GCSEs Summer 2020 (thread 4) -the final countdown

[PostNotInHaste]

Thread 3
Thread 2
Thread 1(year 10)

Hope OrangeCinnamon doesn’t mind me starting another in her absence , feel twitchy without ! Apologies in advance if I have messed the links up.

The last thread ended with discussion of possible school closures, not really what we want to hear at this point - let’s hope things sound more positive as thread progresses.

Skype oral exams will be too much a logistical nightmare surely at this late stage.

School closed, until after Easter, not sure if it will open again, child in tears, and Art exam next week, still doing coursework at home. I've never seen such dedication, and academic education hasn't been easy. These kids need to know what will happen, how can they prepare under these conditions.

Some lovely person posted a past contingency plan for other possible closures.
I can't find it and need it now.

I just came here to fret. DC have to take tablets & books into school tomorrow in case there are no teachers.
I have another DC doing A-levels.

My pension is destroyed.
Work is on verage of locking us out.
Sigh.

sansou most speaking exams are conducted by the teacher tbh. Only external centres will need an external examiner. The majority of students will be in school and their teacher will do it; even if the school is closed, I would think the teacher will be able to organise a day of exam sessions in April or early May.

DH has just had all work cancelled indefinitely, starting tomorrow - BoJo has completely screwed over the performing arts by advising the public not to attend concerts etc, but not stating that theatres and concert halls HAVE to shut, thereby ensuring that insurance companies don't have to pay out.
DH is a freelance performer, hence no idea whether he will be paid at all for the work he was contracted to do in the next 7 weeks. We have 2 mortgages to cover, 2 sets of a school fees and no wages coming in.

Both DC 's schools are staying open (presumably to justify the fees...). DD's drama teacher has told them they may have to film their set text piece this week, just in case.

Beside myself with worry Dd has had tight chest all weekend and today off school. She says her lungs feel like shrinking...is asthmatic heard her cough on three different occasions today but wouldnt say continual. No temperature. She so little and pale, I can see the anxiety in her face. Hope it doesnt extend to CV. DH reckons the anxiety of past few weeks has set her asthma off again.

School is closed to year 9s tomorrow as they dont have the staff. Uni is not closed and not even stopping face to face teaching at present. Its just all a big worry

I have Covid-19 - your dd’s symptoms sound very likely to be CV to me. Should speak to GP. Good luck - it must be so stressful for her. Mine are younger so not exam years yet.

Really @Fennelandlovage ? Oh gosh hope you ok .
I'll see what she like in the morning. Anxiously listening out from the bedroom, no wheezing or coughing atm

So sorry @Alsoplayspiccolo has he been employed at all over the last couple of years along with self employment? Maybe JSA can be applied for

I literally don't understand this whole 'repeat the year' thing. How can the year 11's and 13's repeat a year unless everyone else does as well? My DS is due to start secondary in Sept and I'm damned if he's staying at his shitty primary to repeat year 6 when he's more than ready for HS!

And what, nobody goes to uni next year? Nobody starts nursery or reception because nobody else can move up? There's just a gap of a whole year in the school system?? What happens? It makes no sense!

Reading the news this morning things have moved on at a pace and I think we have to accept we are in this for long haul and life as we know it has totally changed for the foreseeable future.

DS off for 2 weeks as we have been coughing but I think we’re at the point where schools will be closed pretty much anyway. There is about to be a profound change to our lives , it’s very scary and we are all going to have to do our utmost best to remain calm for them however we feel inside.

Emotional resilience and creativity are now the name of the game for the foreseeable future. Forums such as MN are going to be invaluable in getting us and them through this. The magnitude of what has happened is hard to take in at the moment.

Well said PostNotInHaste. Had a chat with my Yr11 DD last night, she is worried what will happen re GCSEs. It's the unknown. She is revising hard, got into the groove and is now wondering what will happen. Weirdly she said she would LOVE to repeat Yr 11. Said she would love another year of school, not having to think about Uni etc. She said she wouldn't bored of working on GCSEs for another year, I didn't realise she was worried about 6th form and Uni though so that was insightful. Personally I can't see repeating happening so have told her that at the moment no one knows what will happen but it will be the same for everyone so she just needs to carry on as best she can.
She would also rather stay home now and revise, says it's actually a waste of time being in school now as people and staff are off. But I can't lie for her so she will have to go in unless she (or any of us) are showing symptoms.

She is also very unset that all her social stuff she had been looking forward to has now been cancelled - DoE trial, club hockey matches, club hockey day, club end of season do, county hockey tournaments, and much more. It was a great release for her and I'm now worried that being on shut down won't be great for their mental health.

How do we as parents help with their mental health during this? It's been pointed out so many times that exercise and social activities are important whilst revising etc. I guess we need to start running in the park (3 of us, not large group) and try to find other ways to give DD an outlet.

I hadn't even thought of this before I started typing, it was all about GCSEs, but actually it's much more than that isn't it.

I am self isolating with a fever that won't shift.

No chance to speak to any DSs or DH, Mad times.

The whole of Year 11 seems to be struggling from what DS says. As well as normal exam stress, they are old enough to be fully aware of what is happening, are worried about grandparents and still don't know how it will affect their exams.

Just getting DS up and out to school and encouraging him to keep working is a real struggle and I totally agree with mental resilience being the hardest part now.

While they are still at school I'm reassured that they are at least walking during the day. DH and I (both now working at home) have said we need to plan in a daily walk (staying away from others) to keep our spirits up. We'll probably insist the children join us once schools shut. Although DD currently has an ankle injury (she has an orthopaedics appointment but not holding my breath for it to happen) so we may have to think of some sitting down things she can do.

