First term of yr12 over - working at grades / workload /much holiday work?

[circular]

Curious how its been for others with the 'big step up' from GCSE to to AS.

DD1 doesn't seem to have been getting much homework, possibly completing most of it in free periods. When I casually mention 'reading around a subject' she looks at me as though I'm from another planet, and says she is not interested in any of her subjects enough to do extra, apart from Music.

She would typically come home and say she got an D or U in (say) a Physics or French test, but then says half the class got a lower mark than her. This is at a school that gets around 60% A to B at A level., so selective 6th form. DD1 got 2A and 2A at GCSE in her AS subjects.

Had parents evening just after half term, and although then working well below ultimate targets, none of her teachers seemed unduly worried. No end of term report yet, but hearing subsequent test results, not expecting much change in grades.
DD1 Says she understands everything in lessons, teachers seem to agree, and think it is just more question practice that she needs. But unless work is actually set, she has no motivation to go and do any extra. She thinks past papers should be left till nearer exams, says text book is rubbish, and has found a few inaccuracies in study guides so pushed them aside too. Tried to get her to look at Khan academy site but not interested.

Does this seem normal, or should I be worried at this stage?
Anyone else seeing similar or are they all flying?

OUr school don't do it to be ruthless ( and indeed they do make exceptions for maybe 1 or 2 students a year who fight their case and convince the HT to let them repeat Y12)
But sitting A levels it is not like a fruit machine, where you might get lucky next time.You will only perform significantly better if something changes
There is no kindness in allowing a student to continue wasting their time on something they either haven't the ability, or the work ethic to pass.THey are better transferring onto a less academic course where they have an opportunity to do well.However grammar schools by their nature do not run these courses

I'm not aware of Dd1's school behaving like that. It's something that terrifies me though.

I know at DD's school, a few pupils have already dropped their 4th subject as they were struggling - a couple of these were doing maths. At least this way they may get 3 decent grades. 1 of DD's friends got a U in a recent physics test so will have to redo it - any one scoring less than a D in any of the tests has to retake. They are giving them as much help as possible with afterschool clubs in the subjects - normal state school.

"I'm not aware of Dd1's school behaving like that. It's something that terrifies me though."

Why does it terrify you? You said earlier that your dd is doing well.

Because I have learned through bitter experience that things can happen, in the blink of an eyelid, practically, that can have devastating consequences for people. I see incredible smugness and assumption that shit doesn't happen to the likes of 'me' in MN in general, but sadly I know from my own life and the lives of others that shit can happen, unimaginable shit, and if my Dd1s school suddenly became like those take no hostages schools described in the article linked to, and some shit happened to her, then what then? I once knew a girl with a glittering future ahead of her, amazing results, real talent, Cambridge....she got smashed up in a car crash and her whole life changed (although she didn't in fact have to leave Cambridge just repeat a year - but that, together with the physical and psychological effects of what had happened to her had far reaching (not good) consequences.) That girl was me. Shit can happen, shit does happen (at the worst possible times) and schools that don't make an allowance for that possibility are terrifying. Doing well in November, December of one year doesn't mean you can't have something bad happen to you in subsequent months. Only a fool or an incredibly lucky person would think so.

mumslife
It doesn't have to be a tragedy.
All of the following friends of DS have decided to do an extra year in order to achieve their ambitions. One more year that might make a difference to the rest of their life.

A very able child who gets caught up in extra curricular stuff, music, sport,drama and slacks off a bit.
Or a child who coasted through GCSEs getting A*s because they were bright but never actually had to work very hard and didn't twig that A levels are a bit different.
A child who has a desperate wish to be a vet and despite working her socks off gets Bs instead of As.

Luckily they don't go to a school where they would rather than allow your child to carry on and they would rather they transfer to something less academic (preferably at a different school).
It's easy to think it won't happen to your DC and you might think differently if your very able child slipped up in Y12.

