Years 10 and 12 have been totally let down

[twosoups1972]

A few weeks ago the government said they would prioritise Years 10 and 12 going to back to school.

Then it was they would get 'some contact time with teachers' before the summer break.

Now - nothing.

These year groups are at the ones who desparately need teaching, they are missing huge chunks of GCSE/A Level syllabus. Plus it's much easier for older children to socially distance.

Why??

I suspect there will be talks with the exam boards to do something (I'm not sure what) about their exams in 2021

They will be getting some face to face contact with their teachers. That's what's happening though it's anytime before summer hols

This age group should be able to carry on with their learning from remote learning tbh.

My years 12's are on full timetable with 98% attendance over the last 7 weeks. We are ahead of work we would have been if we were in the classroom and now have time to expand the teaching.

We are working out face to face contact in small groups from 1st June but I expect many students will not attend these sessions.

I’ve literally just had an email from school about a possible phased return, it sounds like they’re trying to work something out. Ideally I’d like mine to have some kind of return before summer even if it’s just the odd day.

I agree, Y10 DS is working hard and his school have been fantastic at providing a 'full timetable' but it just doesn't compare to actually being in class. Teachers have told them they're holding off completely on some topics until they're in school.

If there are worries in a school where they are doing so much, I feel for the poor kids in schools where not much is offered, they will be even more effected.

Y 10 & 12 really need to go back before primary (obviously only when it's safe to do so) there's a lot at stake for them.

Wasn't the government supposed to be providing further guidelines at some point in the (then) not too distant future? They haven't materialised yet, have they?

They're old enough to understand they need to be a bit proactive in their lives. Teachers seem to be bending over backwards to give them work & lessons etc. They (mostly) have parents....

No reason teachers should be putting their lives at risk to 'make' these kids do some work.

Being self motivated is a good life lesson.

Now - nothing

It's not nothing.
I believe the teachers/schools are hard at it trying to work out how it's going to work when they go back.
We've had a survey asking parents what they prefer and I assume we'll be hearing soon.

The way I think the government see things is that younger children need childcare and older kids ie high school upwards do not. If that childcare isn’t provided then their parents can’t go back to work. A lot of parents are furloughed at the moment but the government can’t and won’t sustain this long term so the earlier the kids go back to school the earlier parents can go back to work. Fwiw I have a ds in year 12. I told him to not get his hopes up as he was desperate to go back to college but he was gutted when his college phoned the other day and said it’s unlikely they will be reopening until September. He is currently doing A levels and whilst he is just about managing working at home he has struggled not having that face to face learning environment that college provides. Year 10’s and 12’s have important exams next year and they are capable of socially distance but the long and short of it is the older children going back does not save the government money. Sending back the little ones who have no idea or understanding of socially distancing will save them money. Sad but true.

The government is not making decisions that are right for the children.

YR and Y1 are going back as they need the most childcare and this impacts on their parents getting back to work -nothing to do with the welfare of the children

Yr 10 and yr 12 do not need childcare (it is also unproven how save it is to be back at school) so the government do not need to send them in.

If there are worries in a school where they are doing so much, I feel for the poor kids in schools where not much is offered, they will be even more effected. this is always the case and teachers always have to deal with this the best they can. TBH the students we need back in school will not be the ones that come back to school.

NiknicK get your son to contact his teachers - we will do everything we can to sort out difficulties that students are facing - yep we can do remote face to face to sort out difficulties

Dd is in year 10 and has been motivating herself. However she is also dyslexic. The work set by teachers seems to be very adhoc, some work has already been covered (as its often not her actual class teachers who are setting the work), some teachers are spreading the work out well others aren’t etc. DD has had one lesson by Zoom and she was the only person in her class of 30 who actually bothered logging on (it was also the day after her grandfathers death). This week is meant to be a catch up week. I am told by a friend who works at the school that submission levels of class work is very low.

Teachers seem to be bending over backwards to give them work & lessons etc.

Tbf not ALL teachers.
I'm not teacher bashing before anyone gives me a flower. But there are a few lazy-arse teachers at my ds's school out there that are doing fuck all, I realise they are (hopefully) in the minority but even so.

This age group should be able to carry on with their learning from remote learning tbh. My years 12's are on full timetable with 98% attendance over the last 7 weeks. We are ahead of work we would have been if we were in the classroom and now have time to expand the teaching.

Even adult students learn less from online-only courses. And the impact varies according to how well the student does generally. Competent students can learn a similar amount with online learning to what they would learn in a normal course. Average students, the gap is bigger. Struggling students really really struggle.

*@jinxpixie do you mean virtual teaching is being provided?

My dds’ schools are not doing any virtual teaching, luckily my dd is self motivated and has been getting on ok as best she can.

Agreed @LockedInMadness some teachers are definitely doing a much better job during lockdown than others.

jinxpixie - my niece is in Yr 12 and has had no feedback at all since schools closed for two of her three A Level subjects.

Totally let down

Wtf is my year 6 going back in June and my year 10 and 12 are sat at home being less and less motivTed every day that passes

Years 10 and 12 are much more able to deal with distance learning than young children and do not need childcare. If schools opened up for years 10 and 12 they would be unlikely to be able to offer a full timetable with the GCSE/A Level classes' normal teachers, and students would still be having to do lots of their work through distance learning.

My dc are year 7 and year 10. I think it's right that primary are going back first.

I would definitely expect year 12 to be able to independently learn with some resources. And, to an extent year 10. Our Science teacher was rubbish and I taught myself from CGP books, and got A's for science, that was in 1999. Now, with You Tube, Khan Academy and so many free resources there really isn't much excuse, yes they might be slightly behind but it shouldn'tbe much if they can be self motivated and proactive.

You're right, I think year 10/12 should have been a priority due to their exams, easier to spread them out and they could have a part time timetable with blended learning.

This government are denying our children their education and everyone their liberty and for what ffs - for a virus that most people would
Only have a mild illness from

Why they haven’t fastracked immunity test is criminal

Agree with OP. Especially year 12 are quite capable of social distancing as opposed to 6 year olds! My DD in first year of A levels has had some online contact and teaching but her law tutor is just sending out the odd worksheet and telling them to revise. There is no way she's getting the quality or quantity of teaching she'd be getting at college. I really hope there is some concession or adjustments to A levels next year as they'll have missed 5 months of teaching.
It would be difficult to get colleges back up and running but not impossible but I can't see how primary and massive secondary schools can go back safely. It's all about childcare for young ones so parents can go back to work.
Yes, kids should be in school, but missing half a year aged 7 isn't going to massively mess up GCSES and A level grades. It is if you're year 10 or 12.

It is heartbreaking to hear that students are getting no support from their schools. Hassle them!

Our students are fully engaged (for some of the weaker students it has worked really well as they are less reluctant to ask for help as they are getting one to one responses from teachers)

We are doing virutal one to one with students who need help -these are recorded and saved to ensure safeguarding is carried out (but this is the year 12;s)

All lessons are given in a video format, students have discussions on google hangout chat, we use jamboard and microsoft whiteboards so all lessons are in real time with narration. Group work is being set up through google hangouts and then groups come back together at set times throughout the lesson.

It does not replace face to face teaching but we have certainly got a lot our of it and I will continue to use many of the features when life goes back to normal.

Even adult students learn less from online-only courses. Generally online learning is left to students own time scale and no realtime lectures. We are giving real time lectures to make it more successful.