Ghost lessons / State Sixth form

[Littleham]

My dd described her 'Ghost lessons' to me, as follows....

1. Teacher doesn't turn up but it is scheduled lesson

2. Only one French teacher in the sixth form requires kids to be there & sets work. None of the other teachers bother to turn up - she doesn't do French.

3. The sixth formers are not required to be there, there is no set work, they are not required to do anything, but it fulfils the education requirement for 10 hours a week for a subject. (So 9 hours of teaching, plus one ghost lesson). So she spends Monday at home working by herself in her bedroom.

Her Monday A2 day consists of one lesson, plus one ghost lesson (where she is free to go home).

Please could I ask - is this replicated around the country & how can she possibly compete for a university place on this basis?

I expect its a timetabling oddity that she has ended up with only 1 lesson on a Monday. Might be her subject staff happen to work part time and lots are not in on Monday etc or just how it has fallen this year.

The ghost lessons sound to me like the school is trying to guide less studious students into putting the hours into subjects in their free periods rather than sitting in the common room etc. It's advise I gave my tutor group as they left Yr 11 last year to enable them to utilise thier free periods more effectively, they have come from totally controlled and then expected to manage time - something some people (myself inc) never get good at.

It might be worth your daughter asking the Head of Sixth form if staff are supposed to be there or not.

Her EPQ will soon start to fill her time exponentially based on my prior experience!

Thanks Noodledoodledoo (love the name!!)

She has the first EPQ lesson this week, so I've suggested she asks for a bit of guidance & fills some of the Monday up.

I think you might be right about the ghost lessons (I'll ask at parents evening why they are called this / have they resorted to employing ghosts? ) It doesn't seem to be working though, as none of the students stay. Luckily, my daughter is scarily super organised for a teenager.

Having said that, the EPQ teacher didn't turn up & she is back working at home again this afternoon. Grrr.