Year 10 and 12 students should go back to school first

[Bewareoftheblob]

More speculation in the Hate ahead of PMQ today. Link

Exams have been cancelled for this year, regardless of the consultation suggestions of 'optional' assessments from the exam board for the current Year 11 and 13s.

Should we actually prioritise the return of Year 10 and 12 students who have missed such a huge amount of preparation time for their courses?

I know it's dreadful for Year 11 and 13 too, but they at least had a good six months before schools closed in March 2020. Still shit though.

Primary, please.
Not for the education, but for the childcare.
2 key workers here. Not allowed a place in school, because DH can work from home. Until he cant - and that means when something goes wrong, he has to go. Except they are unpredictable events. So school say we need to book a childcare place before Wednesdsy evening for the following week for a given rota. Can't book, as DH has no commitments. Then yesterday he gets a call saying he needs to travel today. So I have to tell work I cant come in, someone else will need to cover my face to face work, and I'll do the background stuff.
So, today I worked 6-9, home schooled 9-12.30. Lunch. Back to work in 5 mins, then another 5 hrs work before tea. DH might ge back before the kids go to bed. No idea if hes at home or out again tomorrow. And I'm supposed to be back in work tomorrow. And thats with just one child who needs the support. Some families are juggling 2 or 3 kids needing support, along with 2 FT jobs. Its unsustainable.

The education my secondary child is receiving at least needs much less input from me.

@TierFourTears yr 11/13 going back would have no affect on wether primaries go back. They don't tend to share the same building.
Guess your secondary child is also not year 11/13

@fortyfifty if the cap fits

Don't count on your Y10 getting a fair assessment unless they confirm the syllabus now (changed or unchanged)

Otherwise the school might press on teaching in their usual choice for order of topics, only to discover a term or two down the line that they have been putting time into areas that are not priority for examination. But that other schools, who happen to have a different order, are sitting pretty.

All year groups sitting public exams in 2021 and 2022 need attention as a matter of considerable importance. Dof E is a large department - they should be on to this

I agree RB68. Privately I get a bit emotional when my DS asks about his 18th birhtday and seeing friends - his last birthday was in lockdown too. He is gutted about the lack of social connection and this drives his mood and resilience - most days he is focussed and working hard then occasionally it all gets too much and he doesn't want to do anything.

He made the decision not to apply to uni as he didn't want to add any more stress and uncertainty. Plus, how is he supposed to start a degree when he has only been taught half the syllabus f2f and the other half on a mobile phone with interesting connections.

@Rb68 I also have year 13 and he hasn't applied to uni this year as wants to go when he can have a true experience.
He looks likley to do another year college course then consider uni next year, no jobs either and only one apprenticeship that he can apply for , we have just told him stay in education for a bit and let the world recover.
He is also doing quite a practical course , well one element and unless they get back he won't get the experience of this , may be graded but experience is key.

think even without any further assessment for Year 11/13, their grades will be even higher than last year's cohort. Teachers won't enter low grades this year, especially without the threat of an algorithm

I would like the opportunity to give them accurate grades. I can’t assess fairly online, some might be sat next to a parent searching up the answers while another completes work whilst looking after a younger sibling. Year 11 is my priority at the moment so need the chance to be back in school. They will have gaps in their knowledge before Alevel that need addressing rather than just worrying about a number they will be given which has been plucked out of the air if they aren’t in school.

@cptartapp

Disagree. If the year 11 and 13 grades are going to be based on teacher assessment, many haven't even done their mocks yet. Teachers need as much up to date data on them in these last five months. Grades should not be given based on three to four months work (punctured with repeated self isolation) Sept to Dec.

I agree with this and I have a year 12!

Personally I'd send in yr 11-13.

Year 10's can have a whole year of learning and they can adjust their exams and curriculum to allow for this.

Not all he 12's are doing a levels so many need to be in to access practice learning.

@donewithitalltodayandxmas
Nope, KS3 here for oldest child.
But by preventing me going into work today, exam years have missed out on practical demos in their science lessons, and the lateral flow testing capacity at school is down by a third.
If secondary go back without primary provision secured, the exam years wont get full service because intermittently (half a dozen days a month) I cant get childcare.
It's all one big web. Opening up some stuff doesnt necessarily lead to full service for those sectors.

