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Secondary education

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Original poster

son had his mobile phone in GCSE biology

211 replies

Applecheeks · 05/06/2015 17:22

Three minutes before the end of my sons Biology paper today his mobile phone rang. It was in his pocket. He forgot he had it despite usual prompt at the beginning to hand any mobiles in. He didn't answer it, Invigilator took it off him. He was then interviewed after asked had he intended to cheat etc. My son is chaotic and disorganised. The school rang me to inform and explain that they would submit an incident report. My son is in pieces , angry at himself. I am hoping someone may have had experience. I have read the guidelines on the website of the exam board. This suggests he will receive a penalty of either a warning, lose of points on a unit or the paper, disqualification of this GCSE or ultimately of all he has taken under this board. That would be five GCSEs. I'm so angry with him but that's not helping so trying to stay calm. Clearly it's a breach of the rules but the website doesn't help me work out which penalty is likely as it is judged case by case

OP posts:
Bakeoffcake · 05/06/2015 23:05

Apple, you made all that clear at the start.

I think some people just chose to ignore it and want to stick the boot in. I'd hide the thread if I were you.

Floggingmolly · 05/06/2015 23:07

You did, Apple, I'm sorry. I hope he gets the best outcome possible Flowers

Womaninsack · 05/06/2015 23:09

I dont see how he coudl possibly have NOT known to hand his phone in? We take all phpnes as they walk through the door. It is simply not possible to " forget" and the exam board will know this and judge that keeping his phone with him and on was a deliberate act.

Bakeoffcake · 05/06/2015 23:09

Well I'd much rather my Dds went to a school where assault and theft were dealt with far more seriously and robustly than a student making a mistake with a mobile phone.

Womaninsack · 05/06/2015 23:11

Luckily mine go to a school that deals correctly with both.

ReallyTired · 05/06/2015 23:11

Apples,
Tell your son that you love him whatever happens. I hope he gets away with a warning, but it's not me, nor the school or any mumsnetters who make that decision. Potentially disqualification could happen, but you should cross that bridge when you come to it.

Womaninsack · 05/06/2015 23:12

You don't seem to understand - the school has no choice whatsoever in how to deal with a phone . That is down to the board. A school has the legal obligation to report only.

EvilTwins · 05/06/2015 23:13

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. I'd rather my kids went to a school which applied all rules consistently. Like most schools do.

Womaninsack · 05/06/2015 23:13

I'd be beyond furious if any of my children did this at 16. Not understanding, not excusing - fucking incandescent that they could be so fucking stupid.

BeaufortBelle · 05/06/2015 23:13

I think it's generally referred to boilleaux Wink.

I think it's a matter of perspective. How can teachers in state schools say theft if fine but come down like a ton of bricks on an innocent young person who stupidly leaves a phone in his pocket and there are no witnesses that he took it out and looked at it for the duration of the exam. If there are invigilators out there who wouldn't have known what he'd done then I'd say that was a pretty poor show and would have questioned what the invigilators were doing for the duration of the exam.

What's that ratio of invigilators in an exam nowadays. When I did it we always had two and three for more than 60 students because the ones we had were particularly sparky.

Womaninsack · 05/06/2015 23:16

Teachers in state schools say theft is fine

Dear god. You are bonkers.

notquitegrownup2 · 05/06/2015 23:17

I can see how he forgot. You only hand your phone in, if you know it is in your pocket. If you don't usually take it in and have done so as a one off, and have been revising for the morning, it's quite possible to forget that you have changed your routine, and therefore to watch others hand theirs in, without remembering that for this one exam, you have to do the same.

I am a secondary teacher and yes, I remind every student of these rules every time we prepare for exams, and I remind them why they need to triple check their pockets for every exam. I will remind all of my students again tomorrow, but I know that one day, someone chaotic will forget.

(Actually I got to the end of one of my own GCSEs a hundred years or so ago, reached into my pocket for a handky and felt a wad of revision notes, stuffed into my pocket that I had forgotten. I hadn't used them, had no intention of cheating and wasn't discovered - but even a well motivated, intelligent and scrupulously rigorous in following the rules person like me can have a lapse of memory.)

