Current Year 11 2021/2022 support thread pt II

[StColumbofNavron]

Thread for those with Y10s finishing July 2021 ready for Y11 in Sept 2021.

All welcome.

@Naem is she sure she wants to stay at the school if they aren't running the A levels she wants to do? Are there other sixth forms she could go to? It may not be too late to switch, here I think there is a system for applying after you have your results (though as you say may mean quite a lot of stress in that week!) I looked up the term dates for DS's preferred option and they do "enrollment" from the 31st to the 2nd and then term starts on the 7th Sept. The other big sixth form starts term on 5th September.

Our school is struggling with covid, they sent DS home after lunch yesterday as his teacher was off sick and they have so many staff off they couldn't cover it. I was a bit sad as he only has drama once a week so to miss the lesson is a bit of a blow, not many weeks left (his drama written exam is 8 weeks today!) School have said that if the situation gets worse they may have to do some online learning days for some year groups, really hope they don't have to do this!

Gosh it's worrying that some y11s are having lessons impacted so close to exams @IThinkIMadeItWorse.

I can definitely see our school playing musical chairs with staff - DD in yr 8 has had some "interesting" cover teachers while they funnel subject specialists to the exam years.

Often if a teacher is off with covid but not too poorly then they'll teach the class from home by video link which is wonderful of them but it must make it all v stressful.

@IThinkIMadeItWorse Yes, she is adamant she wants to stay in the school (lots of good friends being the key trigger). We even had a discussion on Saturday in which she suggested maybe she should take psychology. Now I have nothing against psychology - except that DD has shown zero interest in people and psychology just about ever. She is obsessed with animals and environmental issues and natural landscape, but has always shown a distinct lack of interest in understanding people. The part of Geography she is least interested in has to do with people. And suddenly she is talking about taking a subject for which she has shown zero interest in the past, just because it is running at her school and she might be allowed to take it??

One option I have thought of, is that there are some private colleges not that far from us (advantage of living in London), and maybe she could take one of the A levels she actually wants to do at one of those, and two at her current school. That way she gets the friends and the A levels, but I don't know how difficult it would be to co-ordinate, and whether the school would be prepared to be flexible. I have even thought about possibly her doing one online. But a lot of this is going to depend on her actual GCSE grades. Much easier to make the case for doing French elsewhere if she actually gets that 9 - especially if the school is not even offering Geography. And if she doesn't get the 7s in Maths and Biology then we really will have to have a rethink.

@Naem I think schools and colleges really don't like people to do only 2 A levels because of the way they are funded, I think the course has to have a minimum number of hours/they get more funding depending on the number of hours - not sure exactly how it works. Also if she was doing a subject at a different location how would they match up the timetable? Really hope you can find the best solution for your DD.

Ds has no sixth form offers yet, hoping something comes through soon. Going to drag him away for the first few days of Easter; he's had mocks this and next week. Still no sign of a revision timetable and not all the syllabuses done and so many teachers /kids off!

@IThinkIMadeItWorse - I get that, but they also don't want to offer DD the A levels she wants because of funding - ie there not being enough people who want to do them. I agree co-ordinating the timetable might be tricky, but they are going to have to run at least two and maybe three streams of Biology and Maths, I would think, given that there are not enough people who seem to want to do anything else. At the moment, from what I can gather, the school will end up running Biology, Maths, History, English, one MFL (just), Psychology, one Chemistry, maybe one Further Maths, maybe Physics. Apparently the Art class will run with 5 students, two of whom are doing textiles and three of whom are doing fine art, in the same class. Plus a few BTECs. So there ought to be some flexibility if there are multiple Biology and Maths streams, especially as each A level does not have a lot of teaching time (compared to what we are used to in the lower school).
There is no way that DD will look at another school now, although she might in August - which is why I really would have liked a bit more than a week for us to think about the options. And the reality is that if she starts something like psychology, my best guess is that we won't get beyond half term, so it will be two A levels anyway. What is the school going to do then? Force her to keep going with a subject she never wanted and won't do well at, or let her drop it?

We've only applied to the school 6th form as DD doesn't want to go anywhere else but all current students are guaranteed, as long as they get the grades they need obviously. They said this would be confirmed by end of March.

[quote IThinkIMadeItWorse]**@Naem* I think schools and colleges really* don't like people to do only 2 A levels because of the way they are funded, I think the course has to have a minimum number of hours/they get more funding depending on the number of hours - not sure exactly how it works. Also if she was doing a subject at a different location how would they match up the timetable? Really hope you can find the best solution for your DD.[/quote]
Agree with this - I know our school wouldn't allow it as they also expect 6th form students to be on-site at school in the usual school hours ie 9-3.30pm.