Yes it’s about a lot more than that. I think routine, exercise and social activities will be important and that goes for us too. There might need to be some creativity on the all these things .

I also think sadly there will be a lot of people who will be struggling in various ways and it’s a good time for them to focus on helping the community . Boris said everyone will play a part and said something about 6th formers and the elderly. I’ve noticed they put things in quickly and in passing and they come back to them, that might well be one.

Fairly recently I did a short course in Horticultural Therapy and they were saying that the last 100 years has changed our lives dramatically but is tiny in evolutionary terms and our indoor life is incredibly far from how things were and we haven’t caught up yet. There is what they call a ‘nature disconnect’ and there’s a lot of research looking at the effects of nature of mental health. A lot of DC this age have no interest in gardening and obviously a lot don’t have access to one . The one thing we do have going for us is that it’s the start of the growing season.

I know people are already impacted financially by this and we will all need to find ways to help. Those of us who do have garden space should probably think about what veg can be grown to see if we can create a bit of a surplus to distribute later in the year. People can grow bits and pieces in balconies and also the kitchen window sill. DS hates gardening but when I got him to do a bit last year he was actually helpful and didn’t complain so I am going to frame it as doing something to help others which I hope means it gives a sense of purpose as well benefits of being out and surrounded by nature.

Our kids get a lot of flack and called snowflakes but I actually have a lot of faith in them to rise to the challenges that lie ahead. Sorry that’s so long, it’s a bit if a brain splurge on New World Day 1 or that is kind of what it feels like !

@RedskyAtnight

Had a long chat with DD last night - I really hope the uncertainty ends soon. She's working and doing revision but without any idea of whether she "needs" to be doing it or not. Her predicted grades are reasonably good (mainly 5s and 6s with a couple of 7s) so not a disaster if that's what the govt decides but she said she was hoping to do better in one or two subjects. And I wonder if there's also a feeling of letdown after all the build up to the exams - it's almost a rite of passage that they're being denied.

I do hope that a decision can be made sooner. It's terribly disheartening for them to be doing all this work but with no idea if they actually need to or not.

DC's school are using tutor time this week to talk about "things we can do (other than being on social media) if we have to self isolate".
Gardening came up and I did go and buy some veg seeds at the weekend thinking we'd plant some things just as something to do if nothing else.

In some ways our DC are better placed to deal with this than older people; they are used to leading a large part of their social lives in a virtual way, so they can still carry on doing that and will feel part of things. My in-laws are currently in lock down (have been for a week or so) as FiL has a suppressed immune system, and they have been warned against any outside contact at all. They are finding the lack of social interaction the hardest as they are used to friends popping by and chatting to people out and about. And they don't have an online social life in the way that young people do. We're phoning regularly but it's not really the same.

Sorry you are unwell Piggy

HPFA exactly - it's so hard for them to keep working when they don't know if it is pointless or not.

DS's last predicted grades in November were awful (half are fails) but he's been working consistently since then (after a huge "what's the point, I might as well give up" moment that I thought we wouldn't get past). Not helped by the fact that he has undiagnosed learning difficulties. If he's told he has to accept those predicted grades as his actual results (they haven't really done many tests since in a lot of subjects), it will frankly be a huge kick in the teeth and akin to telling him that knuckling down and working hard doesn't matter. I'm fairly sure if that happens he'll probably just give up, and certainly any idea of future study will go out the window.. And he's definitely not the only one in his friendship group who that applies to. So really hoping for not predicted grades - which I think are probably only relevant to the slow steady academic workers.

OrangeCinnamon, no, no employed work - he's worked freelance for the same orchestra for the last 20+ years.

Re your DD: I've just read a post from a respiratory specialist who is treating CV patients. They said that the pattern of illness is fever and dry cough, with shortness of breath coming on day 8 or 9, and it's at that point that it can deteriorate swiftly. Children seem to be unaffected. If your DD hasn't shown other signs previously, I'd guess her breathing issue is asthma/anxiety related.

The frustrating thing is I have no idea what I am unwell with. Got to treat it as if it is CV, of course , but it's not a classic case if it is.

DS had a music teacher about whom there was a big scandal, so her left so DS had not done anything he should have done. Lovely teacher after that but none of the practicals are done. Or his Spanish speaking.

Lord knows what will happen.

I had planned to race through stuff with my classes before Easter , suspecting a shut down imminently but now I am not there to do it .

And DH is one of the 12 week 'isolation' brigade. Apparently he plans to play golf...?

So sorry Piccolo, what a worrying time for you all. Boris trying to prop up insurance industry but I think that will have to change.

OrangeCinnamon I hope DD is ok.

Piggy DH a 12 week isolation too.

@RedskyAtnight I wonder if it's possible to effectively give them a choice - give them their predicted marks but with the choice of doing the exam if they prefer. That would mean a lot fewer exams being sat and less pressure on teacher/markers etc. I can see there'd be a few arguments between parents and kids - "I'm happy with a 6" - "But you might get a 7" - but it would give people options.

There is no perfect solution - whatever is done there'll be problems with it. But the uncertainty now is really stressful.

I hope Boris changes his stance on wfh/self isolation/businesses having to close etc.

DC had his MFL oral yesterday, it was moderated but by the head of languages. So I guess they will go ahead as planned. His worst piece in his mocks was the oral, so would rather they used his new mark.
I hope something happens soon as the uncertainty is really hard on them all.