You sound like a lovely supportive mum. Hopefully your young man will learn from this mistake, be a little more sensible about listening to reminders in future, and go on to appreciate too, that you can make a genuine mistake, but recover and move forward.

Floggingmolly · 05/06/2015 23:18

The invigilators reporting the phone doesn't necessarily mean the school think theft is fine, Beaufort? Confused. Your kid's state school experiences sound horrendous, but are hardly representative of state schools in general.
Not in my experience anyway.

EvilTwins · 05/06/2015 23:18

beaufort it's not "teachers in state schools", though, is it. It's the teacher at the school your DD went to. Theft is taken seriously in the school where I teach, and all the schools I have taught in. We excluded two boys this year for theft of property. At the same time, we would follow the rules to the letter IF a child was breaking rules in an exam.

Invigilator ratio is not 1:30, no matter how "sparky" the kids are.

ealingwestmum · 05/06/2015 23:19

Yep. I am one of those people who says these things happen. There's a huge difference between malicious and scatty. Even at exam time. With notices everywhere. And the OP knows he's going to suffer, just doesn't know how yet. We adults don't even know how to turn off a mobile at a theatre yet, no matter how often we're asked.

Hope my daughter didn't think 'how inconsiderate, child next to me has just vommed all over the floor (and it's not getting mopped up very quickly) when she sat a recent music exam. And then sat next to it for 35 mins.

Fingers crossed his case is treated with leniency OP.

BeaufortBelle · 05/06/2015 23:20

Yep. At my daughter's state secondary, outstanding, that's precisely what the Head teacher said. "This is a comprehensive school, and theft is normal at the age of these girls, it always happens and there's no point worrying about it unduly". She said the same about assault, intimidation and pyromania.

Womaninsack · 05/06/2015 23:21

Then she was a shit head. Funnily enough, private schools have them too.

EvilTwins · 05/06/2015 23:21

That's one school. Not all state schools. Stop talking shit.

ErrolTheDragon · 05/06/2015 23:22

Of course it's possible to forget you've got a phone in your pocket if - as I think the OP said - you don't normally carry one.

Quite a lot of the sympathetic posts are from people whose own kids are currently doing GCSEs. If this happened in one of my DD's exams I'd still feel a lot sorrier for her schoolmate cocking up than for the momentary disturbance to my PFB.

Anyway OP I hope you find out soon what the sanction will be and that you DS is able to complete any other exams he may have. Maybe this painful lesson will sink in and stop him coming unstuck in some other way in future.

CamelHump · 05/06/2015 23:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BeaufortBelle · 05/06/2015 23:22

notquitegrownup2

A voice of reason. Thank you.

mumsneedwine · 05/06/2015 23:23

Apple, sleep well. I've just finished marking 122 papers for Monday and a bit tired. I've also ignored a message from the Beaufort - I'm not engaging in weird bullying. I hope your son gets a fair hearing and its a warning. Tell him it's done now and he needs to concentrate on rest of exams. Let us know what happens and if want any advice please let's know. X

Womaninsack · 05/06/2015 23:25

Let me tell you a story about our local private school, Beaufort. I'm a PhD Biologist . We visited the school and the heads' wife was teaching Biology. I looked through several of the children's books and they were simply wrong. Pages of stuff that was wrong. I asked her about where she'd graduated from etc. Turns out she had about 4 GcSE's.

We walked out .

Eldest DS just started at Balliol. From a state school, of course.

ReallyTired · 05/06/2015 23:25

The ratio of invigilators is one to 30 students in the rule book. Many schools have an extra invigilator in large exams to act as a runner/ take kids to toilet/ matron. Generally there is at least two invigilators at the school I am working at even if it's not strictly necessary.

The children at the state school I am working at have been as good as gold. Clearly they have been well trained. I just hope their good manners rub off on my year 8 son.

I managed to cut my hand nastily by moving a desk. I did not realise it was a folding desk and my hand got caught. I had to go to matron and get a plaster. I don't think I can criticise a student for being an idiot.

Bakeoffcake · 05/06/2015 23:25

"Weird bullying" You say you're a teacher? You don't seem to understand what bully actually is.

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