No A-level study leave

[Linneasweet]

Hi all, my year 13 DD told me that all she does in school now up to her first A-level on 23/5 is revising as a class in the classroom. They been told that they have to come to school, even though my DD revise much better her own way at home and rather spend her days studying at home then in a class. One teacher have told them the school does not encourage it but she could stay home and revise her own way at home but it would classed as sickness absence. My question is: does unis look at the absence she had (she firmed her choices already) and would this affect her conditional place? And is this the normal, what does other 6forms do?

Unis have no access to attendance data. Are you sure there ate no useful revision sessions though? Dd was still being taught odd bits of syllabus and technique at this stage.

Schools must record study leave as authorised absence. However the government says it must be used sparingly. I don’t see a month as sparingly. I think this is the issue. I would negotiate with the school and read up on the government guidance. However a few days seems more likely then a few weeks.

DS is in year 13 - they are in school as normal until 20th May. Then there will be lessons the next week but they are optional. After half term will be study leave.

No idea what’s happening for DD in year 11 - her exams start 16th May and we haven’t been told about study leave/lessons at all

My DD starts study leave on 19/5 with first A level on 24/5. They are also revising in all their classes now, with useful sessions on exam technique etc rather than straight subject matter.

My daughter is not getting study leave either, free lessons they have to sit in the common room, they have a desk each, but she hates it, revises so much better at home.
also no extra classes during half term, but there was for year 12

In a situation where a DC works better from home I would encourage them to work from home and tell the school to push off. I would do that for a GCSE DC as well as a Y13 DC. It's nonsense to insist on attendance except as an option or possibly, at GCSE, for known idlers who need some sort of structure imposed.

Are you sure all the teachers have finished all the teaching? With knock on effects of Covid, a lot of teachers are up against it and still teaching content.

Piggywaspushed yes, they definitely have. They started the revision in school last Thursday for all her subjects.

The school my ds attends no longer has study leave either. There used to be several weeks of study leave when his older brothers were there, years ago, but I think the school caught on to the fact that maybe the studying, in some cases, wasn’t as focussed as they hoped!

That’s what I’m doing tomorrow, she has 1 lesson, which is work on teams, plus a 45 min drive each way. Will call school and be honest

I'm glad that more schools are abandoning so-called study leave. It does not benefit any except arguably perhaps a small minority of already high-achieving pupils.

Same for my son, he said because of all the absence with covid. My son has his first A level exam on Thursday

oviraptor21 it also benefits DC living in rural areas who have very long distances to travel. Not all DC live slap bang by their school.

DS in year 23 is off on study leave from 20/05 but I know alot of other local colleges aren't giving study leave and citing COVID closures as a reason.

Dd would not have got study leave had her A levels not been cancelled in 2020.

Ds on the other hand is doing a Btec and there is a lot of self study

oviraptor21 · 25/04/2022 23:30
I'm glad that more schools are abandoning so-called study leave. It does not benefit any except arguably perhaps a small minority of already high-achieving pupils.”

this ^

I think there are some kids who revise more effectively on their own, and some who don't. I don't think it's necessarily easy to identify which are which. My DD is very able, and I suspect an in-school revision lesson might have less of relevance for improving her grade than an hour at home focussed on the particular things she needs to work on. However I know (although her teachers don't) that she is pretty rubbish at getting down to the revision at home, so she's probably better with the 10 minutes of useful content than an hour at home. Best for her might be an hour's supervised but not individual revision at school.

I can see some sense in not giving study leave, but turning a blind eye where a particular student will work better at home (and probably also where other students will work better for not having a disruptive pupil in the class). I wonder how many teachers are flexible about whether the class all do the same revision activity.

DD has already negotiated with the teacher of her best subject to work on her worst subject in those lessons, which is a very positive thing. I think she's also not averse to saying to a teacher "I'm already sure of this topic - can I work on something else?", and from what I know of her teachers, I think most would be okay about that.

Are they not even getting study leave once the exams actually start?

My DS is in school until the 20th May, and is revising in most lessons now (a couple of bits of syllabus still being completed) but there is generally a structured plan for the revision lessons and the teachers are focusing on things they think will come up in the exam/advanced information. I think that it's useful for even a student that works well independently as it's likely to cover different things/in a different way to what they might do on their own. I would encourage her to go in. If nothing else, it will break up the days.

No study leave here until 10 June. Last exam 24 June, first is 25 May.

Schools are very much being encouraged not to be quite so "generous" with study leave. I'm not sure what the situation is for A level, we don't have a sixth form, but the vast majority of students will do more useful revision in guided sessions in school. Schools have been to keen to leave children to their own devices in the past and this has now been recognised

@WoodenClock
The Government's view is what I stated earlier. Study Leave is authorised absence but it’s to be used sparingly. Of course where all parents in super selective grammar schools are happy with home revision, the school will do what it wants. Lucky teachers!

Where DC benefit from a more structured approach, the school will take a view on what they think is best for DC. If they think too many DC will be roaming the streets, I have no doubt they will want DC in school.

My son started after easter hol on Thu, and had a gcse exam on Friday. He has 2 tests tomorrow. He also got 4 homeworks due tomorrow.
He has no study leave as he is already doing gcses and has classes in parallel.
Also they managed to fuck up the exam timetable. It's a 10 week period and yet he has a day where:

• ancient history 40 mark big essay


• history same


• math non calc


• english essay (i think unseen poetry, not sure)

Who the hell thinks this is normal???
add the fact that most kids nowadays don't write by hand and all this has to be done in handwriting. Surely in 10 weeks they could have organized it better.
And the fact that we have to wait 4 months to get the results is astonishingly bad organization.

and btw, sorry to be off topic. This is a thread about schools in a way and it just came out. All my life I wanted to be a teacher. We moved countries so that our kid could go to a "normal" school system. I still respect most teachers, but this system is hell. Especially private school where the marketing bs is flowing freely but in reality all they are striving for and pushing the kids to ridiculous lenghts is to save their seats in the league table top part. By now it has very little to do with the kids, but all about the school.

TizerorFizz our superselective grammar took the view that given a catchment area of fifty miles, the vast majority of students would be most productive at home, rather than traipsing in sometimes for many miles on hot buses. They always issued a number of 'leave not granted' notices for students who they suspected would mess up if left to their own devices. There's a strong argument for taking a grey approach rather than a black and white one. When there was a suggestion that my youngest's DC cohort wouldn't be given study leave the variation between teacher attitudes was marked. Many felt it was very unfair on the conscientious students and not in their best interests. DD4 and I agreed that she would stay at home come whatever decision was reached by the school, as that was the way she would do best. In the event school was cancelled (2020) so the issue never arose. No reason why all students have to flog into school if that's not the best thing for the individual.

TheSunIsStillShining surely that's just the exigencies of the exam board timetables? Not the school's fault really. Often particular days are heavy. Also not the school's fault that Easter was so late this year.