Is your school running GCSE revision sessions this holiday?

[TalkinPeace]

I just dropped DD off for her three lessons today and over half of year 11 were there for various subjects.

The teachers are giving up their holiday, the school is keeping the buildings open, the kids are going in.
Hopefully the grades will reflect that effort.

On my way home I passed the sink school.
No signs of life at all.
No evidence of pupils or teachers in the car park or the building.

Surely the failing school should make MORE of an effort?

I'm pretty sure that DD's school will be doing so. I know they are currently doing after school sessions. Their GCSE results shot up from 62% to 80% last year, they went up an ofsted rating from satisfactory to good in the autumn and they are now aiming for outstanding. Their league table standing jumped up to 4th in the county as well, so obviously they want to continue on the upward trend.

Oops - hit send! Still seething. There is a lot going on at my school but it is voluntary and certainly not expected. I'm only doing it because the practical exams for my subject are shortly after we go back and in an hour's lesson, I don't get time to spend with each group helping and/or watching their rehearsals. I agree with posters who say that it doesn't help to spoon feed, but unfortunately, it's become the norm. To the PP who said that she wasn't spoofed - neither was I, and I did very well at GCSE. We had study leave and were left to our own devices. However, that was (in my case anyway) before league tables. As long as schools are judged in the way they are currently, then no school is simply going to leave the kids to it and say "ah well, should have worked harder!" on results day. If the students in my class don't all make their 4 levels of progress (based on KS2 levels in subjects other than the one I teach) then I will have to explain exactly why. The pressure has moved off children and onto teachers and this is unacceptable. The consequence is stressed, burned out teachers who pass that stress onto children. The A/A* kids in my tutor group have already said that it's getting too much - they recognise that their teachers are stressed and were basically saying "stop taking it out on us!" Over the 17 years I've been teaching, I've seen the amount of responsibility a child is supposed to take for their own results get less and less, to the point that we now are supposed to teach "resilience" as if it's a new-tangled idea. It makes me

DD3 just put me right - she's going in for GCSE drama rehearsal tomorrow, no other revision sessions. DD2 is doing A2, so has a few more, but there's plenty going on at home too if the number of past papers, mind maps, revision guides and workbooks are anything to go by! I'll be so glad when it's the end of June again.

Yes, how can we teach resilience if we aren't allowed to let them fail?

It is noticeable that if a kid is not on course to get a C/meet their target, their teacher has to fill out endless requests for information on what the teacher is doing to get that kid to get the grade. Intervention lessons, after school sessions, mentors, lunchtime catch-up.

I don't think anyone actually asks the kid. It's all about how hard the teacher is working.

My DC's schools don't offer general sessions in the Easter holidays. And both still offer study leave next term.

They are independent schools (one selective, one mixed ability) and get fabulous results.

Though my DC are not in year 11, I know from those that are that the homework is pretty intensive during this holiday. One girl told me she had 20 past papers to do .

I think there are revision sessions next term (before and during study leave).

Interesting to read all these comments. Take a look also at the thread asking is it worth it to spend £800 on 2 holiday revision courses to get an A*
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/2042086-Is-it-worth-800-to-turn-an-expected-A-grade-into-a-A-at-Gcse

The teacher offering this clearly feels that it is not spoon feeding or discouraging independent study

I am full of admiration for the teachers who work so hard to help students improve their grades - especially those who want input or do not have a separate area away from family to sit and revise undisturbed. My DD's school is running some although she is not in Y11 yet.

That said, I do think much of GCSE sucess is down to technique and if teachers don't think they've covered enough of this is class, then revision sessions concentrating on technique are a good idea, no?

Ds's school runs revision sessions. Because we are slowly dragging our results up, and the the vast majority of our kids come from backgrounds where revision, homework, exams and in some cases, school at all are alien concepts. They make an enormous difference- and teachers are enthusiastic about running them.

I would be a bit hmm at a school with a different catchment needing to run them.........

I think that's fair martorana

TBH, I think your average kid woulld be better off revising in peace at home. You could get more done in the quiet of home in an hour, and three hours with all your mates .

But as you say, some DC won't have a decent place to do it, nor any idea how to tackle it.

The teacher offering that course is charging £800! I'd tell parents whatever they wanted to hear if I thought they'd part with £800 into my bank account!

