Thread 27 Covid Cohort Snow or Like Spring? Let's Do This Thing!

[OrangeCinnamonCocktail]

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to threads about grades.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue.

Our DS/DD may go down various paths (such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will most likely find us within the Further Ed board.

previous thread found here

Also I think the geography teacher needs to explain that discrepancy between being first class and getting a D. She is obviously very capable, so where is the glitch between being a good geographer and actually getting the marks on the geography exam questions? And what can she do to improve? Maybe it's exam technique and very common, and they might have a plan already to get them where they need to be?

Don't worry - there's time to fix this.
I don't know much about geography but DS's experience with biology (also got a D in his mock and needs a B) is that half of the A level is learning the stuff and the other half is learning and practising how to get the marks. I bet she is at that point in the middle. But the teacher should have a plan!

I have bought DS this book for biology (more in hope than expectation but your DD is more conscientious!). It's good for decoding what the questions are asking for and giving examples of A*, A, B etc standard answers

Aiming for an A in A-level Geography https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1510424083/ref=cmswwrcppapigltti8AWK6TQ1XWKFT033R738

@alwaysplayspiccolo I think if your daughter's doing her best you can't expect anything more. Her health is well worth prioritising. I think teachers can be very poor at helping ADHD students and don't often realise how much harder they have to work. It's a very valid point that exam technique can help a lot at this stage and even if your daughter doesn't get the grades she wants, there will be lots of other options available further down the line. Dd1 ended up repeating an a level ( with tuition) & working for a year when she left school.It was a really good year for her as she earned some money, socialised a lot & balanced that out with revision. Her ability to manage her time has been invaluable in Vet. Medicine. Dd2 is repeating 6.1 this year as she got a ABD in her As exams & her school would not predict higher than this for uni application. So she had no choice as she needed high predictions to get into her subject choice. But she's doing very well now & she's happy. So there's lots of different pathways your DD can take.

I'm totally shocked at Unis doing the dirty and opening accommodation now. On principal I'm not getting involved in this. Anyway I can't yet because Ds hasn't even visited any of his. This didn't happen 5years ago when DD applied.

@Alsoplayspiccolo I know of a very good Geography tutor if you want to go that way. I assume they all teach on line. She is a friend of a friend, the mutual friend has a dyslexic son who did very well in Geography A level with her help. He is now studying Geography at Bristol.

@AnneOfCleavage @Alsoplayspiccolo DD says all the kids had a mixed bag of results, but the school is confident that the mocks have shown the area's to work on. For Chemistry the Unified Paper was a disaster for them all. The teacher says they know the content but all panicked in the exams so he's doing exams every other Friday for practice during lunch.

There were girls in tears following the Geo Mock, and the teacher said - I've seen worse train wrecks - when asked by the class how it went.

DD had a real mix - Geo was great with and A - she was one of the few who did well in both papers but had friends in tears, Bio was a few marks off an A so she's happy with that as nobody got higher than a B, but Chemistry a D!.

She can't work harder on Chemistry as she was doing the same amount of revision for Chemistry as the other two combined. But she did get some marks on the long questions, where as last time she got virtually none so her teacher has said it's a marked improvement so she should be pleased. They finish the course work end Feb so have March, April and May to do exam practice and revision.

It's appallingly nerve wracking but we have to keep the faith, and egg them on gently. It will get better (this from the woman who had a cry on her DH's shoulders over it all - the day before having to deal with a sobbing DD over bloody Chemistry).

The school has said, in their experience, an increase of 1 or 2 grades is what they expect assuming the student work at it in a targeted way.

Fingers crossed they're right! Otherwise DD gap year may look a little different than she was hoping...
Also - remember that on Monday they will know what the priorities are going to be so it will make targeted revision much easier.

This is so hard isn’t it. I do think it’s because we we have no objective measurement of their ability. Mine is upstairs coughing up covid all day long.she’s done no work at all this week , which is fine, she is sick but will have to make it up somewhere.Because I panicked as the form was going in, and asked her to change her 5th choice to a lower tariff, we have a CCC offer for Royal Holloway history foundation , and if she doesn’t achieve that we will really have to rethink everything. I wish I was a stats person, it would be good to know stuff like how many candidates hit their targets etc.
we got a report this week. Again saying BBB, altho they said AAB for UCAS. They say she needs better exam technique. I agree. They say she needs more in her NEAs. I agree. May have a look for something to help on Amazon. She’s not stressed at all tho, which is good. I think it’s taking years off my life expectancy.

