April. Drama performance within next month. Art coursework still to finish off. Written exams as per schedule.
It's all hit him as he looked at his Class Charts this morning and all the work that's due / been set. It's all revision / prepping for upcoming assessments. The enormity of the change has hit him.
I know something will be sorted out eventually, but so so sad for him. He's upstairs sobbing.

I can understand his devastation. His world has been safe, familiar, routine. Even the stress and hard work of exams is something he's been preparing for for years.
Now everything is so different. Scary. Unfamiliar. Out of routine.
He'll realise in time that this will pass and he'll be ok.
But I hope he's not too big or manly to need lots of hugs from you right now.

I've got a uni finalist too this year whose third year exams are to be done online. Quite a few students seem to prefer the idea of repeating the year but I can't see that happening.

It’s heart breaking. We are in Australia and schools haven’t shut yet. My ds started his ATAR’s this year. In the first in his life he wants school to stay open. His younger brother is desperate for school to close!!!
Good luck to all of you. Give them a big hug ( probably around the waist as they are all so bloody tall these days !!) . I feel like these years are sometimes harder than when they were little

DD is very happy about the lack of exams

But surprisingly upset about the unfinished DT coursework

And miffed that I’m her year for a mammoth summer holiday has turned into the year when everyone gets a mammoth summer holiday!

I think it is dreadful exams are cancelled in England. I believe Scotland is keeping them going. I wonder if there is a way to bus children to Scotland to sit GCSEs there or where course work/modules allow let them sit international GCSEs instead in England just as Singaporean students sometimes might sit English GCSEs in Singapore?

FFS and Jesus bloody wept and are you on glue and here, have a grip to hold on to.

OP - my year 11 is working really hard at being pragmatic. Said last night he can’t miss what he’s never had (last day at school, prom, etc.) At least they can talk with friends over the internet and will be able to meet up once it’s all over. Remind him it is everybody his year that is experiencing this - not like he got ill at the last minute and is the only one missing out. In years to come it will be a story to tell and he’ll be right at the heart of it.

On the other hand, I have spent hundreds on a maths tutor this year which probably isn’t going to have been necessary! Humph!

Its healthy that he can cry and let it all out. Its going to take time for all of us to adjust to the change and we need to be kind to ourselves and each other while we do so. It will feel worse for teenagers I think as they don't have the years on them to put it all into context and realise it will pass so be extra kind to them!

What will happen though? Will they sit in September/October - which may be unfair on many children with no laptops etc at home or those who have been very ill etc.

I heard that there is a possibility every child will resit the school year - no idea how that would work in practice. It's looking possible this will go on for a year so I don't know whether the school starting age will be raised.

OP - I am so sorry for your son and all the others in this position. It's truly upsetting for them.

Surely this is the one advantage of the examination system now where coursework etc all counts. If this were back in the good old O level days where it was your exam only then we really would be in a pickle.

How would you all feel if everyone was just put back a year

@Xenia

I think it is dreadful exams are cancelled in England. I believe Scotland is keeping them going. I wonder if there is a way to bus children to Scotland to sit GCSEs there

This may well be THE funniest thing I have read in the whole of this thing .

...posted before ready!

ie is all education going to suffer because of this therefore everyone could benefit from extra time?

I know it’s upsetting now but in the grand scheme of things it really isn’t that important. I bet most adults can’t even remember what coursework they did for GCSE and he will still get a grade and get to achieve the same things, just not in the way he was expecting to.

Very peculiar time for teens to be living through. My son has come home from uni and started working temporarily in a convenience store.

Hopefully the government will see them right.

Also gutted for my DD who didn;t know what to do with herself, she's been off for 2 weeks, first with a nasty cough and then because the family is self isolating and it all just seemed too complicated to have her coming in an out of the house with a chronic asthmatic here too. She had a little cry over all her beautiful English Lit homemade revision cards, and then perked up. Lots of questions about what the hell now then, and will she be able to do A levels, and we just reassured that everyone is in the same situation, and somehow it'll be fine.