I would have thought that 6th forms have their numbers sorted for yr12 (subject to GCSE results by April/May).

So unless there are circumstances where a current yr12 has already had to drop out or missed a huge chunk of the year, their would be little availability in numbers to repeat yr12.

Therefore surprised to hear it is possible to be allowed to repeat year 12 after getting B/C at AS, when needing A's. Surely too many would want to do this if they did'nt hit their Uni offer?
I understand the school may prefer to have this type of student than someone that missed 3D's, but it must be quite an undersubscribed 6th for m if there is much room for this.

Metebilis-I don't think for a moment that a school would ask somebody in the circumstances you describe to leave. I think it's really sad that you are worrying so much when your dd is performing so well. I suspect there is always more behind these stories- I just don't think less than stellar AS levels alone would get you kicked out. My dd's school is very high performing, for example, and a couple of kids have left after year 12. But the was a lot more to it than poor AS levels. And lots of them got Cs and Ds at AS and are still there, on track for good A levels. Don't let scare stories in papers like the Torygraph upset you. And please don't think your did is not doing well with her As and Bs in year 12. She is doing brilliantly.

Curlew - she's in Y11, they do a 3 year 6th form at her school so it may be that the marks she is getting now aren't as truly reflective as the marks that the Y12 kids are getting, IYSWIM.

As I said, I do not believe her school is cut throat like the ones in the stories we see in the papers or hear about in various thread on MN - and her school is certainly one of the higher achieving grammars - but I can't help being concerned, since she has SEN and general health issues which make things much more difficult for her than they might otherwise be - and I guess I'm always looking out for that random life shattering thing to come round the corner (much like the car on the wrong side of the road that smashed into ours) and mess things up. The stories linked to upthread probably worried me more than they should have, I realise that.

But you said she is getting As and Bs and the occasional A*- what on earth are you expecting her to get?

No I said she was getting Bs apart from two tests where she got As. And I do wonder if her marks are really comparable to marks received from other schools relevant to this thread since, as I said, they have a 3 year 6th form. To expand - while the school has made it clear it marks tests etc against proper A level criteria from the outset, given that there is more time available for the kids at DD1's school - a whole extra year - it isn't unreasonable to wonder if they aren't packing in less 'stuff' in the first term tests. Although, given the large number of subjects they take and the EPQ thing they have to do maybe they do have to move at lightening pace too. But anyway, my concerns as expressed in this thread aren't about the grades she got in the kast few months. Which are history and irrelevant. They are about the phenomenon of cut throat, devil take the hindmost one slip and phfft yer dead attitudes in schools, which didnt seem to be a thing a few years ago but are now. My concern is that if all schools (or, you know, just her school) become as ruthless as the ones in the linked articles and something happens to throw a spanner in the works (which I feel might be more likely for my Dd than for some other people with fewer inherent challenges in their lives) then it might be disaster time. I thought I made that clear. Perhaps I have lost my ability to write. That would be peachy given the amount of stuff I need to write in the next few days (for work) but would be another example of shit happening. With inevitable negative consequences.

However it seems that my input in this thread is unwelcome so I'll refugee somewhere else and perhaps you could just leave me alone now? Because hounding me whenever I join a thread is just nasty. Thanks.

"However it seems that my input in this thread is unwelcome so I'll refugee somewhere else and perhaps you could just leave me alone now? Because hounding me whenever I join a thread is just nasty. Thanks."

Excuse me? I was trying to be helpful! What on earth do you mean by hounding you? I haven't! And I don't think I have been nasty....

There is no need for infighting ladies. This thread was to support op and her DD and has hopefully given us all some support. It is not an AIBU thread. We are all learning for the 1st year of AS levels and the huge jump from gcses.
A lot of pupils leave DD's school after AS levels because they have not obtained 3 Ds. Some start the year again but usually at a new 6th form.

