Stressed out yr 12

[mrsrhodgilbert]

My dd1 is now half a term into AS levels. They have recently been given predicted grades and have had tests in all the subjects that they will be examined in in January. It seems that many of them have been really shocked by the low level of the predicted grades, kids who got B,A and A* grades at GCSE are being given predicted D&E grades and are doing very badly in the tests.

DD1 is becoming more disillusioned by the day and we have had a few tears. Some teachers have said they expect grades to be low at the moment and not to worry. There is obviously a step up in required effort at this stage but have others had experience of this? We have a parents evening in early December but thats a month away.

My other concern is that one of her teachers is leaving at Christmas to do something totally different and I think she has got de-mob happy. Her lessons are very poor and she is being quite unpleasant to the group. Should I speak to the 6th form management team or would that go down very badly?

My DS is at exactly the same stage. His marks are good although we don't have predicted grades yet. My reading of it is that there really is a significant academinc step up this term and if the students haven't understood how much harder they need to concentrate and work, then they may well have problems. Cetainly DS has said he can't ever stop concentrating on the lessons now as if he does he loses it! (This is for 3 sciences and maths)

Is your DD putting the work in do you think? Sorry - I don't mean to imply any criticism but for some students there could be a lesson here if they haven't adapted to the higher level standards and demands? If she's really working hard and still doing badly then yes I'd be concerned, and would want to speak to the teachers before December.

Has she chosen the right subjects?

I don't know about your other question.

We have just had mid-term "current grades" letters for a Year 12 and had the same issues. Many of the kids at the school are up in arms about it and have spoken to the head of Sixth Form, who has explained that the grades given are effectively meaningless as they have only done a tiny proportion of the course and haven't actually been formally assessed on their current abilities. Even those with all A's and A*'s have been given Cs and Ds, and parents are giving their kids merry hell with no justification. I feel like the best thing is to make an appointment to see the head of Sixth Form (or whoever is the relevant person) and talk through what these figures/grades mean.

Thank you for the prompt replies. She says she is following the lessons well and is getting good marks for all homework done. I would say it has done the job of giving her a bit of a kick up the backside, but that's no good if she now feels it's a hopeless situation. Some teachers have said the grades are computer generated and they themselves do not see how they fit with individual students, I do not know what they are based on. Her target grades for the snd of yr 12 are different again and much more in line with what we would expect. I think she has chosen the right subjects and is mostly enjoying them, just shocked by the grades.

I am still interested to know if anyone has any ideas about the teacher who is leaving, who does not give them enough teaching to make any worthwhile notes (History Queen Elizabeth 1).

If she has an awful weekend I will contact the school next week.

I'm in Year 12 at the moment too. I love it, but yeah it's quite stressful. =S
I wouldn't care about predicted grades myself. My school hasn't given them to us yet, but some of my friends from other schools have got them. They're unreliable because they're often based more on GCSEs and the ALIS test rather than what your teachers actually think you'll get. So someone with AAAACCCDDD at GCSE would probably get a low predicted grade for Maths, say, even though they got an A in it at GCSE!

As for getting low results in school tests, then that's expected. I haven't had any horrendous results this year or anything, but I certainly don't expect As in something like French where the learning is so progressive.
What subjects is she doing?

I would definitely speak to higher authority about the teacher that's leaving too. I would hate to have to face the departure of any of my teachers, however bad they are, since it'd probably adversely affect learning. She certainly doesn't sound like a great teacher.

Talk to the school about your concerns anyway, or get your daughter to. I'm sure it'll all be fine. =)

For some reason that I don't understand it seems to be a practice to give students a grade based on what they would get if they sat their exam in ( say Oct ) even tho at that time they've only completed a little of the course and would therefore get a low grade.
I think this is what DandyDan is describing .
Any teachers shed any light ?

I teach a lot of Year 12. A-levels are generally harder than GCSEs, students find it difficult to cope with the fact that they might get an A in a subject at GCSE but actually, get a C-grade at A-level - that is due to the step-up. Personally, I think the current system devalues A-levels - getting a grade C is actually a very difficult thing to achieve. I am an AST and have had to prove my teaching and my results (and generally get excellent results) but still it is common for an A GCSE student to get a B or even C at A-level. In addition, subjects like Maths completely change at A-level (personally I think maths A-level is completely mis-sold to a lot of students) and some students really struggle with this change.

One other thing, I always say to my students (because it is true) A-levels are the hardest exams you will (usually) ever do, they are stressful because of what happens at the end. The beginning of year 12 is particularly stressful, in my experience it calms after Christmas, only to ramp up again for the exams and then post-Christmas in Year 13.

I don't think that GCSE prepares you well for A-level. You can memorise your way through GCSE, A-level requires a deeper level of understanding and thinking skills.

If you consider that A-C grades are now spread from A-U grade in year 12. A lot of the C grade students will end up with U grades overall.

Your daughter won't really know how she's doing until her first module comes back in March. If she finds out what exam board she's following and finds past papers for it - even pre-2008 (they are out there) and she uses these to prepare herself then she'll be OK. Don't expect an A grade, but a B or C are achievable with extreme hard work and practice by B grade and above GCSE students.

My daughter is not an A student. She is doing English, Biology and History for which she got ABB at GCSE and the new one is Psychology. It is very worrying to hear that A students can only expect to get B or C at A level. What on earth happens to all the kids that got lower GCSE grades? Do they end up with any A levels that are useful. Her target grades are all B's, I hope that if she achieves that it will be enough to do something with. It sometimes seems from that only an A* is enough to get on a course.

There is a definite step up from GCSE to A level and DD2 (year 13) certainly found the first half term tough although by Christmas she had got up to the right standard and did get A's in the January modules as did her older sister.

I wouldn't necessarily agree that A* students can expect to get B or C at A level but rather that they need to work hard and engage with the material if they are going to get an A. Also sometimes it is students who don't do spectacularly at GCSE that make the step up better because they are now doing subjects that they really enjoy.

From my experience of sixth formers there are an awful lot of them that don't put in the amount of work needed to well and that is what limits them not just their GCSE results.

Brasso4, sorry to be thick , but why are A levels the hardest exams you'll ever do? Why harder than finals at uni? I'm asking because I'd like to tell ds that, but need to understand more.

I think that the pressures on students are greater at A-level, they have or feel that they have more to lose iyswim? I also think that the hormones that rush through students during the 6th form can make this period in their lives really tough. They are often studying 3 or 4 distinctly different subjects unlike most degree courses which might have a similar underlying core. Also most degree courses now have continuous assessment, so finals are only the previous semester's work, unlike A-levels, which in some cases (dependent on the school at the moment, although the gov might change) are an assessment of one or even two years work at the end of the year.

I must say, that I have seen a lot of students (more males?) who have improved from GCSE to A-level due to greater interest in courses and loss of coursework so it is not all negative.

I think that it needs to be appreciated that to get an A or A* at A-level is incredibly difficult compared to a similar grade at GCSE. But not impossible obviously .

I agree with Brasso4 that it can seem very pressurised - I think it will be quite difficult to keep DD2 on an even keel throughout next summers exams when (hopefully) a university place is at stake. An extra year reapplying seems devastating to them at this age (and it will be very expensive if they miss out this year). Hopefully she will do well in January and that will lift some of the worry.

A levels have always been high stakes though and when I have 'stress' dreams its always about taking my chemistry A level not my university finals!

Thanks, Brasso4 and Webwiz. Yes, I see what you mean.