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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Is cancelling study leave the done thing now?

52 replies

ShinyShinyShiny · 06/05/2016 16:55

DSS has just come home with a letter telling parents that study leave has been cancelled and that students have to attend their usual lessons around their exams but they will be used as revision sessions.

Poor DSS is quite worried about this as his most effective revision is done in his own surroundings and in total silence rather than in the classroom environment. He is also worried about the lack of down time between exams and that jumping straight from a maths exam into an English revision session isn't ideal, which I agree with.

His school had a below par set of GCSE results last year which is why I think they are keeping his year group on a tighter leash. Apparently DSS's form tutor told them it's because the government won't let children leave school before 18 so they can't revise at home but there's a chance that might have been lost in translation.

Is this the norm now? Or are most GCSE students still finishing for study leave at half term?

OP posts:

littledrummergirl · 06/05/2016 22:59

Ds1 is on study leave at the moment. If you feel he needs some time at home to revise call him in sick for a few days

BackforGood · 06/05/2016 23:42

I suggest that the dc of MNers are the exception rather than the rule. the vast majority of teens who don't have to be in school will have a lie in, then be faffing about on social media for much of the day.
I know I'm going to be shot down by the next few posts, and I acknowledge there will be individuals for whom being at home from the Easter break might work, but they will definitely be in the minority nationally, if not on MN.

MsMermaid · 07/05/2016 06:19

My DD would definitely be having lie ins and watching YouTube etc rather than revising if she was on study leave. And she's a teen who takes her exams seriously and claims she does better revision at home. She is doing better, more focused revision at school, even though she thinks she isn't.

I also have a y11 form. Out of 30 pupils in my form there is only 1 that I think would genuinely do more/better revision at home. The other 29 are much better off being at school, even just because the teachers are providing past papers or going through topics that the class request.

cricketballs · 07/05/2016 06:24

With the issue you raised about a revision session straight after an exam

Unfortunately the exam timetable is packed tight with few slots available for revision therefore this is the only solution

wannabestressfree · 07/05/2016 06:38

English has already taken place. There is a gap now and in my English lessons we have allowed some to go to intervention for maths to push grades and I have taught RE as there are two exams.
Those really lazy/ badly behaved have reduced timetables or vote with their feet. We find that the studious stay in school.

timelytess · 07/05/2016 06:44

He can talk to his teachers about the revision he wants to do, take in his ear-plugs and revise by himself, in class. Or as someone has said, in a quiet office.

I taught in a school where study leave was phased out years ago. Downtime was planned after each exam, before the next revision session. A new timetable came into play where pupils only went to sessions for the exams they were taking. Staff were understanding about pupils with particular needs. You might even find, if you talk to the head of year or tutor, that your DS is quietly excused from attending school at this time, if everyone is sure that will work best for him.

HSMMaCM · 07/05/2016 07:09

DD was allowed to wear headphones while revising by herself in a lesson, but they did have some excellent revision sessions. The maths teacher walked around the school with them identifying maths problems as they went. The French teacher invited some French students in for afternoon tea. It was the little things that helped lower stress.

Unfortunately most of them will revise better in school. He could ask if he could spend some time in the library?

RalphSteadmansEye · 07/05/2016 07:24

The headphones thing is great - for those who like music. Totally unhelpful for those who need silence.

Hassled · 07/05/2016 07:28

We still have study leave here and I wish we didn't - I know some 16/17/18 year olds have the self-discipline to study on their own and ignore the distractions of the internet etc, but mine really don't. I knew things were bad when DS3 arrived to work at the kitchen table for the first time in years because he didn't trust himself not to prat about online if he stayed in his room. It would have been much easier in a school environment, I think.

Original poster

ShinyShinyShiny · 07/05/2016 08:13

Good points from everyone, thank you.

Looking at the timetable it appears that the revision sessions aren't being taught by the subject teachers. For example, their English revision session is being held by their RE teacher. It's very strange.

DSS is going to talk to his tutor on Monday and see if there's a compromise. His exams don't start for another week so he still has regular lessons for another 5 days.

OP posts:

cricketballs · 07/05/2016 08:23

Are the sessions being run by teachers who are also examiners? For example I often get called in to other subjects to advice re general aspects i.e issues relating to scripts being scanned in (make sure it is very obvious that the answer continues on another page!)

Original poster

ShinyShinyShiny · 07/05/2016 09:16

From what DSS says they are the teachers who would usually be teaching him at that day/time, so pretty much his normal timetable in terms of which classroom and teacher but revision of the subject of the next exam.

