Prompter for exams

[bkgirl]

The school has told me my son should be in a separate room and have a prompter for his gcse's. What does this mean?

The separate room means just that, a room with an invigilator. A prompter with keep reminding him to focus on the exam. It is useful for children who have ADHD or day dream.

A prompter is someone who sits with the student and encourages them to focus on the question paper when they become distracted or seem to be spending too long on one question, usually by tapping on the desk or similar, as a cue. It's usually suggested for students who have difficulty with attention and concentration, especially in time-limited situations.

Thank you, I think he will be mortified at being treated differently (he suffers extreme shyness) but it's kind of the school to offer it.

Do you know why the school have suggested this? Does he have SN?

Various children have special arrangements, he won't be the only one.
e.g. Extra time or laptop use.

At DD's school it just means the pupils go off to a meeting point at the appointed time (instead of going to hall), at which point they are told where to go. I don't think most pupils would notice who does this.

If he's shy it should maybe help as he won't be in a hall of 200 pupils to scared to raise his hand if his pen breaks or whatever. But presumably needing a prompter there is something else going on too.

I am glad DD will be in an access room, as it also keeps her away from the stressing each other out before exams and the post mortems afterwards.

One of my DC who is a day dreamer had a prompter for GCSEs. It meant that whenever it was noticed that he was starting to wander the prompter tapped the DS's table to refocus him. He found it useful. The main thing for your DS is that he achieves the best possible grades of his ability and it seems that his school are doing every thing they have available to them to help him do this. My DS was glad of it. There are so many kids with different exams concessions that he won't be under the spotlight, it is all very discreet in order not to disturb any of the other kids in the exam concession room. Have the learning support cordinator talk to him to reassure him so that he can be comfortable going into the exam.

Gosh - I wish my boy could have one of these through out the school day!