Advice please. Poor Year 10 English mock results. How do I get DS support?

[chocolatenutcase]

My DS has been getting his year 10 mock results back. All great 6+/7 actual results with predicted 7/8s. English he is predicted 6s and he got 4 for language and 1 for literature. I'm not too worried about the language as he has a year to go, but the literature he said he just had no idea what the question was asking him. His amazing year 9 English teacher, during lockdown realised he was producing better work at home on a computer so he has been sitting English assessments on a laptop and these exams had access to a laptop for all of them.

Almost every subject in his summer report mentioned his handwriting, making it more legible. It is dreadful and he really struggles to get his ideas down with pen and paper and is quicker when typing. All his lessons he uses pen and paper including English, so when he has to write for example a 10 mark answer he gets about 4 sentences down, so the teacher has marked him down for motivation and classwork in his report. He is hopeless at taking any meaningful notes in his book and certainly can't revise from them.

I have asked school to assess him for dyslexia as this writing difficulty has been ongoing since primary. The assessment they did (according to my DS) was get someone in who made him read increasingly more difficult words off a card - some real and some made up. They concluded he didn't have slow processing and didn't need more time in exams. That's OK, I'm not asking for more time, but is this a dyslexia test? I want to request he has use of a laptop in class to help but I dont know how to do this without evidence it will help or sounding like an annoying pushy parent.

i just want to help him achieve his best. He can be a lazy so-and so, and I am not under any illusions that he is not a model grade A behaviour student, but he is polite, articulate, interested and have to say was more focussed on doing well for these exams than he has ever been. i am sure there is something not 'normal' but school and I are not getting to the bottom of it. I have had him screened for ADHD which he doesnt have, but they did mention possible Irlens and maybe dyslexia.
Does anyone have any advice where i go from here?

You have 2 things going on which may be related

1. clueless in Eng Lit
2. handwriting

Immediate actions

1. I'd get a tutor if you can afford it
2. I'd ask to use a laptop in lessons too.

I'd also consider dyspraxia, which is the diagnosis my DD1 has. She struggled to see what was needed for essay based questions, and only got Cs for English Lang & English Lit despite having grade A controlled assessments (that the class were taught towards and she could prep in her own time).

Does he get more down when he uses the laptop OP? Because if that is the case, I would definitely ask the school if he can use a laptop in lessons.

If it is not purely down to the handwriting issue (and it could be a mix of the two factors or more than that) because he seems to have done well in his other exams, it may be down to some exam technique for the literature. If he finds it hard to revise from his own notes, has he tried a book (such as the York notes or similar) or a different way of making the notes such as revision cards or mind maps? What does he use for the other subjects that he did well in?

By 'does he get more down' I meant in terms of the amount of written work, not down as in mood. I don't think that was clear when I read it back.

I would get a private assessment done as soon as possible. I had similar situation with my son. School said he was fine. I had him assessed and the report showed dyslexia and poor executive functioning.

He's articulate and speaks well but struggles with the longer 6 point questions or extended essay writing. He takes longer to write things down (handwriting) and longer to process the information which combined mean significant delays in class and missed notes.

If your son had a diagnosis he would be entitled to use a laptop in class and extra time in exams if needed.

I would ask the school who did the assessment and for a copy of it. If it wasn't a proper assessment get one done ASAP. Get them to assess for dyspraxia as well.

Get him tested for dyspraxia. This affects hand-writing and physical coordination but also understanding of what needs to be done and processing. It is very easy to think a student with this is "lazy" but in actual fact they are often working twice as hard as NT students just to get on top of what needs to be done and this can lead to tiredness/burn out and then the impression that they are just lazy.

Thank you all for such helpful replies.
@TeenMinusTests he has had a tutor this year and it has given him some confidence to have a go. He did well in 2 class literature assessments (level 4) that were unseen questions. This time the question really threw him. It was a lesser known poem and a different way of asking about the Shakespeare character. He knows the plays very well.

@ChicChaos he does get more down when typing. His fingers work at the same rate as his brain. He can get down good notes in food tech because he says the teacher talks at the speed he can write.
Revision for these mocks consisted of past papers to try out long answer question, Seneca and tassomai. He was more than happy learning online.

@towdenbursgi yes he is often seen as lazy by some teachers and he has got very upset in the past. This year he has had some very good teachers who have instilled confidence (sometimes over confidence!) in him that he can do well. I think though that his English teacher thinks I'm a fussy mother and he's just not trying.

I'm now looking for a formal private assessment. I didn't think about dyspraxia but it sounds like that is a possibility although he's always been great on a bike, skis and recently badminton. Hopeless at football and team sports.

