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Secondary education

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Original poster

dd given a past paper to do at home under exam conditions - what would you do?

134 replies

LetterOfTheLawFella · 23/01/2021 20:53

dd was meant to be taking her gcses this year but obviously things have changed. She's been struggling with French and got a 3 in the mini mock she did before Christmas. This was the higher level. We talked about maybe doing the foundation paper instead and it looks like her teacher is thinking the same as he's sent an email asking parents to supervise her doing a foundation level past paper under exam conditions. 45 minutes and no external support. He's confirmed this will be used as part of the teacher assessment.

Would you help your child in this situation?

OP posts:
StepOutOfLine · 23/01/2021 20:54

No. Of course not. What purpose would that serve and what message are you giving her?

Brakebackcyclebot · 23/01/2021 20:54

No! I would do exactly as asked.

amy85 · 23/01/2021 20:55

I would do what's been asked and get her to complete it under exam conditions

GrammarHopeful · 23/01/2021 20:55

Clearly not.

Lovemusic33 · 23/01/2021 20:56

I would do as the teacher said. Dd2 has a maths paper last week to do and I didn’t help her.

bourbonne · 23/01/2021 20:58

Is this a serious question? What do you mean by "help"?

thewinkingprawn · 23/01/2021 20:58

Yes I would help. As I imagine many parents do (although probably won’t admit it here 😀). Same as all the help that goes in behind the scenes with coursework.

MsJaneAusten · 23/01/2021 20:59

By ‘help’ you mean ‘encourage’, set her up in a quiet space, take away screens and distractions, right? Right?!

Because anything else would be cheating not helping

tenlittlecygnets · 23/01/2021 20:59

No!!

But I would support her to revise, test her beforehand, help her in other ways.

Don't cheat. You will be cheating your dd and all her peers who are not cheating 🙄🙄

Sexnotgender · 23/01/2021 21:01

I’d help her by setting up a nice quiet space and supervise her.

Would I help her cheat? No.

Ohalrightthen · 23/01/2021 21:01

@thewinkingprawn

Yes I would help. As I imagine many parents do (although probably won’t admit it here 😀). Same as all the help that goes in behind the scenes with coursework.
On exams!? That's not help, that's cheating, and it is both a shit example to set your kid and a shit thing to do to all the other kids who have parents with better morals.
BornOnThe4thJuly · 23/01/2021 21:02

I probably would to be completely honest. I would then make sure I gave her lots of support in filling in the gaps, in areas I’d had to help with though. I think they’ve been so disadvantaged in the last 12 months, that they deserve a leg up.

LividLoving · 23/01/2021 21:02

And it’s the teachers that get dragged through the mud on Mumsnet.

Fuck sake.

Ginandplatonic · 23/01/2021 21:02

Helping with coursework is a completely different thing than helping with a paper which forms part of the assessment and should be done under exam conditions. Doing that would be cheating, and sending a terrible message to your child. And setting them up to fail when things go back to normal.

bourbonne · 23/01/2021 21:02

@thewinkingprawn

Yes I would help. As I imagine many parents do (although probably won’t admit it here 😀). Same as all the help that goes in behind the scenes with coursework.
It's not really the same, is it, because coursework isn't meant to be done under exam conditions. But coursework or exam, do you really think you're doing your child a favour? What you are actually teaching them here will stick a lot longer than a few maths hints or words of French, and a lot longer than the resulting grades.
Original poster
LetterOfTheLawFella · 23/01/2021 21:04

all her peers who are not cheating

Do you really think all her peers won't have help? Are you all saying you wouldn't do everything you could to support your child to do the best they can?

OP posts:
StepOutOfLine · 23/01/2021 21:04

Word to the wise.

The teachers know when you help the kids.

TheLetterZ · 23/01/2021 21:04

Please don’t ‘help’ her. It is extremely unlikely this will count to her final assessment as no details of what that will be have been released yet. Plus the teacher will spot it a mile off if there has been assistance.

However, do genuinely help by giving her a quiet space to do the test in and once finished and submitted go over it with her if you can. Get her to reflect on areas she is more secure in and ares she needs a bit more work. If you are ok at french then practising a little bit every day. Not only will she do better but will learn much better study/ life skills as a result.

Ohalrightthen · 23/01/2021 21:05

@BornOnThe4thJuly

I probably would to be completely honest. I would then make sure I gave her lots of support in filling in the gaps, in areas I’d had to help with though. I think they’ve been so disadvantaged in the last 12 months, that they deserve a leg up.
Why does your DD deserve a grade she didn't earn herself, when the large majority of her classmates will be sitting the exam themselves? What makes it OK for her to cheat? Because she's had a hard year? So has everyone else. That doesn't entitle her to a 5 if she's only capable of a 3.
SirVixofVixHall · 23/01/2021 21:05

I support my children but I would not cheat, how is cheating supportive ?

StepOutOfLine · 23/01/2021 21:06

@LetterOfTheLawFella

all her peers who are not cheating

Do you really think all her peers won't have help? Are you all saying you wouldn't do everything you could to support your child to do the best they can?

Yes, we help our kids. If they are struggling with a subject, we speak to the school and work together to find ways to improve the situation. Encouraging cheating- nope.
Neolara · 23/01/2021 21:06

You mean, would you help your DC to cheat? No. I wouldn't. That would be an absolutely terrible lesson to teach your DC.

Lovemusic33 · 23/01/2021 21:06

It’s not supporting, it’s cheating.

Support your child to revise before the exam.

SanFranBear · 23/01/2021 21:07

Last year, DD was asked to sit two maths papers in place of her SATS as she was borderline with 'Meeting' and 'Exceeding'..

I set her up, made sure she had what she needed and then left her to it as it was an exam! What would be the point in helping so the school think she is brighter than she actually is - you're setting her up to fail at the next level, when she finds herself out of her depth because she doesnt know what they think she knows.

Really bad idea - what are you telling your DD? You dont believe she can do it herself? Shes too stupid to do it on her own merit? Awful!

sofiaaaaaa · 23/01/2021 21:07

If you mean cheating, teachers are surely aware this will be a possibility. It would be extremely suspect if a teen that has struggled with a normal paper and has to be moved to the foundation exam suddenly gets 100%. They will know