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'm devastated for the kids. I'm devastated to see all the hard work from them and their teachers go to waste. They (some!) and I have worked our arses off to get them to the best possible grades this year. It's gutting.

We are all crushed in different ways.
But we will defeat this virus together.

I'm so sorry for them all.

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

Except we don’t sit GCSEs in Scotland, our system is totally different. And we don’t even know if they’re going ahead yet, the Scottish Qualification Authority should be making a statement today. This has to be the stupidest comment I’ve read so far on Mumsnet 🤦🏻‍♀️

The emotion police can just fuck off.

People are allowed to be upset about GCSEs as well as about people dying. We are not compelled to only be upset about one thing. There are many things about our current situation that are upsetting and for teenagers who have worked hard and parents who care for them, this is the immediate shock. Yes, it is one that will be overcome, but people are still reeling right now. When people stop reeling, they will not have forgotten that this disease kills people.

My son is also devastated.

Its not just the exams in themselves, I think its brought it home just how serious and life changing for everyone this situation will be.

I think it would have been better of the government if they had announced the closure of schools "until further notice" and then clearly said "we will look for a solution to the problem of GCSE and A-Levels and announce this in the coming days" rather than Boris just saying they are cancelled.
They should then have drawn up a plan which could then be clearly explained so that all of those affected would have the security of knowing exactly what is going to happen.
It was all a bit too wishy washy and it's not surprising that some kids are very upset and worried.

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

I think that might take the crown for the Stupidest Thing ever read on here, and I've been here a while. Fuck me.

1. Scotland doesn't know what exactly is going to work yet, if anything.
2. We don't do GCSEs up here.

I can understand the feeling and empathise with the upset that the work has 'gone to waste' as there won't be exams but I don't think this is the best way of viewing things. I know the UK have a huge focus on exams but the fundamental purpose of education is to learn how to learn and then to learn. The exams are a part of the secondary school process (in the UK but not everywhere) but the work the English students have done has not gone to waste because it won't be examined, it has supported their education and if they are progressing to A-levels if y11 or to university if y13 then it will form part of the foundations for their subsequent studies.

She wants normality back

Crikey the schools haven't even closed yet Let's teach our kids some resilience!

I think we have to be mindful that teenagers sobbing about their exams aren't just sobbing about that.

Totally agree with this. In the space of two days DD feels she's going to lose everything she's been working towards plus she's going to be completely seperated from all her friends, many of who are having a nightmare of a time trying to get back to their home countries (she's a day pupil at a boarding school). No idea what's going to happen with her university place.

The only positive is that she's in school to say her goodbyes until Friday unlike my DS's school where Y11 & Y13s were emailed late last night telling them not to go back in at all

Please don’t tell people to not be upset. This is where mental health issues arise if we tell kids to pull up their big girl pants and get on with it. Teenagers have as much right as anyone else to be upset, angry and annoyed and they should be allowed to show it. Ok their priorities are different to yours but if the whole world has been telling you for many many years how important exams and school is and then to have it pulled away from you overnight you can’t blame them to be upset.

Teacher here

Your children's work has not gone to waste
This will not affect their future education
Educators are very aware of your children's ability
This will not affect progression

Give it time a plan is being worked out -

I am worried about a lot of things with corona but your children's future and work they have done will be OK.

Well I mean that’s just odd!

What’s odd about it? News flash, even vulnerable people that are able, need to work. We no longer hide them away, you know.

Bringingbring12

TotallyFuckedUpFamily - "FFS people! Get a bloody grip! "*

*I reckon your user name speaks volumes

Yeah, losing your husband when you’ve two disabled children does tend to make your family feel fucked up, but thanks for that.

Maybe I’m just more concerned about the lives being lost and the long term health impact this will have on those that survive, than a felt in exams. While it’s upsetting for the teenagers, they should be helped to see the bigger picture, seeing their parents treating this as the worst disaster ever, is not going to help their mental health.