Some Year 11 need some time in school for mocks. Dd has sat no exams under even vaguely exam conditions since early in year 10. Let them and yr13 go in for two weeks and sit mocks or whatever the teachers need at the moment, then they come home and yr10 and yr 12 go in. Probably safer too as there is a built-in fire break too to slow transmission in the year group. Or week in week out.

I asked my year 12 and yr 13 DDs this and they dont see why they have to prioritise and cant go back on a rota system.

They were on a rota from Sept to Dec, with one year in and the other on Teams, and this worked well.

Year 13 need to finish the course and do assessments. Year 12 need to cover the course. Both years need time with other teenagers for the sake of their mental health.

@tierfourtears but your children can have a keyworker place if you are a teacher

@tierfourtears you put your children in every day as your dh has to work away from home, isn't always work from home if you have to go back in full time.
But not all teachers have primary kids and we are talking priority in secondary schools , year 11 could go in and so could some primary years .

@tierfourtears you also have option of setting up a childcare bubble

My DS is being 'assessed' with the online quiz app Kahoot. It it too depressing that he is going to get his predicted grades for university from a handful of teachers who have only known him for 1 term and based on his responses to an app on his phone that is routinely impeded by restrictions on his phone to stop him being distracted from homework, meaning the Kahoot cuts out halfway through because he has run out of time/app allowance. This is not how he could be being assessed.
However, as someone on priority level 6 of vaccines, I would quite like a vaccine before he goes back to school. He is actually also priority level 6 so what does that mean for either of our safety?

For this year 12 and onwards, I think university admissions procedure should change to applying AFTER you have your A level results to ensure vast numbers of pupils are not disadvantaged by having their predicted grades given after 1 term of in-school learning.

This change has been needed for a long time and now is the time to bring it in.

The chaos with university admissions last summer highlighted that the current system is not fit for purpose, and doesn't work in non-normal circumstances.

[quote ihearttc]@Bewareoftheblob

Our Y10’s weren’t prioritised last year so why on earth should they be prioritised now?

So I should just tell my 15 year old son who is virtually on the brink of a breakdown that cause another bubble might burst there is no point in him going in cause there is no point. It doesn’t matter what bloody grades he gets given cause they don’t matter. Seriously have a reality check and ask yourself how you would feel in a years time if your child is in the same position as ours is now.[/quote]
I appreciate your personal circumstances. I'm not suggesting we write them off. But nothing is going to change what's going to happen for our current Year 11/13. All they can do now is complete assessments/mocks as best they can and hope for the best. I know that's awful, but it's true.

Why ? My 6 year old was crying this morning as he misses his friends and his behaviour has gone down hill every single child matters not just one group !

@Fortyfifty

You sound very bitter OP.

Really, how so?

@itwilltakemorethanbullies

My DS is being 'assessed' with the online quiz app Kahoot. It it too depressing that he is going to get his predicted grades for university from a handful of teachers who have only known him for 1 term and based on his responses to an app on his phone that is routinely impeded by restrictions on his phone to stop him being distracted from homework, meaning the Kahoot cuts out halfway through because he has run out of time/app allowance. This is not how he could be being assessed.

That is unutterably shit. They should be completing their courses and being teacher assessed using exam board based material.

But nothing is going to change what's going to happen for our current Year 11/13. All they can do now is complete assessments/mocks as best they can and hope for the best. I know that's awful, but it's true.

No it’s not. ‘Our’ my foot

You don’t have yr11 or 13 I’m guessing

So a load of rot

Thanks @Bewareoftheblob

That one term of in-school face-to-face learning was also a bit crap for him as he hadn't done much schoolwork since March once the GCSEs were cancelled and his year 11 teachers didn't set any work once they had submitted the teacher-assessed grades. So it took quite a few weeks to get back in the swing of learning and performing well in tests, so last term wasn't an accurate reflection of ability or future performance.
This will apply to many year 12s. They just need to change the university admission procedure until after they get their actual results, which is what has been recommended for years now.

Well Boris has just said schools 'might open march 8th

I appreciate your personal circumstances. I'm not suggesting we write them off. But nothing is going to change what's going to happen for our current Year 11/13. All they can do now is complete assessments/mocks as best they can and hope for the best. I know that's awful, but it's true

No what can happen is years 11 & 13 can go back to school and have face to face learning I would hope OP tgat your year 10 has some actual teaching and learning going on past the January of next year! Depending on the assessment framework year 11 and 13 can have a good few months of actual teaching and that is why they should be a priority.

...if vaccine targets met