Schools should stay open for Years 11 and 13 or many are doomed

[Coronadisasterclub]

They've had such a terrible run of things and if they don't go back after Christmas I think GCSEs and A'Levels are absolutely doomed. They're barely going to cover the course and many DC are at an all time low. I am really worried about what the long term consequences of this could be well after Coronavirus is a distant memory.

How come they can't do home learning op?
My place as did many others got on line in a few days? Posted work on Google classroom, taught via meet and hangouts and many other places did too

I agree itsasecret
My job is not only to teach them the content and the skills but to prepare them and keep them calm and sane. I am swan-like!
I know what's left to be taught. I know when I'm going to do it. I've prepared for the worst but the students know that I'm in control of everything I can control. Panicking won't help anyone.

@Itisasecret

Yours is one of the most sensible posts on MN that I have read in a while. I am a teacher, but I’m also mum to a year 11 son. I’ve told him to where he can, work as hard as possible and he’ll get the grades he deserves in the end, regardless of how they are awarded.

He was off school for three days before Oct half term due to needing a Covid test and waiting for results. Then he was off for a week at half term, and an extra week because of the WAG firebreak. He returned to school after that and within days was back off isolating for two weeks. Went back for 3 days and was off isolating for two weeks yet again (bubble burst both times). He was due to go back in the last week and then WAG instructed schools to go online. So he’s barely been in school since mid October.

The last thing he needs right now, is to be told to at ‘he’s doomed’ which is ridiculous at best. He isn’t doomed and he will go on to further education, or perhaps get a job. His MH has been a little shaky of late, due to periods of isolation where he has barely left the house. I can’t imagine saying he was doomed.

Kids are more resilient than we give them credit for and this will be no more than a blip in their lives eventually.

@Orangeblossom77777

They have finished the GCSE course anyway by now and focus on revision going forward. there are excellent online resources and books - we will probably just focus on them.

No, our school runs GCSEs over 2 years and would normally finish the syllabus between Feb and March. When my DD sat her GCSEs 2 years ago, in one subject the teacher was routinely absent due to illness and they did not finish the syllabus at all - kids were told to finish the topics by themselves over the Easter holiday.

That was pre-pandemic, God knows how behind all the kids are in both GCSEs and A Levels. It means nothing to say "have an extra 3 weeks", that really doesn't make up for the lost and disrupted teaching kids have had during 2020.

Teachers and schools are working as hard as they can, but remote learning (if and when it can be provided) is not reaching all students and is no substitute for face to face learning.

They should cancel exams in England now, not 2 weeks before they are scheduled. A last minute U turn does no one any favours.

They know their outcomes will be viewed in the context of a whole cohort affected by Covid.

Sorry but this is the biggest load of bollocks that gets trotted out constantly!

When this cohort apply for a job and the requirements are particular GCSES, which they didn’t achieve because of missing 5 months of their GCSE course (so far), is the employer looking at their application going to say “oh they were the COVID cohort, I’ll give them a chance”. Or are they going to look at the applicants who got higher grades this year or the year before and give them the job. In 6-10 years time when they apply for jobs no one is going to give them any leeway for being the COVID cohort, and I say this as the mother of a DD in year 11.

I’m telling my DD to work as hard and revise as much as she can. To get onto the A Level courses she wants, and hopefully she will have two good solid years of A Levels to prove what she is capable of.

I have two year 11’s

I don’t fee they are doomed.

For one of them the cancelling of exams is a bonus as he doesn’t do well in those. He’s better placed for teacher assembly.

The other excels in exams and is predicted high scores so won’t be affected if there aren’t any.

Both have their own futures to gain further qualifications.

It’s not the end of the world.

I agree @Itisasecret that kids need us adults to support them and not be doom-mongering. And we too are taking the "it will be what it will be, just do your best" route, albeit in a resigned way!

But let's be realistic, kids in exam years are not young children who do not know what the state of the world is currently like, who can easily be comforted by mummy or daddy. They can see that the government is failing them, education is even more unfair during this pandemic and the government (in England at least) is holding on to the obsession over exams at the expense of the health of students and teachers.