*than a delay in exams.

Very miserable to have school life ended so abruptly

Not quite as miserable as people's lives ending so abruptly

Crikey the schools haven't even closed yet confused Let's teach our kids some resilience!

That's the thing with selective quoting - it helps you miss the point...

The whole point of my post was that it is not just about schools closing

She's scared. Schools being open and keeping the normality has helped shield the kids from the brutal reality of deaths, food issues, probable recession and the likes.

It's not normal for teenagers to be worrying that they, some of their friends with illnesses, their parents or grandparents could catch a virus today that could kill them. That's the normality they want back. The assumption that this time next week everything will be the same

Being upset that that is lost atm isn't a sign they have no resilience

I really feel for all the Year 13s and 11s. I hope they can come to terms with the situation after the initial shock and upset.

And it WILL be all right. I am hoping in the long run that it might actually have a positive effect on teenagers' mental health. When I see the stress and anxiety that these exams cause, the pressure to get top grades, that they are the MOST important thing etc.....maybe it will be a wake up call to get things in perspective. Maybe people will look back on this period and say yes my exams were affected or I had to make different plans but me and my family are safe and well.

And I'm not belittling their feelings at all, they have every right to be worried and upset.

Yes he is sad, I get it.
However, some perspective. People are dying. There is not enough food in the shops because some selfish people are hoarding and others don't have the money to buy further than day to day...

It will be worked out in the end. He will come out of this fine and since all children this year are in the same boat the colleges will still want them next autumn term...

Take care

I think every feeling is relevant. To me it’s ok to feel sad all your hard work hasn’t paid off, even what some may consider daft like not having your prom. Everyone’s feelings are valid. Ok, in the grand scheme of things we need to focus on saving lives but I can feel very sorry for a 15/16 year old sobbing his heart out 😢

In the coming years I imagine employers will know that 2020 was the year when nobody did exams (possibly), make allowances and find other ways of assessing suitability.

DD is in y10 and she said this morning that she feels really sorry for her Y11 fellow pupils. She says it’s a real shame they won’t be having their prom or get to go to school to collect results and in October at Prize giving they all come back to school to get their GCSE certs all dressed up on stage in front of parents and other pupils with a big party afterwards. It’s something that’s been done for years and as the school has no Y12/13 it’s a big thing for most of them.
No it’s not life or death and of course there are people really suffering both in health and financial terms but does that mean we can’t have a bit of compassion for a group of 16 year olds who feel they are missing out on a rite of passage?
I also think it’s contributing to the general fear and unsettled feelings amongst teenagers, who can tend to catastrophise anyway. No school might sound great on paper but the lack of routine and purpose will be very damaging to the MH of a lot of them, especially if we end up on lockdown and they can’t go out. We are setting up a gym in the garage for the dc so they can at least exercise
Obviously sad teenagers aren’t equivalent to people dying for lack of ventilators but it doesn’t mean we can’t feel a bit sorry for them

Maybe there will even be a complete shake up to the current exam system.

I have one doing A levels and another doing GCCEs. They are shocked and anxious about what's going to happen with their qualifications because there just doesn't seem to be any way of doing it that is fair to all students. Grades shouldn't be based on coursework because this didn't count towards their grades so schools will have set different work/marked it differently. Some schools have predicted lower grades /marked mocks more harshly than other schools.

My DDs school didn't predict any 9s for students (despite lots of the previous cohort getting 9s last year) as they wanted students to have something to aim towards! So who is to say what's fair for students?

(Yes, I realise this isn't the biggest issue at the moment but it's what's being discussed here.)

As a parent of a 5th year pupil at school , and a 1 st year student at uni as well as being at college myself we are all waiting in anticipation as to how our courses will be assessed this year. It’s a worrying time but we have to trust that the SQA decide on the correct method for us all to progress. I’m due to finish College in 12 weeks goodness knows what’s going to happen.