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Original poster

Exam paper - refused as inappropriate comment

17 replies

WkdSM · 12/07/2011 16:43

My SS (17) got a U in 3 of his AS modules in January and got a D in another.

We have just found out (via Facebook!) that one of his papers from the summer exams has been returned by the examining board as it has an inappropriate comment on it. I think he was trying to be funny to cover up the fact he had not got a clue what the correct answer was.

His mother refuses to communicate with us at the moment - so what happens now - we are concerned that the school will refuse to allow him to continue his studies - he was thinking of starting again with different AS's but given his attendance record and the latest behaviour I am not sure they will let him.

However, we are also not sure that school is the best place for him as he is not attending regularly or completing his course work.

He seems completely unconcerned.

OP posts:
cricketballs · 12/07/2011 18:15

if he was at my school then with those grades (plus the issue of the comment), he would be told not to return for the final year. It does sound like he has had enough of 'education' so maybe another avenue should be explored such as an apprenticeship

gingeroots · 12/07/2011 19:12

If i were you i'd look at sixth form colleges to start afresh on A levels or B.Techs .
I think sixth form /FE colleges are better at dealing with teenagers .

Poor kids ,if they don't fit in to school what help do they get ?

Apprentices are fine if you know what you want to do ,but they're not some kind of default setting for kids who've messed up or don't know what they want to do - which most teenagers don't . How can they at that age ? Contradiction in terms - needs loads of maturity to know what you want to do as a job !

He needs to keep his options open .
But if he quits education and can find a job ,great - bear in mind that there are access courses etc for people who want to go back into education at a later stage .

nickschick · 12/07/2011 19:14

How do you find these things out on facebook?

Loshad · 12/07/2011 20:09

That's a bit of a damming generalisation there ginger. I think most schools like to think they are pretty good at dealing with teenagers, and the vast numbers of happy and successful teenagers at my school bears that out.

Mowlem · 12/07/2011 20:56

Speaking as a teacher and as an Examiner, he must have said something pretty bad to get his exam paper returned. Begging letters, smart comments and the like are not uncommon but unless there's something really offensive it wouldn't normally be returned.

gingeroots · 12/07/2011 21:35

Losahad - " I think " as in IMO .
Based on my ( negative ) experience - but happy for others who have had better .

mnistooaddictive · 13/07/2011 05:48

It is the poor attendance that would worry me, no wonder he has bad grades. It seems that he isn't interested and pointless to continue.

Original poster
WkdSM · 13/07/2011 14:03

He's already at a 6th form college rather than a 'normal' school.
It appears he has just not been attending classes and has actually missed another exam as well.
He posts all this on Facebook as if it is the most amusing thing in the world and proves just how clever he is - the comment he made was on a maths paper.

Earlier in the year ye said he wanted to leave college but his mum said she would throw him out the house if he did.

We really have no idea what the best thibng to do would be - he is not talking to us at the moment because we refused to give him £4k for car insurance when he has not even had a lesson yet. Perhaps just leave it alone and see what happens over the summer.

Does anyone know if we can talk to the school - I have parental responisbility for him as he lived with us for a while?

OP posts:
Mowlem · 15/07/2011 10:16

In all honesty, I think he needs to leave school for a while... get into the real world, grow up a bit and then come back to education when he's ready.

I teach in FE, and we have quite a few students who return to education at 18/19/20 because they weren't ready when they were 16. A year or two of proper work usually helps them to focus.

At the moment, it sounds like he doesn't want to learn, doesn't want to be at school. I don't think you can force it. You bring a horse to water and all that ...

Probably a good couple of years of having to work, having to pay mum rent or whatever might help him to focus.

As regards talking to the college - Yes you can, providing he has given your details over. I think that's how it works!

sillybillies · 15/07/2011 16:29

I'd agree he needs to leave school as he is just wasting his time and clearly doesn't want to be there.

He needs a good reality check and hopefully that might sort him out. Give him a couple of years and he may be ready for education again. Staying on to do A levels is not the only route (despite the advice always given at schools).

2rebecca · 18/07/2011 21:49

Why are you looking at talking to the school rather than his father? I wouldn't get involved in my 16 year old teenage stepdaughter's school stuff. At 17 he is old enough to decide who he wants told about stuff. Any discussion on what he does will need to involve him. I would do nothing until your husband has talked to his son. If neither he nor his mum are talking to the pair of you then you'll just have to wait and see what he and his mum decide he is doing unfortunately. If he is bright but unmotivated then he may need time to realise life with no qualifications can be a bit crap.

YummyHoney · 19/07/2011 16:50

Not sure what your question is, but, clearly, he has either not applied himself, or is not in the least academic. Not much point in him continuing at school unless he changes his attitude, otherwise he's just going to disrupt everyone else's education.

He'd better start applying for work at Macdonalds.

confidence · 21/07/2011 21:43

We really have no idea what the best thibng to do would be - he is not talking to us at the moment because we refused to give him £4k for car insurance when he has not even had a lesson yet. Perhaps just leave it alone and see what happens over the summer.

Sorry to be blunt but he sounds like a spoilt brat who hasn't got a clue. being thrown out of the house by his mum might be the best thing for him.

Ponders · 24/07/2011 11:01

He's not likely to get a job anywhere either with that record (unless you have contacts who are willing to give him a chance) - does he live with you? I suspect you'll have him hanging around the house a lot from now on Hmm

Are there any vocational courses he might be interested in?

HairBearz · 24/07/2011 11:57

Mowlem, that is very true. My ds was a problem child at school. Very bright but chose not to bother. He gained mainly A's and B's without trying/revising. He went out to work straight away, and is now in his second job, doing an apprenticeship and taking an OU degree! He needed to make his decisions, rather than be railroaded into FE.

emptyshell · 27/07/2011 12:08

A relative marks GCSE maths and one year got a paper where the kid had managed to be bothered to fill in the front page with their name and stuff on, got about 2 pages into the paper and motivation had deserted them - so they spent the rest of the exam drawing a wonderfully detailed anatomically correct picture of a naked woman on the intentionally blank pages in the paper!

It was a very good drawing apparently - she was impressed by the art (but couldn't give him marks for that).

RattusNorvegicus · 28/07/2011 10:45

I have friends who mark A level and GCSE papers. They were telling me about some of this year's papers which included such gems as - 'I didn't want to be here doing this stupid exam, I wanted to be at Glastonbury', 'I didn't want to do this subject my school/parents made me' (more than once) and some sweet ones such as 'That was total rubbish, I messed that up, can you mark my notes instead?' Also OP my ds (19) lost the will to live after AS levels. He scraped through A levels (how can you get a grade in Eng lit without reading the books?!) decided he didn't want to follow his sister to university as he'd be 'drinking your money away'. He walked into a job, earns nearly as much as me. His sister has 2 unpaid internships on the go and cannot find paid work after graduating last year. On reflection ds should have left school after As levels.

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