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Secondary education

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

end of year exams yr7

7 replies

Storminateacup74 · 09/07/2018 20:01

My DD is in year 7 and isn't particularly academic but tries really hard. She is currently in set 3 out of 4 and has revised so hard for her end of year exams but hasn't done very well at all. Her way of dealing with the feeling of failure is too blame me for being cross. She knows I am not cross at all far from it. I know she has tried her best but she is so angry because she is such a hard worker and she is desperate to move up a set as her set is full of kids that don't want to work. Her school is quite academic and has a great reputation but the pressure is really getting to her. I am debating whether to move her to the other school which is less academic but has terrible results and huge behaviour problems but is very nurturing and steady for the less academic kids. She doesn't perform very well in exams as she was way below in her SATS scores too but at classroom working she was at expected level. Really don't know where to go as she just wants to do her best and work hard but is never going to get high scores.

OP posts:
TeenTimesTwo · 09/07/2018 20:15

My DD is like this too.

It's a bit depressing when they are in a lower set but they are given the same exam as the top set, because even if they do really well (for them and their set) they might still only get 50%.

The one thing I have found that does help is making sure I get to see the exams so I can help with revision and test technique for future. So e.g. I know for DD2 this summer I have to work on reading from graphs correctly, and writing point-evidence-explain in separate sentences.

Is it a selective school? If so she could be doing better than she thinks. Otherwise, I would look at the progress 8 for average/lower attainers in both schools.

noblegiraffe · 09/07/2018 20:48

If she is desperate to move up a set because her set is full of kids who don’t want to work, then how will moving to a school with massive behaviour problems and poor results help? It sounds like it will be full of the type of student she’s currently trying to get away from?

BrownTurkey · 09/07/2018 20:55

What do you think the reason is that she’s not particularly academic? I know we can’t all be top graders, but if she is putting in effort and not progressing, could there be an issue such as slow processing or similar. I think I would look into an educational assessment or tutor if you can afford. The tutor so you get a 1:1 opinion on how she learns. Hopefully you have a great school, but due to the changes in how ed psych is provided, I am afraid it is my experience that more children even with global difficulties (learning disability) are sitting quietly and getting lost in the system, so don’t wait for someone else to pick up an issue.

Storminateacup74 · 09/07/2018 23:04

noblegiraffe - interesting question?. The other school don't put such an onus on results, it is much more creative with lots of opportunities to study less academic subjects at GCSE but is very lax on behaviour and dress code, so parents who are lower achievers with little or no ambition choose this school so there is nothing to aspire to whereas her current school is so results driven it is all about achieving high grades. Both schools are so different and in year 7 and 8 there are always so many children moving from one school to the other.

OP posts:
maz99 · 09/07/2018 23:07

Can you afford a tutor? The way you’ve described your DD, it sounds like she wants to do well. So maybe a tutor might help her improve.

TheHumanMothboy · 09/07/2018 23:12

Are they independent schools? I'm surprised to hear of a school that puts no onus on results.

TeenTimesTwo · 10/07/2018 10:43

I agree with noble . If your DD is getting fed up with poor behaviour then moving to a school with a reputation for low achievement and behaviour doesn't sound like it will solve the problem.

I would be considering flagging up the behaviour within the current school. Even if mildly, and see what the response is. I'm surprised that set 3/4 is 'full' of children who don't want to work. Could it be an exaggeration? What sort of behaviour are we talking? Can she 'rise above it' or does it seriously disrupt lessons?

Also, where is the pressure coming from? Is it really the school, or is it internal to your DD? Can you continue to remove pressure - eg emphasise that if she is trying hard that is all you can ask for, that in life there are always people better (and worse) so you shouldn't measure against them, just do the best you can?

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