I can't help feeling we won't know how they will perform in exams until they sit them. Ds2 as with most his age, has never sat a proper exam. Only mocks, which aren't the real thing. Ds just takes it all in his stride though, he's not worried or nervous. But others will be. He doesn't need very high grades though.

Ds2 has just been called for his covid booster. But he says he's not having it. Ds3 is now due his second but doesn't really want to have it. I don't want to force them. But I don't want them ill either.

This is giving me loads of sleepless nights as well. I will be staggered if DS gets his required grades. He works really really hard but I don’t think he has the required exam technique and his teaching has been somewhere between patchy and non-existent in sixth form. And it varies so much between groups. There are two teaching groups for each subject and the input difference between them is immense. For history NEA he has done it without any feedback. The other group have had constant feedback and rewrites. I’m not sure which is the correct way of doing it, but it shouldn’t be totally different! Not counting school free periods he is doing about 18 hours a week of homework and revision and is going to do more after half term. Am so fed up with the whole sixth form experience. I just want him to go to Uni and have a happy time after this shit show! Rant over!!

A boy I taught GCSE who I still sort of mentor/help with UCAS took an overdose on the school site. I am a magnet, it seems. It's all awful. Got a place at Cambridge but now suddenly terrified and suffering from imposter syndrome even though he is supremely sure of his own ability. Hence my shit day yesterday. He is in hospital now.

I am so grateful for my DS.

I feel I am slinking in as a teacher and can only apologise for the crap teaching/provision some of your DCs are getting. I have never worked so hard and felt so untethered in my v long career.

Thank you so much to all of you for sharing your concerns; it makes me feel better to know that it’s not just DD that is struggling to reach her targets.
Thanks for the book link, singing - I’ve just ordered it.

We managed to miss one teaching meeting, due to internet issues, but the other 2 subjects both said the same thing - DD has the knowledge, does well in class/at home, but things go south under time pressure.

She doesn’t plan her essays, doesn’t make sure her points relate back to the question, doesn’t proof read etc.
All very typical of executive function issues, but her geography teachers seem not to be taking that into account, as you say, Fferny. In fact, they started the meeting with a sigh and an eye roll, before telling DD they were expecting better than a D in the mock, and pointing out all the areas that needed improvement but didn’t really tell her how to.
Fortunately, her English teachers were much more proactive and had already come up with lots of suggestions for strategies that they would practise with her before the exams, eg proof reading at the end of every page, rather than when she’d finished, so that she doesn’t get overwhelmed, and planning when you take rest breaks to make sure they are most useful etc.

So, as I thought, it’s exam technique, exacerbated by ADHD, which is reassuring and stressful at the same time - if only she could stop being ADHD for long enough to recognise what strategies she needs to use to help her because she has ADHD!

Oh, and between appointments, she finally got an offer from Southampton - ABB.

Oh, Piggy, that’s too much for you to have to shoulder. I hope you can find time to step away from the endless school stuff somehow, as I know the marathon is far from over for teachers yet.

Poor lad. Just goes to show that the pressure is huge on all year 13s, no matter how well they are doing. Fingers crossed he makes a full recovery and is given the support he needs.

@Piggywaspushed how awful, poor boy. All the other stuff pales into iinsignificance next to problems like that. Sending virtual hugs.

@Alsoplayspiccolo has your DD looked into how they do assessment on her university courses? It can vary a lot between assignments and exams. DS1 was delighted to be all exams, his GF was just as relieved to be 90% assignments!

@Piggywaspushed the poor lad. That's a lot for your shoulders too.
I have nothing but admiration for teachers. Ds1 had an English teacher he didn't seem to get on with. But apart from that, our secondary teachers have always been great. It's a job I certainly couldn't do.