Thinking about it later, it would be incredibly unfair to test these kids in the state we are likely to be in in May. Kids who have relatives with serious conditions will still be scared and stressed and kids who are grieving will be in no state to be examined.

It's absolutely the right decision, it will be ok, let's just be very kind to the poor kids, who have hopefully had a tremendous stress lifted from them yesterday.

It is so disconcerting for them. My DD has worked so hard to get to this point and now is going to be in limbo until a decision is made on how to allocate grades / university places. She recognises that what ever method is used it is not going to be ideal for everyone.

Oh and she is pissed that she isn't going to see many of her classmates ever again and others for several months. Also the prom being cancelled is causing rage....

I wonder if there is a way to bus children to Scotland to sit GCSEs there

We don't sit GCSEs in Scotland. And no, we wouldn't welcome an influx of children at a time when everyone is supposed to be distancing. This is the most ridiculous thing I've read in a while - and that's saying something.

Exams up here are likely to be cancelled too. Decision being made today, there will be a staement from the Education Secretary. I have a child doing Highers which are the university entrance exams and he is devastated, especially as he had an uncharacteristically poor grade in his prelims and was hoping to pull that back for the real thing.

But it is what it is, they're not alone and every single child due to sit A-levels, Highers, Nat 5s and GCSEs is in exactly the same boat.

So is my daughter OP she has cried and is devastated she didn’t do great in Mocks, they were in October and before the curriculum had been completed, predicted grades are on the mocks, it’s all a bloody nightmare!

Try to talk to him about the reasons why ,and how BJ is doing his best to keep us all safe (doing a jolly good job too .)Like the daily forecasts and feel a lot better with a strong leader like him in these dark times).

Ha ha ha ha @dottiedodah that is the best laugh I have had since the pandemic began!

A clown who suggested that the drive to make more ventilators should be called “Operation Last Gasp”. Strong leader my arse.

Oh that is so sad

I think this is all very difficult for teenagers I totally understand them crying.
I think as adults some if you need to get a grip. There are much worse things happening to lots of people as a result of this virus. Seeing your kid upset will be pretty low down the line.

What will happen though? Will they sit in September/October - which may be unfair on many children with no laptops etc at home or those who have been very ill etc

The Government has used the word ‘cancelled’, not postponed. We are now awaiting details of how things will work but it is likely students will get target or predicted grades mixed with some teacher judgement based on data from 2 years worth of testing and we all move on. Schools could not safely accommodate an extra year in school safely. We all need to have shifted up one by September.

@alloutoffucks as per you username do fuck off

Yes we have a devastated teen too. This is awful for them - so much missed. DD wanted to do exams as now it means her first set of serious exams will be A levels. No dry run as it were.

Just heartbreaking. I don't think people understand how hard this is on teens.

What will happen though?

They haven't worked it all out yet. They just know that with the peak due to hit in May/June the kids won't be sitting exams

The good thing is that the entire cohort are in the same position. So government, education bods, colleges and universities will be able to work together to come up with a plan that will be universal.

That will be much fairer than keeping things going and then hitting a point where 20% of kids are affected at exam time with school closures or the virus hitting their town/city hard. They are all in the same boat and no-one will be more, or less, disadvantaged than anyone else

I do feel for these kids. Not least because I had a few problems during my a level year (y13) my predicted grades weren't great at all. Like Fs if I remember rightly? Things got better for me and I got As and Bs. So I'm concerned about the idea of predicted grades being used.

One thing I would say is if any of them or yiur son in particular wants to repeat to actually earn his grades. A year as a teenager feels huge. But honestly as an adult makes no difference on your life. For example I did a foundation year at uni in art to decide what to do. They're common in art and design however being a year behind friends from school felt big. But you make friends on your year and as an adult it's had no impact. Love to your son.

@lyralalala exactly !