If 50% of keyworkers DC are in, why couldn't the exam years continue?

[muminthesummer]

This is an absolute fiasco. Our exam year DC have really been shafted. Told the exams are cancelled and now what? No plans in place at all and teachers, parents and DC left with no idea on the way forward. At least if DC knew the exams were going ahead they would still have that aim. I walked past a primary school yesterday full of DC, why are exam years DC deemed less important than them?

I don’t get the exam decision. I don’t see why remote learning triggers no exams when disruption is lower

I’ve read on here and haven’t seen justification

It’s the decision I find hardest to take

Well presumably because if exam years were in those numbers would be on top of the key worker numbers. There’s too many children in school to be safe really but I feel your pain as my daughter is Y11.

It’s because they know that remote learning is not level pegging at all. At least in a classroom everyone pretty much has the same resources etc. The disparity between the state schools just around here is astounding in what provision they are providing, and that’s just what they are providing - it doesn’t take into account lack of devices, parents availability to help, Sen, resource at home.

Doesn’t it stand to reason that more primary school children are in than secondary as they can’t be left at home.

I don’t think the 2021 exams ever stood a chance tbh. I think the government pretended they would go ahead so that teens would keep studying.

Government knew that the unfairness of wildly differing attendances between kids / schools / regions, plus all the time missed between March and September, meant that exams could never be made fair across the cohort. Some kids, particularly those who had repeated isolations, would have been sitting exams having not even finished being taught the content.

It would have been an even bigger shitshow than the 2020 algorithm. They were never going to go ahead, it was all just smoke and mirrors.

@MarshaBradyo me too. I can't believe they announced it with absolutely no plans on what will replace them. It's difficult enough for this age group being stuck at home for months with all this uncertainty.
@NellyJames I assume that there wouldn't be many keyworkers sending their DC secondary school age DC in, so there's whole enormous secondary schools mainly empty.

I don’t see why remote learning triggers no exams when disruption is lower

because is not a level playing field??? you may have read that loads of children do not have access to computers, learning space etc... Some children learn well from home but many just cannot do this effectively remotely for a whole range of reasons.

@robinwisperer

I don’t see why remote learning triggers no exams when disruption is lower

because is not a level playing field??? you may have read that loads of children do not have access to computers, learning space etc... Some children learn well from home but many just cannot do this effectively remotely for a whole range of reasons.

Of course calm down.

Our school has dealt with this extremely well.

It is possible

The two are completely unconnected.
Primary schools (and secondary to a less extent)
Are providing care to children who can't be safe at home during the day (in theory). They are there due to parents needs.

Exam years... Yes, they are being treated unfairly. There should have been a sustainable plan months ago. But they don't need physically looking after.

Primary school kids will still be sent home due to Covid cases. So the exam years will still be disrupted for similar.

Robin do you have exam year child?

Op and others agree it’s about motivation

It’s pulling the plug on two years without direction to replace it

So bad

I agree with you OP.

It's frowned upon though to faux criticise 'critical' workers on here (and by that I mean the piss takers) though or those who are still sending secondary school students in for no valid reason.

There are 22 out of 30 in my local primary. A very affluent area where parents know how to play the system.
It short changes everybody.

Sorry meant faux critical workers.

does it matter, Marsha?

Well I asked because it would give basis to your ott post.

my DC's primary is not full at all. About 50 kids out if 550.

what ott post?

@Lemons1571 but there's going to be the same issues when giving out grades. How can this way be any fairer?

Year 10 and 11 had 2 children in my Ds's school as opposed to 250 per year.. so that woukd be about 500 more in school...

Secondary school are also the largest group spreading covid

@robinwisperer

what ott post?

The one where you quoted me full of ??? And suggests you are worked up for some reason

And I cba with that especially if you are not facing exam cancellation

Primary schools being 50% full during a critical lockdown is a shambles, not something that secondary schools should be seeking to emulate.

I have young DC, but I feel desperately sorry for exam year pupils. They are without doubt the ones who will feel the effects of covid for the longest, for some it will literally be life changing

I have Y11 child and feel desperately sorry for him and his peers. He has had amazing remote provision from school and we luckily bought him a laptop for Christmas before lockdown, so he had the technology needed.

But I know that is not the experience for all Y11s and not just a tiny minority of them.

I can’t think what the solution can be as so many will have missed huge chunks of the syllabus

The plan to go ahead with a lot of adjustment felt better

It maintains motivation but allows for discrepancy

This feels like LCD

Agree with Scottish on life changing

The disparity of provision for this GCSE cohort is vast. Some children like my DD (state grammar) have had zoom lessons throughout and pretty much close to what they’d have received on site. Other children her age received virtually no provision first time around and maybe only marginally better this time. Her music GCSE has been the biggest obstacle.