Interesting that they do a 3 year 6th form Metebelis. So are all gcses done in year 10 and does that mean they spend 2 years on AS? That would soften the impact of the 'jump' from gcse. I presume it also means you don't really get any newcomers in the 6th form?

I love the idea of a 3 year 6th. There are so many opportunities for them at this age, and 2 years just doesn't give them much time.

Metebelis3 Of course you are welcome on the thread, as is everyone else who has input. If you are not going to post again, I hope you are still reading. I was also going to ask how the 3yr 6th form works with regards to the 4AS your DD has started. If the exams for those are taken in June 2014, they would have to be as far through the courses as us year 12s (and marking in the same way) else they would not get through the syllabus.
Understand fully about worrying what is round the corner. As a family, we have also had many bad things happen, to the extent that when things are going well, almost waiting for it all to fall apart again. Its like always wanting to be a step ahead and prepared for anything before it comes and bites you in the bum. My DH used to be even worse than me with that mindset, to the extent that he had a breakdown, and is still taking the meds more than 12 years on. He is now very blasé about anything to do with the family that isn't a health issue, and thinks DD1 should be left to her own devices as far as education is concerned.

As well as starting the thread for support for my own DD1, I did want to hear how others were finding the leap. both the positives and the negatives, and how the school deals with it.

It is sad that some schools are becoming as cutthroat as some City institutions. I don't think DDs school is quite that bad, she knows a few repeating yr12 but not their circumstances. They have to have a D in a subject to continue that subject, but it does not say 3 subjects (although may still mean that). There are still routes that can be taken with 2 A levels, so I wonder how that leaves a DC who has accepted after AS that they would rather take a different route than repeat the year.

At DD1s school the head of 6th form called in quite a few yr12s at the end of term that they felt were under performing. They have all been told they must attend extra study sessions 2 or 3 nights after school. DD was pleased NOT to have been called in, but I had mixed feelings as sometimes better to be on the radar early.
They have extra French and Physics available during the school week, but DD unable to attend either as they clash with other things (one a timetabled lesson and one a compulsory activity).

Maths is s-l-o-w-l-y improving here. I actually marked that last paper wrong which didn't go down too well. Think I've scared her into realising how easy it is to forget the stuff previously taken for granted if you don't keep practising. And how if only a couple of hours revision has gained 6 extra marks, and there are 7 marks between reach grade, think how easy it should be to get herself back up to at least a B before she returns to school lol.
Guess should be counting blessings that she does understand the work, so it really is just revision and practise and keeping it going.

Circular - interesting point about the 2 A levels. DD's school haven't stated 3 - I was just assuming (and probably wrongly now I think about it). They do say 'D's to carry on. If they drop down to 2, I would think they would have to do something else (maybe another AS) as they still need to be full-time I think for the school to get funding?
I can understand your DH's attitude given the circumstances, but like you I do think we can give extra support (and a bit of a push in the right direction) to help our DCs. MY DH takes a back seat with the education apart from if he is doing practical things (taking things apart etc) he will try and get them involved.

DH won't get involved in anything that he thinks to be pushing or interfering. leaves the parents evenings to me too.
But he is a real gem with the general knowledge and museum visit type stuff. Taught them cooking skills too (bit of a role reversal here). And always interested in their music

Re the dropping down to 2 A levels, could be a possibility for DD if she was certain of going the Conservatoire rather than Uni route. But thinking its very insular, and doubtful her music is good enough anyway.
Sure some of the lower end Unis that are on points allow 2 A2 and 2 AS, or GS/CT which may be an enforced extra option if they drop down. But sincerely hoping it won't come to that.

DD1 is now ready to go back to school - she is getting bored (and irritable) now! Doing some chemistry and maths today (has chemistry test on Monday - 1st lesson back). She is off to the cinema later and we have a family day out tomorrow as both DH and I have the day off together which is quite rare!
I'm working from home today so shouldn't be on mumsnet .......off I toddle :)