A teacher who turns up and does their job, teaches lessons, marks and assesses etc etc, should not be accused of 'slacking off' because they don't offer extra sessions after school or in holiday time.

Since when was doing your job not enough? I have great admiration for teachers who do offer extra sessions and as a primary school teacher, have run booster groups and plenty of after school clubs. However, saying there is no expectation for staff to run extra sessions is laughable.

Teachers want the best for their students. Who's there making sure the teachers have a break?

You could get more done in the quiet of home in an hour, and three hours with all your mates

Quite the opposite - the sessions are structured teaching sessions, not an opportunity to fanny about with your mates for 3 hours. Once the sessions are finished the pupils go home and study on their own, consolidating what they've learned that day in addition to the work already done during term time.

You're right, SirC - not just providing a room. I've worked with the group who came in today. It was a pretty solid couple of hours.

Yes but sir revision is a very different beast to yet more teaching sessions.

At some point there is no replacement for students sitting down and learning stuff.

Be it vocabulary, a scientific definition, a set of historical dates, a quote from Shakespeare. At some point you have to commit it to memory and the best way to do that is to quietly read it, re read,, write it, re write it, say it aloud etc

Absolutely word - and that's why they can and should do both.

The pupils here sit 5 Highers each. DS has four masterclass days spread over the holidays, which leaves ample opportunity to sit down and learn stuff as you say, as well as benefiting tremendously from the additional classes which can help to fill in any knowledge gaps, give them an opportunity to ask any questions which they have as a result of their revision, remind them of effective study techniques etc. I know I certainly benefited from similar classes 30 years ago, and I'm delighted that the teens' High School also recognises their value.

These revision classes are similar to the tutoring mentality for exams. They will become the norm. That's fine for disadvantaged children but somehow I foresee that it will be middle class DC who attend them to improve their higher end grades. As I said they will expect the same for A level and then complain that they are not told exactly what to learn for exams at university.

What do you mean 'become the norm'? They've been the norm here for 30 years at least, and the pupils who attend them at my DCs school (which is a very socially diverse Scottish comp) are a mixed bag.

Threads like this make me so pleased dh works at & dd goes to a boarding school.

Easter is the one time we can go away on a family holiday

We don't run them except in practical subjects, and rarely they are run for a group that has got very behind for some reason.

The kids need a break and need a chance to revise. 30 kids siting in a room 'revising' doesn't work for the majority and in most subjects it is too late for controlled assessment to be done as the boards are beginning to request marks and samples.

Students have been on revision timetables since Christmas, with individual advice on techniques and lots of help and extra resources. All subjects have been running after-school sessions. I don't think it is fair that some people on here suggesting that only 'sink' schools don't put on extra sessions.

As a teacher I will be using most of Easter to plan personalised revision sessions for small groups (for after Easter) and get everything up to date ready for the new term

Oddly enough I've just logged onto Facebook & seem the following post from a friend.

Poor dh leaves the house every morning at 6.45 and gets home at 5 has tea, does some marking, reads with ds and puts him to bed then does more marking. Roll on Easter Holidays...no....wait he's going in to work during the holidays. What a load of rubbish

DD is year 10 so nothing for her but my friends' Year 11 children are going in which surprised me as I didn't realise schools did this. The School has just gone from Good to Indequate after Ofsted this year so maybe it's a new thing.

They lose more children to Grammars than the other local uppers because geographically they are between 4 (2 boy, 2 girls). Also have a higher than average intake of children with SEN as they have excellent pastoral care and all factors considered they have more borderline C/D grades.

Feel a bit sad now that the teachers may have been under pressure to do this however the Head is lovely so I suspect they aren't . They've picked themselves up after the Ofsted and the mood has been very positive about moving forward whilst having a long wait to hear about their Ofsted appeal.

Dh has been in two days marking this week (he has another two days to do). I am leading a 5 hour revision session this week and have done 5 hours marking today. I have about another 3 days marking to do.

Holiday???!!!

Of course the DC will find it useful and should be grateful to the teachers but does that mean that those DC who attend schools without revision classes then become at a disadvantage just like those who don't get tutored? Why is it different to extra tutoring except that it is from the already hard working school teachers?