Exams cancelled 2

[Orangeblossom1977]

Started a new thread as last one is full.

@notdonna "If anyone says their results are Mickey Mouse I’ll be livid."

Yes. Me too!

The marking load is going to be hell.

DC's school (year 11) has said normal lessons up until Easter.

Between Easter and May half term they will set assessments provided by exam boards. Effectively a full set of exams in a compressed time period. It will be incredibly stressful after an already stressful year. The school has basically said they are discounting work done to date as it's not relevant. Summer assessments are all that seems to matter.

Other local schools are taking a very different approach. Some are setting no "tests", just in class work to be assessed. This will be used together with data already accumulated to inform their students' grades.

Normal exams would have vastly less stressful than this mess.

Normal exams would have vastly less stressful than this mess.

I completely agree. I cannot assess using book work for maths, it doesn't tell me much at all.

Ours are doing a 2nd lot of mocks the week before Easter (they did the first lot before Christmas) then exams again after Easter. I agree it would have been much less stressful all round to have just done the GCSEs. The annoying thing is I doubt whether anyone will take their grades seriously despite all this, and it sounds like there will be massive discrepancy between schools which isn’t fair.

@NotDonna

So, they have... 2 weeks finishing courses with topic tests. 2 weeks classroom assessments 2 weeks formal assessments with study leave Possible 2 week classroom assessments. When I write it down it does seem quite onerous. And not just for the kids!

Seems pretty similar at ours..... DD very upset that all her work and 100% stress on each and every paper she has done this (and last) term, seems not to be relevant at all now. Despite being told all work would be considered.

My extra question is...... What happens after assessments? Will they all just be kicking around at home? Any ideas on what is assumed to be happening as they were not initially supposed to be doing a normal run of exams. I think it is so sad that they have effectively missed 1/3 of their 6th form experience, and get no chance to get some back.

I really hope we're allowed to let them go early in June. I know that might seem unfair because they're missing out on rites of passage but the marking load is going to be horrific and we're going to need to have some energy left for all of the other students.

May half term seems like a good natural end point. We have to have our grades in by then for SLT standardisation where I am.

Opt in sixth form transition would be good after half term.

DS's timetable after Easter is a mixture of mocks, assessments and revision, it is going to be very onerous for both students and teachers. GCSEs would probably have been easier and less stressful.

I’ve a feeling ours will finish around May half term too. Certainly the 6th formers. They may keep yr11’s for some pre A level work but some go to different schools and colleges so I'm not sure how that’d work. Also, given ours will have finished the gcse syllabuses there’ll be little justification to keep them. Like MrsHamlet says there’ll be a ton of collating and checking to do before sending in the final grades by 18th June. I think the teachers are going to be too busy with that to do any pre A level stuff. Unless they get the 6th formers to do something interesting with the yr11s, but given the social distance issues that’s going to be very tricky and undoubtedly too much effort.
If I remember correctly they usually ‘break up’ for gcse/A level study leave beginning May & just go in for exams, which for DD1 in 2019 finished on 15th June. So there’s only 2 weeks difference. Albeit there was more going on with ‘celebration day’ at school, the prom and DofE expedition.

Ah, study leave - those were the days!!!

I really hope they get a decent end to school. They cancelled their prom in September so they already knew they wouldn’t be doing that but I would hope they could do some sort of celebration at school even with a chance to dress up perhaps? They have now had both Y10 and Y11 absolutely ruined and they will never get this time back again.

@MrsHamlet

Ah, study leave - those were the days!!!

Do your school not give the kids study leave whilst they do exams? My eldest went on study leave from 1st May and had first exam 4th May. She didn’t go into school other than to take the exams, which ended 15th June. I’d assumed that was the deal with all schools.

No study leave for at least the last 5 years at my school.... maybe longer than that.
It counts as absence so we just don't give it. Students are in lessons until their exams, at least until the last big exam. There's a bit of timetable jigging but they're still expected in full time.
We do have a lot of bussed in students though, so it's much easier logistically for them to be in full time than in and out.

We haven't officially been told when the year 11s are finishing at dd's school, but unofficially, a number of teachers have suggested that they're anticipating that the kids will finish at the may half term, in order to give teachers time for standardisation, internal moderation etc. We'd be happy with that. I hope that they get some sort of celebration event to mark the end of the year, even if a full blown prom is not possible. They sure as heck deserve it after the shitty year that they've had.

Our Prom is booked in July, keeping everything crossed it goes ahead. It's not really DD thing but she has a ticket reserved and if she goes I'm sure she'll enjoy it as a night out with her friends.

My dd would love to get all dressed up with her friends for a prom. She has already missed so much this year, I really hope that she gets a chance to do it.

@AlexaShutUp I hope so too, they really deserve some fun. It's been a tough year and it would be nice for them to finish with something enjoyable to remember. My DD suffers with social anxiety so it'll be a big thing for her to attend but hopefully if we can find the right outfit so she feels comfortable and surrounded by her friends she will enjoy it. 🤞

The current situation must be very difficult for kids who suffer with social anxiety @Neversaygoodbye. I imagine that they're out of practice with regard to seeing people, and that the prospect of returning to school must therefore be quite daunting.

@AlexaShutUp yes you've summed up the situation perfectly. She's enjoyed the isolation almost too much; school enables her to get the social interaction in a controlled way and even she would admit although it's a struggle it is good for her. It's been nice for her though to not come home with a headache through sensory overload & too much contact. She's actually sought us out more to talk to which has been lovely.

It's good that there have been some positives for her (and you!) in lockdown, @Neversaygoodbye, but I guess they will make this bit harder in some ways. She'll probably be exhausted next week!

My dd is the opposite. She gets all her energy from being around other people, and she is feeling really flat as a result of being stuck at home with only us for company! She has hated learning on her own at home, and has found it so hard to stay motivated...although, to her credit, she has carried on working really hard. I am hoping that she'll perk up next week when she sees her friends, I'm just a bit sad that they couldn't have had a bit of time being back together before going into more exams. As things stand, she'll be going in on a completely empty battery.

Dd(yr13) still doesn't fully know what's happening re:assessment and has switched off because she doesn't know what's going to be expected...no revision happening but she does do all her homework. It all seems really unfair, these children will sit 'exams' by another name but without all the revision sessions which are usually held. Dd went to virtually every revision class offered for GCSE as she struggles to focus at home. She also worked with friends to revise and test each other. None of this is possible yet, amd people are saying their results won't be trusted! The poor things, what an awful way to finish school life

I think the majority of schools will be testing them like ours so that the quality assurance is robust. This is very different to last year. Yet, there’s still a lot of people already alluding to inflated grades. I’m not sure they will be inflated tbh.
I’ve not got a yr10 or yr12 but I do hope they decide this summer what will happen with those years. If exams as usual then fine but have a bloody plan B from the get go. This stress could have been avoided.

This whole situation feels like death by a thousand cuts. My DS walked away in the first lockdown last year six weeks before he was supposed to take his A levels - he'd completed his course and that was it - job done - all over. My DD stopped going to school as well in that first lockdown and has literally spent a whole year being taught via computer or sporadically in person. To keep going through all this uncertainty has required real strength and will power and now the school is going to test her into submission to give her her final grades. These poor kids, I feel for every single one of them.

And if the media then ridicule them spouting ‘mickey mouse’ grades, I’ll be livid. They seem to think that teachers make them up. I appreciate that there’ll be fewer ‘bad day’ grades, but that’s actually a good thing.