OP posts:

noblegiraffe · 07/05/2016 10:33

Unless they end up swapping classes so the RE teacher covers the English teacher's lesson so they can run the revision session, it sounds more like supervised study than specific revision.

SteamPunkGoth · 07/05/2016 10:38

I'm quite fed up about it to be honest.
But it seems the norm this year. My daughter has to stay at school as do they year 11's at my school.
I can't see how it will work though. They're going to run out of lessons and revision towards the end.
I am bias though as my daughter happily revises at home.
I shall be glad of enforced school studying for my son though!

Bluelilies · 07/05/2016 11:16

DS is off from when most of the exams start (ie a week from now). But there are extra study sessions at various times with a new timetable focused around revising for the next exam. These are optional but DS plans to attend most as he's a bit daunted by the prospect of whole days to study alone. DSD (same age, different school) also has study leave from next week but isn't expected in school except for the exams. Tbh I think she'd be better off with the approach of DS's school as she faffs around and doesn't revise well on her own. Her older sister did very well under that system though, so suits some kids and not others.

I wouldn't rule out the odd day's sick leave for your DS if he's finding it all too stressful and does revise well alone.

noblegiraffe · 07/05/2016 11:19

Kids from my Y11 top set last year certainly had a few sick days with no one batting an eyelid. Some didn't turn up for the scheduled revision sessions and I don't think this was followed up as they were very bright kids.

catslife · 07/05/2016 11:35

My dd is in Y11 they deal with study leave on a one-to-one basis and pupils have to earn it by proving that they can revise independently to tutors and parents.
The school are organising some revision classes / supervised revision sessions and for some pupils these are compulsory, it isn't the same for every pupil in the year group.

TheSecondOfHerName · 07/05/2016 12:01

DS1 (Y11) started study leave on 3rd May. His first exam was on 4th May. Optional revision sessions are offered by the school every day until half-term, but he has tried some and not found them that useful. At home, he gets more work done and stays calmer.

booklooker · 07/05/2016 13:10

International school here, students started their IGCSE's end of April!

We will be calling them in again for a couple of weeks after exams have finished to give them some prep for the next stage in their education.

HSMMaCM · 07/05/2016 13:51

When I mentioned headphones, you can just use them to block out noise, not necessarily to play music. Doesn't help the disturbance from movement in your peripheral vision, but might help?

I'm a complete silence in an empty room person, but DD would rather have music and company. Schools have to go for the best result for the majority I suppose.

Witchend · 07/05/2016 22:55

At dd's school last year there were some issues and study leave was banned for that year. They got record breaking results, having expected to be quite poor. They haven't said anything yet for the current year 11s, but I'm expecting them to say no or little study leave as last year did seem to show it produced better results.

Challengetoimprove · 12/05/2016 14:14

At our school study leave has recently been cancelled, both before the exams start and during the exams. The students are all very upset and stressed. 150+ started a petition, which the school said they would listen to. They haven't. They have agreed to study leave criteria which can't be met - it's just politics really.

As I see it, there are 2 main problems if study leave is withdrawn: 1) revision classes are noisy and disruptive, there is insufficient access to the IT revision sites, they can't do past papers or concentrate with 30+ pupils all doing different work and chatting.
2)during the actual exams students will already be tired if they have to be in school from 8am for a 2pm exam - and will therefore not perform at their best. Equally if they have to stay after an exam this limits the revision time for the exam the following day.
I understand that for the less well motivated students, forced revision may be appropriate, and for those who are borderline Cs, it may improve the grades. However for the aspiring As and strongly motivated students this one size fits all approach just doesn't work. The school metric is on grades A*-C, so if a student slips from a predicted A to a B - the school will still consider that a good result. Not for the student whose entry to 6th form and university entrance will depend on good GCSE grades (since AS levels have been abolished).

OhYouBadBadKitten · 12/05/2016 15:50

As I've said before, dds school don't start study leave til after half term and even then they are running revision sessions. She is an able student and I'm happy with this approach because I trust her school to be able to run effective revision sessions during lesson time. So I think it comes down to how capable the school is of maintaining discipline.

Noodledoodledoo · 13/05/2016 14:48

This is our 5th year of not having study leave. All our Yr 11's are given a new timetable each week which gives them when there exams are, and specific revision sessions with lessons switched around to suit so for example an English revision session the same morning or afternoon before their exam. Its a huge work load but for 80-90% of the students its also a huge benefit.

We also have very strict management of poor behaviour and SLT will remove anyone causing problems and they are put into a study room supervised by senior staff.

Floralnomad · 13/05/2016 14:56

At the grammar school my DS teaches at the year 11s went on study leave last Friday .

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