I'll stop ranting now I have a yr 13 so am more than a little invested...

I have a year 10 and year 12. Year 10 missed virtually whole of year 9 due to Lockdown and poor mental health. Should have sat options this year but not happening. Will be lucky to sit 5 exams next year.
Year 12 here about to sit external exam in January. Had GCSEs cancelled and actually missed content. Now this.

Well doomed might be a bit strong.

But those of you making out that it is totally misplaced - sound like your kids have supportive families.

In our school there are many many many kids from chaotic, poor, fragile, broken - whatever you want to call it - families and backgrounds. These kids are not accessing online learning (which is pretty good for us). When DD logs on there's only a very small fraction of her class there.

The other kids? Are not getting any education at all. Are they not doomed?

I have a DS in Y11 and it's the uncertainty that he is really struggling with. He's been revising non stop since the end of term for two weeks of mocks starting on 4th jan. He took Xmas day off a d part of Xmas Eve but has been working pretty much 8-9 hours a day every other day and plans to do the same this week. Why? Because it's possible that the mocks may be significant if the summer exams don't happen so he wants to do himself justice but he's also hearing that he may not be going back to school in Jan so he's asking what he should do? My worry is that the continuing state of uncertainty is the most damaging factor. He could be this stressed from now until June and that's just too much to ask of our young people.
I'm trying to keep upbeat so that he doesn't feel 'doomed' and telling him that the best thing to do is prepare as if his mocks will go ahead and summer exams will go ahead until he's told otherwise.
He's a bright conscientious boy but I can see this is really taking its toll on him. Coupled with feeling extremely isolated from his friends and missing 'normal' life he is really struggling right now and I'm sure it's the same in households all over the country.
I also have a DD in her second year at uni and I worry for them and about them.

Not everyone is on the same page for education

DDs year 11 had a bumper crop of drop outs and truants. Parents couldn’t be less interested. Can’t force them and all that.

Generally your average school gets 50% of children passing 5 GCSEs after 12 years of schooling. Not much higher for English and maths passes.

How do you think those 50% fare normally? They get jobs, apprenticeships, get pregnant or go on the dole.

The rest go to college and then fewer go to university.

Nothing will change long term

Maybe now is the time to step back as a country and re-assess how much academic pressure is put on children at GCSE age, and move to a more holistic approach including resilience, life skills and so on. Exams are an arbitrary benchmark that as a nation we all focus on, when intelligence comes in so many diffrrent forms. I say this as someone who is incredibly academic. We need more diversity and ciritical thought, not for schools to be an 'exam factory' and I think this crisis has shown this. Children shouldn't be under the kind of pressure that means that not achieving top marks warrants a breakdown. They should be reaching 18 and considering what is the best path for then and their strengths.

When DD logs on there's only a very small fraction of her class there

I would echo this @Elephant4 - maybe 5-8 of a class of 30 are logging in for any given class. Year 11 in an outstanding but socially mixed comprehensive in London.

I have some students who I know won't log on to my live lessons.
Some of them are desktop truants in school. Some of them don't have access to reliable WiFi or a computer.
Some of them are autistic and the home-school cross over is problematic.
Some of them just can't be bothered.
When our year 10 were out, all of them were in the online lessons for the full fortnight.

When our year 11 were out, which was only a week because of half term, the students who didn't "turn up" were followed up by the HoY. I also know that the student with access issues watched the lesson video back (because she did the work) and I did a 1:1 with my autistic student at another time.
Live lessons are not the holy grail for a whole host of reasons.

The problem with live lessons is that not every pupil can access them. One computer in a house with two pupils means one can't access the live.
We did recorded live lessons and recorded so that pupils could complete at times when they could use the computer!

@Tinty

*They know their outcomes will be viewed in the context of a whole cohort affected by Covid.*

Sorry but this is the biggest load of bollocks that gets trotted out constantly!

When this cohort apply for a job and the requirements are particular GCSES, which they didn’t achieve because of missing 5 months of their GCSE course (so far), is the employer looking at their application going to say “oh they were the COVID cohort, I’ll give them a chance”. Or are they going to look at the applicants who got higher grades this year or the year before and give them the job. In 6-10 years time when they apply for jobs no one is going to give them any leeway for being the COVID cohort, and I say this as the mother of a DD in year 11.