"I'm now looking for a formal private assessment. I didn't think about dyspraxia but it sounds like that is a possibility although he's always been great on a bike, skis and recently badminton. Hopeless at football and team sports."

chocolatenutcase Plenty of people with dyspraxia are good at sport because they learn how to do it. It is one of the many reasons that dyspraxia is often overlooked. It's also very common for people with dyspraxia to struggle with team sports - combination of mental and physical coordination and unpredictability of team-mates can be overwhelming.

Good luck.

@Mostlydrinkingtea, can I ask what assessment you asked for please. I'm also concerned about my ds who is clever but has slow processing I think. I dont know where to start with assessment. If anyone can recommend someone in London, I'd be grateful. Sorry to hijack your thread OP.

OP I can see you have had some great advice here and I would second all that everyone suggests.

Can I also say:

If you plan for him to use a laptop in exams, it has to be his "normal way of working" and agreed via the SENDco relatively early in the exam year so lose no time on that in Sept if it will help.

I was also struck however by the fact that he had "no idea what the question was asking him" - so while dyspraxia adjustments, laptop etc may well help, if he doesn't know what to say he won't get far.
You say he knows the play well, which is great, but he needs to be able to apply that knowledge to whatever the question may be. Is it AQA board? They only get one question per text so there is no room for disaster on the day. Practise with him over the holidays using exam style questions (there are loads out there, use different boards as well as the style is similar) and see if you can unpick that a bit. Faced with a tricky question, did he freeze and think "I can't do this?"

My DD was the first year that did the new English exam (2017) and had an awful R&J extract (look it up) and swore she did so so badly - no chance to show xyz that she knew - but she worked around the difficult extract and wrote a great answer on the subject.

@clary thank you.

Yes the sendco has agreed that the laptop in exams is his usual way of working or rather it is his usual way of doing exams. He's had to self isolate from school this week so I need to email to ask if using a laptop in class can be made usual for him.

Regarding the question. They do the Eduquas board. There is one question on an extract and another 25mark (I think) question on either a character or a theme. Previous questions have asked about a specific character. This one asked 'Which character do you empathise with?' He says he sat for 20mins with no idea what to write and then wrote a few sentences on mercutio. I think he needs to learn to write what he knows not get too hung up on the style of question. The poems question was on one of the more unusual poems so possibly not revised enough.

I definitely think practise questions are the way to go. Also my eldest DD who again was the first cohort to do this exam has said she will help him with revision material for the poems which will help him answer any question. Or so she says!

@Turmerictolly happy for you to ask that question. I think so many children are going under the radar at school for want of a proper assessment.

I'd got for a general Ed Psyc evaluation, rather than a specific Dyslexia one. Dysgraphia is the other one that sprung to mind seeing your description.

Also, with the empathy question - it doesnt matter if it is actually the one he can relate to most - just one that he can come up with sone plausible reasons for... ie lying in the answer is ok.....

You need a full diagnostic assessment. This is a good place to start looking Patoss for spld assessment Most assessors will cover all splds, not just dyslexia.

Ah that's interesting, I don't know the Eduqas spec at all but from a quick glance it is quite different from AQA or OCR (which are more popular). A bit more flexible tho with the two questions.

This one asked 'Which character do you empathise with?' He says he sat for 20mins with no idea what to write and then wrote a few sentences on mercutio. I think he needs to learn to write what he knows not get too hung up on the style of question. yyy he needs to write what he can reasonably say, as PeonyTime says, lying is fine!

MFL is really my subject (I have a secret passion for Eng Lit) and that is totally the answer! "what did you do last weekend" never mind that you sat and watched TV, what can you say in German? - this is similar.

He needs to be able to think around it - so, which character do I know best? Romeo? Juliet? the Nurse? Mercutio? OK so what do I know about them - they are a young boy head over heels with his first love, angry, aggressive, caught in a feud they don't understand, valuing love above all else, believing in fate (this would be Romeo obvs) - above all else he needs to be able to chow that he knows the text and understands it. The examiner does not care with whom he actually empathises. Mercutio is gay and so is the student? Great! good line to pursue about how he doesn't fit in and takes recourse in jokes and banter.

(I love this question haha)

But I hope you see what he needs to do - think how he can adapt the question to what he knows - and show what he knows. DD had the opening scene of the play to analyse but she used to show what she knew about the theme of male aggression really well.

@Turmerictolly it was a place called Independent Dyslexia Consultants, Tavistock House in WC1. Saw an Ed psych there. I gave the report to his primary school and it helped them to support him during his SATS.

@clary thank you. It's frustrating he struggles to lie! French homework 2 years ago "Write about what job you want to do and why?" Well what a bother! "I don't know what I want to do". "Well just make something up. What vocabulary do you know that you could use in this question. What about a vet and you can talk about animals?" "I don't want to be a vet though"😂

I think some good revision cards on each character and theme and get him practising answers based on what he knows.

@towdenbursgi thank you. Someone I know has suggested PATOSS. I'll look it up.

Thank you @Mostlydrinkingtea .