@Cornishgem Ours don't require this of Sixth Formers - who are free to come and go when they don't have classes or other compulsory activities. I believe someone from my DS's year did take an A level out of school. But that was for music, and apparently the borough arranged for music A level at one of the sixth form colleges, because there were so few high schools that were able to offer it, ie it was a formal borough wide programme to deal with the problem. Pity the borough doesn't do the same thing for various MFLs which are also turning into a cinderella subjects

DD not looking anywhere else but her school's 6th form. Now she just needs to get the grades. Parent's Evening will hopefully confirm her choices, but acceptance is obviously reliant on getting the grades. We have a couple of ideas if we need to change, but hope it won't be necessary. Revision in full swing here - and the stress is definitely building.

DD has a few sixth form options 'in the bag' but the challenge may be to decide at very short notice which one she's going to opt for! Around these parts, changing school for sixth form seems quite a common practice, so you couldn't really bank on leaving it until Results Day to start considering other options (as they'd likely all be over-subscribed!).

Mocks now finished and DD having a bit of a pause on revision before starting again over the Easter hols. She's got a well deserved INSET day coming up too, so she went off in a very good mood this morning, helped by the sunshine!

DS1 turned down his other option last week. His school guarantee their place and if he doesn't get the grades, they will simply talk through other courses with him or put him on the three year A Level programme. It is a huge Sixth form that is the joining together of a number of local schools so they are able to do this. I still think he should have kept the other place in case he changed his mind but he was adamant. It is also hugely oversubscribed and lots of DC we know did not get an offer. To be fair, this is the first decision that we have felt was entirely his to make so we have given our opinion and then he has done what he felt right.

@Naem my daughter is in year 12 and the 6th form she goes to wasn't able to run one of her choices (French) due to lack of interest. She came to an arrangement with them and studies 2 A-levels at 6th form and A-level French as an online course. She does her online work at 6th form during study periods.
Is that an option for your daughter?

[quote loobylou44]@Naem my daughter is in year 12 and the 6th form she goes to wasn't able to run one of her choices (French) due to lack of interest. She came to an arrangement with them and studies 2 A-levels at 6th form and A-level French as an online course. She does her online work at 6th form during study periods.
Is that an option for your daughter?[/quote]
@loobylou44 That is indeed one of the things I have thought of as a possibility for my DD. Who does she do it through? How is she finding it? Is it working?

I will PM you.

Does anyone know if there's national guidance of what to do if a child tests positive for covid during GCSEs? Presumably something more than a self reported LFT will be required but how?

DS has a sore throat. Testing negative so far but he has his first exam next week!

I'm wondering the same. Covid is whizzing round our school at the moment. I heard a rumours about TAGs being used if your DC misses a paper, but it's only a rumour.

I've asked school what their policy is. Particularly as after this week there's not legal requirement (in a England at least) to self-isolate following a positive test - only a recommendation to stay at home for 5 days.

I haven't thought about this - I may check with the school too.

I agree best to check with school. The extra days that they have to be available at the end of the exam period (until 28 June) are for this purpose though I believe, according to the talk we had at school - I don't know how that works in practice.

@StColumbofNavron

I agree best to check with school. The extra days that they have to be available at the end of the exam period (until 28 June) are for this purpose though I believe, according to the talk we had at school - I don't know how that works in practice.

We only have to be available on 29th June as a contingency day. That wouldn't be enough if you missed a whole week or more though would it! I've emailed the school - they must have a policy in place. My DD has never had covid so it's just our luck.

We have to be available until that date was my understanding which gives from 23-28/29 June. This could be wrong but the teacher who delivers the Y11 updates is quite robust in his communication. I'm hopeful that we are due another update soon as it has been a while.

In the meantime, school have put up revisions sessions to book into over Easter and DS1 has signed up to them which I think will lift some of the organisational pressure on his as at a minimum some revision will happen most days. He says his plan is to keep weekends free.

I've also managed toland him a small job today. It is a small thing I was doing for a friend's business once a month whilst PhDing but since that is no more I have a new FT job but he has agreed to let DS1 do it. It will be a bit of money for him, plus he will have to go into the very small office once a month so an opportunity to build up his people skills etc. I've got to get him to send a nice email now, because I'm aware I am handing it to him on a plate and actually he needs to do a bit work towards making it happen.

I've had a hunch that the TAGs might be used if summer exam papers are missed. I hope not though, as DD didn't do particularly well in the December ones (she got COVID so missed 40% of the papers and was brewing it for a few of the others so not at her best), and I'm not convinced she was totally in the zone for her recent ones either.

Hopefully TAGs will be based on more than just the Mocks. It doesn't seem at all fair to be solely based on those given Covid is still with us and impacting learning/school time.

Also, gosh, my appalling typos above!

DD has just had her 2nd lot of mock grades back. She has gone up a grade in one subject and down a grade in another but everything else the same. Given that they completed them all in a week and she sometimes had 4 exams in one day I don’t think that’s too bad.

Response from school:

"XXXXXXX has asked us to reply to you to advise that we are waiting to send out a communication, to all Year 11/13 parents/guardians, after the next Government guidance is issued on 1/4/22; in this we will advise everyone about the procedures relating to absence (including Covid) during the exams."

So waiting with baited breath...