@alwaysplayedpiccolo have you asked for hourly rest breaks in exams?
DS now gets a 5 min. Break every hour & will be invigilated in a separate room which hopefully will reduce the amount of distracting stimuli. We didn't know we could ask for this until his friend told him. He had a 3 hour exam recently and even with the 25% extra time he didn't complete all the questions as he said his brain was fuzzy. I believe the 5 min. Break could have made all the difference. He said he can even go to the toilet during it

Oh piggy that is so hard. I really feel for you, it’s so hard to be in your situation at the moment

Well done for the offer @singingstones

DS came home from school very happy today. He said “guess what I got today” and I was hoping for a university offer (obvs we are still waiting on 4 unis) or his latest mini mock result from earlier this week. Nope, he got a chicken legend as McDonalds have finally brought them back in . I know he had missed them but I was hoping for something more significant

😂 @20newnames.

@Piggywaspushed I really am so sorry . But You really don’t have to feel responsible for everything, you know. These have been terrible times and you have been on the front line. And like many others, I’m sure you have given your all. I have nothing but praise for our college and it’s feeder high school. They got a terrified shut down school refuser,depressed,,self harming ,who trusted no one, and now we have someone who loves school, loves learning and loves life. That’s how much difference members of your profession can make.
So thank you for all you do. Please look after yourself very well tonight, and if you need more time, tell them you need the day off.

You are not a magnet Piggy. The toll of the last 2 years is not on you. I am so thankful that there are teachers like you that care so deeply, through good and bad days.

Oh @Piggywaspushed: that sounds so tough. It’s just such a hard time for our teens. As others have said I am so grateful to the amazing teachers both my kids have had who have really made a difference through their support, belief and encouragement. Your dedication shines through your posts and if you are seeing more of those kids who are struggling than others, it’s because of what you are able to give and bring to those kids.

Oh, thank you lovely people. I wasn't fishing for compliments but it's nice to feel loved!

@Piggywaspushed so sorry to hear - this is awful - such a lot to cope with.

Teachers are having a super tough time … I sent an email to DDs recovering teacher covid hospitalised in December last week. Just to offer support for a slow and steady return not rushed, told him the kids will manage and thank him for all the teaching in previous years plus asked him about favourite cake. DD thought I was bonkers but he was super touched and when he came back in on Monday the kids had got him pressie and he sent me a reply telling me about being unwell (clearly traumatised) but feels so guilty he’s letting the kids down and some parents had complained he wasn’t in ?!?! So I was even more glad I’d sent something. DD now says it was nice and has made him flapjack and brownies for tomorrow as he’s lost so much weight.

Tutoring - DD has a tutor for maths - zoom based as a friends son who’s a post doc researcher in a different part of the country. Started a year ago as she was struggling with this A level - still her weakest but confidence improved massively and improved at least one grade and almost 2

Piggy As an ex-teacher I am in awe of what you have all been through. I am so sorry to hear more bad news from you.

Don’t know if this will make you smile? Possibly wryly? Dd gave the local (blue) MP a hard time about several topics (!) including mental health support in schools, on the MPs annual school visit. Apparently the MP is aware that there is a wait list of several years for CAMHS but it’s ok because it’s the same everywhere not just in this constituency but he’s always available for a chat if needed. To which Dd accidentally and rather too loudly snorted. The MP avoided eye contact with her after that, which was difficult as the teacher had positioned the MP in front of her. Methinks the teacher knows her well! The ‘carefully-politically-neutral’ straight laced teacher saw her in the corridor later, quickly looked round to check no one was looking, and gave her a thumbs up and knowing nod behind the MP’s back as he showed him out. Dd had had a really bad week medically and the little bit of anarchy from the teacher made her day.

@Piggywaspushed So sorry to hear that. Hope he makes a good recovery.
@Zandathepanda Thank you for sharing that. Cheered me up no end!

Oh @Piggywaspushed that's so hard. Its the bloody pandemic and lockdown. Everyone is ignoring what it done to these kids mental health. Its awful, and it's not you.

@Alsoplayspiccolo Great about the Southampton offer. Congrats.

I think these kids are really suffering with lack of exam practice. DD and her friends are all getting the same feedback - its not knowledge, it's exam practice and they are all panicking. All the kids are in the same boat that way. DD is going to do exam practice at the table, with a timer. Hoping that gets her use to it.

So sorry you’re having to deal with all this piggy Must be horrendous poor guy.

We’ll done on the Southampton offer Also & so sorry to hear of the stress with the mocks. DS mocks not til end Feb & every time I look over his shoulder, he’s watching YouTube clips of F1 racing. There seems to be a lot of really great advice from people here. I’m going to look into those books myself.

@Piggywaspushed