Well yes, you say this as the mother of a child in year 11. You can't be objective. They will not be discriminated against because theirs was the year that schools struggled to stay open. The boundaries will already be bore generous, we know that. Calm down and don't pass your hysteria onto your children.

Oh wait, everyone was in the same boat, as they are now, and an entire generation was not left in penury for the rest of their lives

I'm not suggesting the current exam cohorts are going to be left in penury, but as far as their education is concerned, they are very much not in the same boat at all. Quite apart from the fact that since September some have been in and out of school isolating and some have not, the quality and quantity of distance learning provided by different schools have been vast.

The only fair thing to do is cancel exams this summer, do CAGs again and look at overhauling the system for the future.

@FoxinaScarf

Year 10s too. I don't know why Yr 10s are never mentioned. I think they are the most disadvantaged year group of all as that is the year the bulk of the GCSE syllabus is covered. GCSEs start in Yr 9 so the current Yr 10s missed the last half of Yr 9 plus a lot of this current Yr 10, they are at a real disadvantage compared to all the other year cohorts. Yr 10s should b prioritised.

I agree, and equally year 12. Year 10s and 12 might not get any reduced curriculum in 1.5 years time but they are missing the content being taught in the classroom now.

The problem is, the range of experiences are so different and so unfair.

I have a Year 13. From March to June she had full, live, online teaching and support to do her independent work. From June to July she was back at school full time. From September to December she was in full time and didn't miss a single day. There were no cases in her school and she didn't have to isolate.

Compare that to others of the same age who had patchy or no teaching from March to June, 1 or 2 days a week in school from June-July and blended learning and/or repeated isolations from September to December.

Cancelling the exams is very unfair on my daughter and others in her position. But going ahead with them is very unfair on children in the second position.

No idea what the answer is.

Year 10 and 12 will not be a priority. They current Yr 11 and 13 were not either. I think people forget that. The current Yr 11 and Yr 13 missed most of their Yr 10 and 12. Whilst the Government are hell bent on pressing on with exams. They will be the absolute priority. You can expect them to figure out this years Yr 10 and 12 when they have to. In the mean time adults need to support children and not press on them the importance of not missing school. That is setting them up to fail. Their lives are not over, they will get through this one way or another.

The current Yr 11 and Yr 13 missed most of their Yr 10 and 12.

Why are so many people adamant that thousands of children 'missed' their education? Undoubtedly, some teenagers won't have tried very hard at home, with some having genuine difficulties and reasons, but I'm perplexed as to how many parents on this site will openly admit they allowed their children to opt out for months!

I don't know of a single teacher who didn't remain responsible for the classes put on their timetables in September 2019, and wasn't required to deliver the curriculum, set work for students, and mark it. If children were allowed to do nothing and need to be physically 'with' teachers to be safe and productive, something is hugely wrong.

As you say, Woolff, schools were closed BY THE GOVERNMENT just before Easter - do just at the end of term 2. Even if they then did nothing, which the vast majority of my students did not, they missed one term. Which is not "most" of the year.

I have a year 12 and a year 10. The year 12 was fine last year as he had put effort in at the beginning of year 11. Although doing nothing from March onwards wasn’t great.

DD started GCSEs in year 9 (their school is now starting them in year 10) and didn’t do much work at all doing lockdown. Has been working a lot from September.

I hope they aren’t shafted in 2022.

I can’t see why Scotland and Wales have cancelled external exams for 2021 and England jaut continues to say it will be fine. More likely is that it will become obvious it won’t work but not until March or so. Year 13 and year 11 have had a really bad time of things

My yr 13 DS has worked bloody hard throughout lockdown and the past Autumn term.He is working now towards his mocks next week and has done over the xmas holidays. His uni courses still require A*AA-there is no let up or allowances from universities for this years cohort. To the posters stating that students don't have to be in school or physically with a teacher how do you propose to teach the practical elements of a science A level without the use of a lab, technician or qualified teacher?